Growing Banjo: Why We're Raising Capital
Today marks an exciting milestone for Banjo. For the first time, we're inviting the public to become part of our journey.
After years of research, development, and collaboration with educators, students, and advisors, we're opening Banjo’s investment campaign through Wefunder.
A reflection on gratitude: Thank you to our early investors
The first of Banjo’s values is Gratitude. I believe it is important to be grateful for the things in your life – your health, your freedom, your relationships, your work, or simply the fact that you are alive. I try to live this value as much as I can.
Today, I am very grateful for the 40+ people who have invested their own capital in Banjo. This includes people from all walks of my life: family members, colleagues, classmates, long-time friends. It is a true honor that these people placed their trust in me with both their capital and their belief in what I’m doing. I am honored by their words, such as:
“Banjo provides a much-needed solution for healthy dialogue in our world. We believe in the mission and the quality leadership team that is bringing this technology to market. We are excited to invest.”
Quotes like this are incredibly humbling and make me believe even more than ever in what we’re building.
What problem is Banjo solving?
We believe that people are not engaging productively and collaboratively, with compassion and empathy, particularly online, because platforms designed to foster these attributes do not generally exist. We also believe that learning and understanding are not maximized via current online environments. The need for better dialogue has never been more urgent. What was once seen as a social challenge has become an economic, mental health, and civic one.
In the workplace, incivility costs U.S. employers an estimated $766 billion annually in lost productivity and absenteeism (SHRM). Research has also found that people experiencing high political polarization have 71% higher odds of developing depressive disorders (Nayak et al., Social Science & Medicine, 2021).
The same trends are evident in higher education. In Banjo's 2026 survey of more than 1,000 college students, 64% said today's debates feel more hostile than productive and 57% reported self-censoring in class, though 92% still said they wanted opportunities for debate. More than half said the current state of public discourse negatively affects their mental health, while 56% believe its decline poses a threat to democracy.
We believe we have contributed to solving these problems through the creation of Banjo, a safe, civil, trusted platform for engaging people in Dialogue.
Why higher education?
Higher education is where meaningful change can begin. It's where many future leaders develop the communication habits they'll carry into their careers, communities, and civic lives.
Banjo is launching with colleges and universities first, creating a strong foundation before expanding into workplaces and other communities.
Here’s what students have said about using our product:
“[Banjo] is something I believe can be very beneficial in college classrooms because I’ve experienced firsthand unhealthy discussions that turn into shouting matches and insults, but the introduction of this platform could help stimulate healthy debate where all sides respect each other instead of despise each other.“
“This is how a college campus should be, where students feel comfortable expressing themselves without fearing retaliation among their peers.”
What is Banjo raising capital for?
Banjo is raising this round to scale at a pivotal moment — demand is growing faster than we can responsibly serve with our current resources.
We're already engaged with three Ivy League and major research universities, with 40+ additional institutions in our pipeline — and our ability to meet that demand is now limited by capacity constraints. We are therefore raising capital to accelerate our business.
Approximately, the funds will be used for:
50% — Engineering and product development
30% — University engagement and go-to-market
10% — Research, thought leadership, and brand awareness
10% — General operations
Why is Banjo using Wefunder?
We believe it is important to allow a broad range of people to invest in Banjo. We are building a community of believers, and that includes investors.
Through Wefunder, we aim to democratize the investment opportunity and make it available to as many people around the world as possible. The minimum investment is $100, making ownership in a company accessible to countless more people than if Banjo were to raise money through venture capital.
A suggested framework for thinking about an investment in Banjo
We have ambitious goals for Banjo and believe the opportunity ahead is significant. If we achieve the financial goals set out in our Investor Materials (see Wefunder), we believe we can achieve a $1 billion+ valuation, which is 100x greater than our current valuation “cap” of $10 million. Our goal is to build a company capable of creating that kind of long-term value for shareholders. This potential return is one of the reasons I have invested a significant portion of my net worth in Banjo.
At the same time, startups are inherently risky. These projections are not guaranteed. Please don't invest more than you can afford to lose, and we encourage every prospective investor to review our Risk Factors and consult trusted financial advisors before making an investment decision.
Thank you for your consideration
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about Banjo and be a part of our journey. If our mission resonates with you, we'd be honored if you took a few minutes to explore our Wefunder campaign. Whether you choose to invest or simply follow our journey, thank you for being part of this community.
With gratitude,
Ken