Funding profile · Nonprofit global health

Watsi

Watsi is a 501(c)(3): no Form D, no cap table, no valuation. The record is thirteen years of IRS Form 990 filings, and they say more about where the money went than most venture disclosures do.

$2.27MTotal revenue, calendar 2024
$2.48MTotal expenses, a deficit of $214,789
$17.87MGrants paid for care, FY2013 to 2024
$2.15MNet assets at December 31, 2024

Data as of September 22, 2026. Company-reported figures are labeled. Watsi issues no securities.

Capital at a glance

When Round Amount Backers Source
Jan 2013 Y Combinator, first nonprofit admitted Not disclosed Y Combinator Press
Jul 2013 Philanthropic seed round $1.1M announced, later cited as $1.2M Y Combinator, Paul Graham, Vinod Khosla, Ron Conway, Draper Richards Kaplan Press
Nov 2015 Philanthropic round, target $2.5M $3.5M Ron Conway, Tencent, Paul Graham, Pershing Square Foundation, Vinod Khosla, Jasmine Social Investments, Paul Buchheit Press
Feb 2017 Funding for the Coverage build Undisclosed Y Combinator and YC Research Press
Ongoing The Collective, unrestricted operating support Not disclosed Donors on three year commitments Company
FY2013 to 2024 All contributions reported to the IRS $34.33M total revenue Not itemized; Schedule B is not public Form 990

What the filings show

Watsi Inc · Form 990 · calendar 2024, submitted Nov 6, 2025

Revenue
$2,268,111 · contributions $2,265,487
Expenses
$2,482,900 · deficit $214,789
Grants paid
$1,590,627 to foreign individuals, via Stripe
By region
Africa $912,415 · Asia $557,024 · Americas $121,188
Functional split
Program $2,055,429 · admin $227,211 · fundraising $200,260
Officers
Mackinnon Engen, Executive Director, $159,179 plus $63,812; Keenyn McFarlane, CFO, $60,231 plus $49,885
Balance sheet
Assets $2,244,629 · liabilities $97,766 · net assets $2,146,863
Filing
IRS, EIN 45-3236734, object 202503109349303025

Watsi Inc · Form 990 · fiscal year ended Sep 30, 2017

Revenue
$3,071,857
Expenses
$5,612,012 · deficit $2,540,155
Grants paid
$3,598,372, the highest in the record
Program note
A second program, community-based health coverage built in Rwibaale, Uganda, enrolling 5,880 people
Partners
11 medical organizations in 22 countries
Officers
Chase Adam, President and CEO, $107,232; four staff over $100,000

Watsi Inc · Form 990 · calendar 2020

Revenue
$1,540,741
Expenses
$1,569,335, down $2,275,439 from 2019
Grants paid
$997,285
Headcount
3 employees, down from 15 in 2019
Officers
Chase Adam, director and former CEO, $8,845; Grace Garey, director and former COO, $5,020; Mackinnon Engen, $126,780

Reading the filings

  1. The care number checks out.Line 13 sums to $17,866,116 over thirteen filed periods through December 2024. Watsi announced $20 million directed toward healthcare in January 2026. Add a 2025 year at the 2024 run rate of about $1.6M and the two meet.
  2. The 100 percent promise is not visible in the return.In 2024 contributions were $2,265,487 and grants paid $1,590,627, or 70.2 percent. The gap is not a cut taken from patient donations; it is separately raised operating money sitting in the same revenue line. Form 990 has no field that splits designated gifts from unrestricted ones, so the claim rests on the audited statements, not the tax return.
  3. Coverage is legible as a two year deficit.FY2017 spent $5,612,012 on $3,071,857 of revenue; calendar 2019 spent $3,844,774 on $2,443,410. Combined shortfall $3,941,519, funded from net assets, which fell from $4,158,852 at the end of FY2016 to $2,090,708 by the end of 2020.
  4. Payroll, not grants, absorbed the cut.Other salaries went from $1,035,522 in 2019 to $97,178 in 2020, down 91 percent, while grants paid fell only 14 percent. Patient funding was protected and the engineering team was not.
  5. Executive pay is modest for the Bay Area.Total 2024 reportable compensation for all officers and directors was $219,410, with $113,697 in other compensation. One person cleared $100,000. Every director takes zero.
  6. The fiscal year moved once.Watsi reported October to September through FY2018, filed a three month stub for October to December 2018 with revenue $785,090, then switched to calendar years. Any trend line that ignores the stub shows a false collapse in 2018.

Operating signals

Signal Detail Source type
Direction Grants paid rose from $997,285 in 2020 to $1,590,627 in 2024. The 2024 return claims 43 percent more patients than 2023. Public record
Reserve Net assets $2,146,863 against 2024 spending of $2,482,900, about ten months of cover. Public record
Governance Four voting directors, all independent, chaired by Margaret Cornelius. Founders Chase Adam and Grace Garey sit unpaid on the board. Public record
Third party checks Charity Navigator scores 100 percent on all seven published Accountability and Finance metrics. Independent
Concentration Program service revenue has been zero in every filed year. Fully donation funded, with no licensing income from Meso. Public record
Sustainability goal The FAQ says the aim is full sustainability through donor support and revenue from strategic partnerships. No such revenue appears in the returns. Not in the record

What to watch

  • The calendar 2025 Form 990, and whether line 13 carries the cumulative figure past $20 million.
  • Whether the 2024 deficit was a one year investment or a trend.
  • Any program service revenue on Part VIII, the first sign the partnership plan is working.
  • Renewal of The Collective, whose unrestricted gifts fund the overhead behind the 100 percent promise.

The Watsi story on Healthcare DiscoveryHealthcare Discovery

Related companies

  • CareMessage: Similar focus. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit that sends text messages on behalf of the clinics serving America’s poorest patients
  • Enzyme: Similar focus. Cloud quality management software built so small life science companies could survive an FDA inspection without hiring a consulting firm
  • Noora Health: Similar focus. A nonprofit that turns hospital wards into classrooms and trains the relatives who will do the caring at home
  • OpenBiome: Similar focus. The first public stool bank in the United States

Sources

  1. Public recordIRS Form 990, Watsi Inc, calendar 2024, with Schedules A, F, J and OProPublica · Nov 6, 2025
  2. Public recordIRS Form 990 filings, FY2014 to 2023ProPublica
  3. Public recordNonprofit Explorer data, EIN 45-3236734ProPublica · Sep 2026
  4. IndependentCharity Navigator rating pageCharity Navigator · Sep 2026
  5. IndependentToday’s Most Innovative Company: WatsiFast Company · Jul 2013
  6. IndependentWatsi Receives $3.5M Philanthropic RoundTechCrunch · Nov 2015
  7. IndependentNonprofit Watsi tries a new way to fund do-goodingSFGate · Dec 2013
  8. IndependentAn experiment in crowdfunded healthcareBusiness Insider · Feb 2017
  9. CompanyWatsi FAQwatsi.org · 2026
  10. CompanyOur journey to $20 MillionWatsi blog · Jan 2026
  11. CompanyWatsi 2025 Year in Reviewwatsi.org · 2026

Compiled from IRS Form 990 filings and published reports as of September 22, 2026. Form 990 is an annual information return filed by tax exempt organizations; amounts reflect the period reported and are shown as filed. Watsi is a 501(c)(3) and issues no securities, so no Form D exists. Healthcare Venture Capital Fund holds no position in Watsi. This page is not an offer to sell or a recommendation to buy any security.