Helpster Charity, a tech-driven nonprofit, is turning heads in the charity sector with its real-time fraud detection system, transparent giving platform and AI-powered healthcare access for vulnerable children and pregnant women.
In a sector long plagued by donor scepticism and opaque operations, one tech-powered nonprofit is rewriting the rulebook.
Helpster, a global charity startup founded to improve healthcare access for underserved children and pregnant women, has developed a sophisticated fraud detection system that is setting a new benchmark for trust, transparency and impact in the world of giving.
At the heart of Helpster’s approach is a proprietary platform that uses artificial intelligence, peer-reviewed medical oversight and real-time data validation to detect fraud and ensure every donation reaches the people who need it most.
The platform serves communities across Africa and Asia(Nigeria, Kenya, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia) where healthcare gaps are both systemic and urgent.
“Early on, we discovered that some people were pretending to be poor,” said Kate Lysykh, CEO of Helpster Charity. “Individuals were borrowing houses just to look eligible. We realised we couldn’t rely on goodwill alone. We had to build a tech infrastructure that could verify need, flag inconsistencies and protect donor funds at scale.”
Helpster’s system integrates AI to assess every case for risk, poverty level and urgency. Volunteer doctors across the globe independently validate medical cases online, flagging irregularities and weeding out inflated diagnoses and treatment plans. Once a case is approved, donors are able to track it in real-time, access treatment records and even choose to pay hospitals directly, an option rarely offered by nonprofits.
The charity’s radical transparency does not stop at the patient level. It refuses to transfer money to hospitals or partner NGOs without due diligence, instead relying on signed MoUs and outcome-based partnerships. Hospitals are continuously assessed both digitally and through on-ground checks. Any sign of inflated pricing or corruption results in delisting.
“If fintechs require KYC for users, charities should do the same for beneficiaries and service providers,” said Ms. Lysykh. “We apply that same logic to every hospital, volunteer and partner we work with.”
But building a fraud-resistant model in regions with unstable infrastructure has not come without challenges. Rumours, community backlash and even smear campaigns have emerged in response to Helpster’s anti-fraud measures. Yet the team has remained firm in its mission.
“In some communities, challenging a leader or rejecting a fake case is seen as disrespect,” she said. “We’ve even faced demands for bribes just to get a case validated. But we’ve held our ground. Our loyalty is to the people genuinely in need, and to the donors who believe in them.”
By publishing annual reports with case-level data, impact metrics and spending breakdowns, Helpster is making a bold statement: that charity does not have to be a black box. It can be a trust-led, data-driven, AI-enhanced ecosystem where giving is both compassionate and accountable.
As other nonprofits scramble to modernise, Helpster’s model is already attracting the attention of tech partners, global donors and impact investors.
Its scalable infrastructure not only delivers life-saving care but also raises the bar for what socially conscious technology can achieve.
