Private equity firm LLR Partners has made a growth capital investment in WizeHive, provider of a software platform –  Zengine – which focuses full lifecycle management of grants, scholarships, and fellowships.

“Charitable giving rose to record levels in recent years, totaling $450 billion in 2019, and grant making continued to accelerate in 2020 for COVID-19 relief,” said Cheng Li, vice president at LLR Partners. “We expect further momentum post-COVID, especially as companies focus more on social responsibility and community impact. Technology providers like WizeHive are increasingly seen as essential partners for foundations, corporations, and other entities to enable increasing volume of grant activity, simplify the process, and improve reporting.”

“LLR has been the go-to partner for growth stage SaaS companies in our home Philadelphia market and across the U.S. for over 20 years,” said Carl Guarino, CEO of WizeHive. “I am thrilled that WizeHive is now in the position to leverage LLR’s knowledge of our space and their value creation resources to help scale our growth efforts, accelerate the enhancement of our platform, and expand efforts to drive long-term customer success.”

“Carl and his team are highly experienced leaders with backgrounds in growing technology businesses both organically and through M&A,” said David Reuter, partner at LLR Partners. “We are excited for this opportunity to partner with WizeHive and to bring much-needed technology and insights to the underserved non-profit sector to help accelerate and amplify their missions.”

Previous investors in WizeHive include Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Gabriel Investments, Mid-Atlantic Angel Group, and Robin Hood Ventures.