Watsi
Model & Strategy
Watsi is the first global crowdfunding platform for healthcare, enabling anyone to directly fund low-cost, high-impact medical care for people in need. 100% of every donation directly funds patient care, and the organization is dedicated to complete transparency and seeks to maximize their impact by collecting real-time data on healthcare providers, costs and outcomes. Watsi partners with medical facilities in developing countries to create profiles for patients in need of treatment, then posts these profiles on a crowdfunding platform where individuals donate to fund care. Ultimately, Watsi aims to provide access to healthcare for every person in the world.
Chase directs the overall vision and mission of Watsi. Prior to Watsi, Chase worked at Pacific Community Ventures, where he built the group’s first double bottom line loan fund. Previously, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica, where he founded three successful microfinance institutions. He also worked with Fonkoze, the largest economic development bank in Haiti, where he established a national health program that resulted in the distribution of multivitamins to more than 13,000 children the year of its inception, and has since grown to 10x the size.
Chase has been recognized as a Forbes “30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur” and a White House “Champion of Change.” Chase and Watsi were the first nonprofit to be selected to Silicon Valley tech incubator Y Combinator.
Mackinnon Engen joined Watsi in late 2019. She has worked with the United Nations, academic institutions, international NGOs, and local organizations in the field of global health and humanitarian programming and financing.
IMPACT
Watsi’s primary impact is improving health outcomes for patients who would otherwise not have had access to surgical treatment, allowing our patients and their family members to be healthy, productive members of their communities.
Watsi has raised more than $12 million for patients in need.
Watsi’s crowdfunding platform has funded life-changing surgeries for over 20,000 patients across 25 countries and is aiming for financial sustainability, reducing reliance on donor funding.
Watsi News
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Y Combinator Research is Funding Watsi for a Universal Healthcare ProjectFour years ago, Watsi became Y Combinator’s first non-profit. They’ve since raised over $7.5 million to fund life-changing healthcare for more than 10,000 patients in…Feb 2017 -
Chase Adam Named SF Chronicle's 2016 Visionary of the YearAt age 29, Chase Adam was the youngest finalist and recipient of the second annual Visionary of the Year award, sponsored by the SF Chronicle…Mar 2016 -
SELF Magazine Spotlights How 25-Year Old Grace Garey is Making a Difference in Health CareBy the time she graduated from college, Grace Garey, now 25, had worked in a Liberian refugee camp and helped coordinate emergency response for war-torn…Oct 2015 -
Watsi Co-Founder Grace Garey Featured in Elle Magazine's 2015 Women in TechWhat if you could help provide spinal-cord surgery for a newborn in Tanzania? Or bone realignment for a man in Kenya? A lot of entrepreneurs…Jul 2015
