Fundraising Fox
Laurels
Techstars '23Studio City, US · 3 employees on LinkedIn · 2 known investors
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Laurels is a platform that connects corporate teams with nonprofits to enable skilled professionals to contribute pro bono services and solve real problems. The service aims to help companies embed purpose-driven work into their culture while strengthening nonprofits' operational capacity.
Also known as laurels.app
Founders & leadership
Investors · 2
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Sep 2026Laurels operates an end-to-end pro bono platform that connects teams of skilled professionals — currently focused on marketing and creative disciplines — with nonprofit organizations that need help with practical projects. The company sources and vets the nonprofit partners and supplies the software through which work is scoped, assigned and completed, so that a corporate team can run a recurring giving-back program without building one itself.
Work is structured as "challenges": tightly scoped tasks of roughly 45 minutes that fit around participants' day jobs. Teams typically meet in monthly two-hour online sessions, with larger groups convened for offsites and retreats; companies choose the causes that matter to them, select challenges matched to their team's skills, or create their own. Challenge categories include digital audits of web pages, social accounts or campaigns; ideation for campaigns and creative concepts; creative production such as graphics, copy and content calendars; editing and copy editing of existing content; and research into a nonprofit's competitive set or strategic options. The platform also surfaces completed work so participants can share it internally and externally.
Laurels selects nonprofit partners it considers qualified and states that it avoids causes that are overtly political or controversial. Organizations it reports having worked with recently include groups providing support for victims of domestic violence, local public radio and television, job placement for disadvantaged youth, services for special needs children, conflict resolution and violence prevention, community soup kitchens, animal rescues and housing services.
Founding story
The co-founders describe Laurels as the pro bono platform they wished they had as working professionals, drawing on backgrounds leading marketing teams and building marketing software.
Business model
Laurels supplies both the nonprofit partner network and the software platform that corporate teams use to run recurring pro bono programs, positioning itself as a complete, managed program rather than a self-serve volunteering directory. Nonprofits receive the skilled help at no cost, described on the company's site as free help from skilled professionals.
Traction
The company reports having recently worked with nonprofits across categories including domestic violence support, public media, youth job placement, special needs services, violence prevention, soup kitchens, animal rescue and housing services.
Latest developments
A third-party company profile associates Laurels with Techstars 2023.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
An early-stage, small team operating in the employee engagement and skilled-volunteering segment, classified as a technology, information and internet company with 1-10 employees.
The company emphasizes tightly structured, short-duration projects (about 45 minutes) run in monthly two-hour online sessions, so participation does not disrupt participants' primary jobs, and it broadens skilled volunteering beyond the legal pro bono model to marketing and creative work.
Technology
The service is delivered through an online platform used for setup, challenge selection, collaborative work and tracking. A third-party company profile lists a web stack including Next.js, React, Webpack, Goober, Amazon Web Services, Netlify, Cloudinary, Fathom analytics and Google Workspace.
Go-to-market
Corporate marketing and creative teams seeking structured, workplace-compatible ways for employees to apply professional skills to social causes, and US nonprofits that need skilled marketing and creative support.
Geography
United States-focused nonprofit work, with company leadership based in Los Angeles and Prague.
History
The founding team consists of Jeff Pressman, who has led marketing agencies and served on the founding teams of four startups with exits, with investors including TPG, Founders Fund and L. Catterton, and Artur Müller, a web developer who has led product teams at venture-backed software companies and nonprofits.
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.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Laurelslaurels.app · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Laurels do?
- Laurels is an online pro bono platform that lets corporate marketing and creative teams do short skilled projects for nonprofits.
- Who founded Laurels?
- Laurels was founded by Jeff, Art.
- Who are Laurels's investors?
- Laurels's investors include Samvid Ventures, Techstars.
- Where is Laurels headquartered?
- Laurels is headquartered in Studio City, US.