Chariot
YC S22New York City, US · Founded 2022 · 24 employees · Hiring · 15 known investors
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Chariot builds financial infrastructure for donor-advised fund (DAF) giving, connecting donors, nonprofits, and platforms to enable faster, verified charitable donations and payouts. The company serves nonprofits, individual donors, and DAF providers seeking to streamline and expand charitable giving.
Also known as Chariot Giving, Inc. · StreamD · Chariot Giving · givechariot
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (S22)
Chariot was founded in 2022 by Salomon Serfati, Aaron Kahane, and Drew Schneider.




Investors · 15
How we know: Future Back Ventures's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us
How we know: HAWKTAIL's portfolio page · Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Maven Ventures's portfolio page · funding news · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Maveron's portfolio page · a partner's Signal profile · press coverage · the VCSheet dataset · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: the Y Combinator directory · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
How we know: funding news · press coverage · Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: funding news · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: funding news · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Chariot develops financial infrastructure for donor-advised fund (DAF) giving, connecting donors, nonprofits, DAF providers and fundraising platforms through DAF donations, faster payouts and built-in verification. Its product line has three parts: DAFpay, a DAF payment option embedded in nonprofit donation flows; Gift Processing, a platform for unifying, enriching and syncing offline gifts that supports gift-entry and accounting teams with custom tables, policies, export templates, a digital mailbox and custom payment sources; and Disbursements, a grant-payment workflow for grantmakers that combines electronic account transfers and mailed checks in a single system.
The Disbursements product accepts grant details via CSV upload or API (requiring only EINs and grant amounts) and can reach domestic nonprofits, with real-time tracking of transfers and checks. Chariot layers compliance and payment controls on top: IRS good-standing validation, OFAC/AML screening, state-level requirement surfacing, mailing-address diligence, stop-pay and positive-pay check protections, and bank account verification that confirms account-owner identity and control-person status with recurring revalidation. Additional features include custom grant letters, automated resolution of voided and returned checks, a continuously updated nonprofit and church database, multi-layer approval workflows, automatic grantee notifications and verified church payments. Chariot also operates supporting programs beyond software, including nationwide campaigns such as DAF Day and original research and educational resources for nonprofit professionals. It publishes API documentation, a help center and a Chariot MCP server.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Related companies · 10
Companies working in the same space as Chariot.
Timeline · 7
launches, deals, and filingsDaffy CEO Adam Nash stated that Chariot's donation payment solution scaled with Daffy's growth and that Daffy plans to expand disbursements to more charities in 2026.
Chariot offers Disbursements, a grantmaker product combining electronic transfers and mailed checks with compliance screening, available via dashboard or API.
Chariot was included in a 2025 most innovative companies list for improving and streamlining giving.
Chariot's DAF giving technology was recognized in a Best Inventions 2025 list, cited as a friction-free option that proved transformative for charities.
Recognized for addressing challenges specific to the social impact industry.
Chariot launched DAF Day, a nationwide activation to raise awareness of donor-advised fund giving, partnering with nonprofits including the ACLU, the American Cancer Society, March of Dimes and the International Rescue Committee, per Axios coverage cited by the company.
Salo Serfati, Aaron Kahane and Drew Schneider applied to Y Combinator with the idea of a DAF payment option; after acceptance they left their jobs to start Chariot, having previously built MyTen, a card for meeting a 10% giving goal.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
Legal entities · 1
corporate structure▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Chariotgivechariot.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Chariot do?
- Chariot builds payment and grant infrastructure that lets nonprofits accept donor-advised fund gifts and grantmakers pay out faster.
- Who founded Chariot?
- Chariot was founded by Salomon Serfati, Aaron Kahane, Drew Schneider in 2022.
- Who are Chariot's investors?
- Chariot's investors include Future Back Ventures, HAWKTAIL, Maven Ventures, Maveron, Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, CRV (Charles River Ventures), Cubit Capital and 7 more.
- Where is Chariot headquartered?
- Chariot is headquartered in New York City, US.

















