Indianapolis-based Ren Inc. snags big investment from Bain Capital fund

Indianapolis-based Ren Inc., which offers technology and services for the philanthropy sector, has secured a significant outside investment from a fund associated with Boston-based Bain Capital.

The parties declined to disclose the exact size of the investment, but Ren said the Bain Capital Tech Opportunities Fund typically makes investments of between $75 million and $300 million, and the Ren investment approached the upper limit of this range. San Francisco-based Valeas Capital Partners also participated in the investment.

Ren’s managers “continue to be substantial owners of the business,” said Ren’s Vice President of Marketing, Mona Hall.

This is the first institutional investment Ren has taken since its founding in 1987. Previous rounds of funding included $1.5 million from friends and family and $5 million from Indianapolis and Indiana investors, including a few from out of state.

Ren’s customers are financial institutions, not-for-profit organizations and community foundations who use the company’s software to manage their planned giving programs. The company has about 200 customers, and since its inception Ren has processed more than 10 million grants with a combined value of more than $167 billion.

Ren currently has 350 employees, about 65% of whom live in the Indianapolis area. The remainder are remote workers.

Hall said Ren is poised to take advantage of larger trends within the wealth management industry, including the generational wealth shift taking place as Baby Boomers’ assets pass to their children. Ren also specializes in a philanthropic tool known as the donor-advised fund, which has gained big traction in recent years.

Individuals can establish donor-advised funds, or DAFs, receive an immediate tax break by contributing money to the fund, then make charitable grants from the fund at a later date.

According to the National Philanthropic Trust, the number of DAF accounts totaled 1.29 million in 2021, up sharply from 471,000 in 2017. During that same time period, the total value of assets in those funds rose from $112.8 billion to $234.1 billion.

These growth metrics are drawing attention from investment firms, Hall said. “I think private equity is catching on—there’s opportunity there.”

In recent years, Hall said, Ren has been approached by multiple firms interested in investing in the company. She said Ren chose to partner with Bain because the investment firm has experience in both software firms and in helping its portfolio companies grow. “It just felt like a really good fit.”

In an emailed statement attributed to the Bain fund’s Partner, Scott Kirk, and Principal, David Shaughnessy, the two described Ren as “the most trusted and sought-after partner in facilitating philanthropic giving. The most successful DAF programs have grown on the back of Ren’s technology and services.”

Ren plans to use its investment in multiple ways, including adding new digital payment and analytics capabilities to its software platform. The company also plans to hire additional employees and invest in activities that build awareness of DAFs as a philanthropic tool.

Last year Ren launched the DAF Giving Summit, a conference aimed at financial institutions, community foundations and charitable organizations. Ren’s second annual DAF Giving Summit takes place in October in Clearwater, Florida.

CORRECTION: The original version of this story incorrectly reported that the Bain Group fund represented the first outside investment in Ren Inc. The story has been corrected to reflect that the Bain Group fund is actually Ren’s first institutional investment. Previous rounds of funding came from family and friends as well as Indiana investors and some from out of state.