Our Story
“How do we do a better job of connecting those wanting to help tackle the big issues of our time, with those working on the solutions?”. This was the question that catalysed the formation of twio, back in 2020 from a beach on a small island in Indonesia.
Fast forward a few months, Barny and Cesar met and got to work. Twio was accepted onto the Activate Studio Incubator in October 2020 and soon after, follow on investment from Activate Capital spearheaded twio’s pre-seed round that culminated in the team turning down VC money and raising £215k. The twio team also impressed Innovate UK assessors and were awarded an Innovate UK EDGE Creative Grant in August 2021.
The twio team have have been driven to build a product that solves problems for all stakeholders: businesses, individuals and nonprofits. Most
“Building a business in the donation space is not easy. We’re on a mission to prove that you can build a hyper-successful business without sacrificing purpose or authenticity. Twio leverages the power of business to generate meaningful impact across the globe”- Barny, CEO
How do we select nonprofits?
We pride ourselves on only supporting nonprofits that are leaders in their field. There are around 170,000 charitable organisations in the UK alone; we aim to find those that are delivering more from less. All nonprofits that we onboard go through a thorough application process that includes desktop research, online forms, due diligence and a telepone interview. We look for organisations that: are achieving impact against SMART goals; are developing innovate solutions to pressing challenges; are incorporating the SDGs into their activities; are scalable; and are lead by ambitious teams with a proven track record.
How do brands benefit from using twio?
Customers are demanding that businesses be better corporate citizens and are voting with their money. Donations are a proven way for business to create stronger connections with their customers (Amazon, eBay and Paypal adding donations is good proof of this), whilst also leveraging their store to help tackle pressing global challenges, from climate change and biodiversity loss, to poverty and inequality. These are big issues that affect us all; we help brands partner with their customers to do their bit (and keep their customers coming back for more!). Increasing brand loyalty whilst saving the world - what’s not to like?
What are twio’s plans for the future?
Think Klarna, but for donations. Twio aims to be a centralised hub for impact, building tools that generate impact from any transaction, whether you’re buying goods online, investing money, sending money abroad or paying for your favourite pizza at your local Italian. We aim to weave impact into every aspect of life in ways that are convenient and don’t cost the earth (bad joke, perhaps!). Philanthropy is still in the 20th century; it’s about time we use modern technology to transform the sector and understand how intelligent giving is an incredible tool for catalysing solutions to problems that affect us all!
“Think Klarna, but for donations. Twio aims to be a centralised hub for impact, building tools that generate impact from any transaction.”- Cesar, COO
