Omidyar Network Grant Helps Jumo Connect Individuals With Social Causes

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Omidyar Network today announced a grant of up to $750K to Jumo, a philanthropic web-based organization created by Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook.  Jumo will provide a web-based platform for initiating and fostering ongoing relationships between individuals and cause-based organizations that share the goal of bringing about positive social change. In conjunction with the grant, Chris Bishko, Omidyar Network director of investments, will join Jumo's board of directors.

Through its Consumer Internet and Mobile Initiative, Omidyar Network seeks to support consumer-facing online and mobile platforms through for-profit investments and grants.  Of particular interest are those organizations that enable person-to-person connections around shared interests and are community-based.  

Individuals using Jumo will be able to discover, learn about and connect with organizations of interest that are doing meaningful work down the block and around the globe.  In turn, organizations using the web-based platform will be introduced to critical resources needed to strengthen their work, including the knowledge, time, and money of individuals who support their mission.  More information may be found at www.jumo.com.

"Omidyar Network has extensive experience with both for-profit and philanthropic online marketplaces.  We believe Jumo is pursing a powerful opportunity to leverage networking technologies to facilitate deeper engagement between individuals and cause-based organizations," said Bishko.

About Omidyar Network

Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $363 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple investment areas, including microfinance, property rights, consumer internet, mobile and government transparency.  To learn more about Omidyar Network, please visit www.omidyar.com.

SOURCE Omidyar Network