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The Fresno-based business provides software specifically for the nonprofit sector and has grown rapidly since its 2009 founding. According to a statement from the firm, Aplos had more than 20,000 organizations use its product as of 2015, including Kiwanis International and Assemblies of God. 

The company boasts a client retention rate three times higher than the industry norm and is forecast to triple its size in 2016, according to the statement. 

“When I founded Aplos, it was with the goal of providing technology that was easy to use that would help nonprofit leaders operate more efficiently and more successfully,” said Tim Goetz, CEO and co-founder of Aplos. “Six years later, we still get fired up knowing that nonprofit administrators and financial executives in over 60 countries are using Aplos every day to support the causes that are important to them and their donors.”

Aplos uses a cloud accounting software system to offer services like donation processing, donor management and Form 990 preparation to small nonprofits.The addition of funds from San Joaquin Capital is expected to allow the company to accelerate its product development efforts. 

The VC firm was founded by Aplos’ Goetz and two partners—Eric Hanson, co-founder of Sierra Pacific Orthopedic Center, and Randel Mathias, a Fresno-based businessman—in order to provide money for local technology companies in early stage development. 

Specifically, San Joaquin Capital will focus on pre-seed, seed and Series A rounds of financing for high growth potential technology startups in the $100,000 to $5 million range. 

“Access to funding is a pivotal piece of the technology startup ecosystem in and around Fresno. It can transform a side project into booming business,” Goetz said. “We want to do something big here by pairing our region’s fantastic technology entrepreneurs with capital. We have the knowledge and experience to help them reach their goals. We want to take part in the movement and fuel the technology sector of the Central Valley.”

The firm’s first fund was the $4 million Series A Whitney Fund, of which Aplos Software was the sole recipient. The tech company previously raised $3.4 million from an angel investor, bringing its total funding to $7.4 million.

“Aplos has such a clear trajectory that is made perfect sense for our investors. We couldn’t ask for a better example of an emerging tech company that will create jobs and spur economic impact in the Valley,” Mathias said. “By supporting local and successful companies like Aplos, we can retain the region’s incredible talent and dramatically enhance our economy.”

According to a statement from the group, the VC firm successfully funded the round in less than three months and relied solely on investors based in the Central Valley.

“Aplos is a prime example of what can happen when an entrepreneur receives the backing it needs -and you don’ need to be in Silicon Valley to accomplish it,” Hanson said. “Aplos is just the start. There are many young entrepreneurs with terrific ideas, and some serious talent in the Central Valley. We hope to connect them to financial resources so their startups can gain traction.”

The Whitney Fund is fully funded and closed to new investors, but San Joaquin Capital is preparing for a second fund and actively seeking investment partners and proposals from entrepreneurs based in Fresno and the surrounding areas. 

For more information on the firm, visit www.sanjoaquincap.com.