A Canadian startup named Zeffy has enabled 130,000 associations to raise a total of 3 billion dollars (2.6 billion euros) through its platform. The company generates 46 million dollars in annual net revenue, and its activity doubles every year. Zeffy, which is unknown in France, operates with a business model similar to HelloAsso. The platform does not charge any commission and is funded through voluntary contributions from donors. François de Kerret, a graduate of École Polytechnique, noted that the example of HelloAsso reinforced the belief of co-founders François de Kerret and Thibaut Jaurou that this model could work when they launched their fundraising service in Canada in 2018. The co-founders of the tricolor platform, Ismaël Le Mouël and Léa Thomassin, even personally invested in Zeffy as early as 2019. Voluntary contributions on Zeffy quickly reached an average of 4.5 percent of the collected amounts, enough to fund the model. François de Kerret noted that the North American culture of tipping has helped, as people tip taxi drivers, hairdressers, or bakers. Zeffy plans to collect around 100 million dollars in voluntary contributions this year. About half is used to pay the banking and payment fees that the platform covers, resulting in a "real revenue" of about 50 million dollars. The startup, which has 44 employees (20 in France), reports a growth rate of nearly 100 percent per year. To maintain this pace without seeing costs skyrocket, Zeffy is firmly relying on automation. Over the last three years, the activity has increased tenfold while the team has "only" doubled, according to François de Kerret. In customer support, a first level of AI, powered by Zeffy's knowledge base, now handles about 80 percent of tickets. The startup, which has raised only 4.5 million Canadian dollars (2.8 million euros) in two funding rounds and intends to "remain independent," is developing an internal AI directly connected to information specific to each user. Zeffy aims to position itself as a "fundraising assistant." It will soon be able to alert an association that it has not recontacted certain donors for a long time, or suggest launching a membership program because similar organizations achieve good results with this formula. The company is also developing CRM functions to manage contacts, recurring donations, and communications with donors. François de Kerret noted that associations are still often in Excel and Outlook mode, and once it scales a little, you quickly reach the limits. In the long term, Zeffy aims to become the central tool for small associations, "their technological assistant" integrating administrative or accounting functions. After Canada and the United States, Zeffy is internationalizing. The United Kingdom and Australia have opened this year. In the United Kingdom, the company claims to have gone from 0% to about 1% of the country's associations in eight months. Germany is now its main European project, followed by Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. However, paradoxically, not France. François de Kerret acknowledged that HelloAsso has the notoriety and is very established. The executive does not, however, rule out venturing into France when Zeffy has sufficiently expanded beyond fundraising into CRM and AI assistance. Until then, the North American cousin of HelloAsso intends to continue growing its business much faster than its teams.