2012 07 founders ryan cummins & matthew pohlson headquarters culver city california united states key people ryan cummins & matthew pohlson co ceos . chief spiritual guide website omaze.com omaze is a privately owned internet company based in california united states . the company raises funds for nonprofit organizations through online auctions conducted similarly to raffles with celebrities and brands . contents 1 history 2 online raffles 3 business model 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit omaze s first raffle featuring peter diamandis 1 began on august 21 2011 and the company was founded by ryan cummins and matthew pohlson in july 2012 . 2 3 4 they got the idea for the website after cummins and pohlson while in graduate school attended a benefit hosted by magic johnson for the boys & girls clubs of america . during the benefit a dinner with johnson was auctioned off for us 15 000 . the two could not afford to bid and got the idea to website with luxury prizes but with low cost raffle style entry tickets . 4 5 6 7 the website won third prize at startup weekend la in august 2011 . 1 2 omaze raised 9 million in series a funding led by firstmark capital and including the tornante company . 7 8 online raffles edit the company s website hosts auctions operated in a manner similar to raffles with celebrities and brands designed to raise money for nonprofit organizations by selling a large quantity of tickets at a low cost . 2 3 4 6 as of july 2015 the company has offered more than 150 raffles benefitting over 100 charities with dontions sent from over 160 countries . 7 the company has worked with brands and celebrities such as ben affleck 8 andre agassi 6 breaking bad 8 george clooney 8 stephen colbert 9 matt damon 8 robert downey jr. 8 vicente fox 6 steffi graf 6 peter guber 3 it s always sunny in philadelphia 3 4 magic johnson 6 jennifer lawrence 8 john legend 8 modern family 2 arnold schwarzenegger 7 star trek beyond 7 10 star wars 8 jon stewart 11 the company s raffles have benefited nonprofits such as after school all stars 7 andre agassi foundation for education 6 architecture for humanity 6 julia s house 8 new york collaborates for autism 11 product red 8 team rubicon 6 yellow ribbon fund 9 young storytellers foundation 6 business model edit the company collects 20 % of the revenue from each raffle and donates 80 % of the revenues to the designated nonprofit organization . 3 4 6 see also edit charitybuzz missionfish references edit a b zuckerman adam august 22 2011 . look.io takes top honors at startup weekend la . tech.co . retrieved september 6 2015 . a b c d jansen monika august 22 2011 . win once in a lifetime experiences that raise money for charity at omaze . tech.co . retrieved september 6 2015 . a b c d e milzoff rebecca february 14 2013 . celebrity charity auctions six winners stories . businessweek.com . bloomberg businessweek . retrieved september 6 2015 . a b c d e shontell alyson july 23 2012 . omaze raises 1 million so regular people can experience once in a lifetime opportunities for 5 . business insider . retrieved september 6 2015 . our story . omaze . retrieved september 6 2015 . a b c d e f g h i j k kozlowski lori january 7 2013 . a startup creating contests for good . forbes . retrieved september 6 2015 . a b c d e f crook jordan july 15 2015 . omaze the democratized fundraising platform picks up 9 million in series a . techcrunch . retrieved september 6 2015 . a b c d e f g h i j k omaze announces 9m in funding led by firstmark capital . venturebeat press release . july 15 2015 . retrieved september 6 2015 . a b stephen colbert s omaze raffle mocks jeb bush for raffling off late show premiere ticket . the hollywood reporter . september 2 2015 . retrieved september 6 2015 . simon pegg shares omaze outtakes new alien treknews.net . treknews.net . september 1 2015 . retrieved september 6 2015 . a b gibbs alexandra august 12 2015 . jon stewart s last show raised 2.2 m for autism . cnbc . retrieved september 6 2015 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title omaze & oldid 742978293 categories companies based in culver city californiacompanies established in 2012commerce websitesfundraisinginternet companies of the united statesonline auction websitesonline retailers of the united stateshidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 7 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