Like Kickstarter, but for legal cases
CrowdJustice took on Brexit. Now the Kickstarter-like site is bringing its legal crowdfunding model to the United States.
The platform for public interest litigation covers legal costs through online donations. The challenge to Article 50 campaign, taking on Brexit, raised nearly $200,000 in U.S. dollars.
On Tuesday, the company, led by CEO and founder Julia Salasky, announced $2 million in new funding from Venrock and First Round Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Kindred Capital, according to VC deal site Finsmes. The cash infusion will open up the site for more U.S. cases.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Back in February, Salasky told Quartz that ethical concerns over people financing dubious cases for financial gain were "minimal" because backers don't get rewards, and the platform vets lawyers and cases before accepting them.
CrowdJustice, which takes a 5 percent cut of the money raised, hopes to see more success stories like this campaign that raised $36,600 to bring two Yemenites to the U.S. after Trump's travel ban saw them deported after they arrived at Dulles International Airport.
The site says it's helped raise more than $3 million to help fight legal cases since launching in 2015.
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
