The DC-based startup TroopSwap has been garnering a great deal of financing for their e-commerce platform, which aims to make military discounts available online, in one place, for the first time. Fast-growing, with an estimated 30,000 members, TroopSwap has been likened by CEO Blake Hall to Craigslist for the military (but with a more secure transaction process).

Members benefit from making transactions that go through a trusted vendor, thus giving those making purchases more recourse in case of fraud — something that Craigslist is infamous for. From the small to the large, any business can join TroopSwap; LEGO, a company that does not typically offer discounts, has recently joined the platform. The partnership of such large companies is a great validation of the startup’s core mission to recognize the hard work of veterans and service members.

TroopSwap has recently received $2.5-million in equity funding, in addition to the $925-thousand previously raised from angel investors. Perhaps one of the most essential aspects of the platform is that it supports a great cause that manages to capture the interest of investors. One of the most problematic circumstances military families must contend with is the career difficulties spouses face since they are forced to move on such a frequent basis. As part of TroopSwap’s initiative, they have included a daily deal site for community outreach that helps military spouses find employment. Additionally, 10-percent of TroopSwap’s profits are donated to the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that provides aid programs to injured service members.

With the proper tools and a large reservoir of both businesses and military family users on the site, Hall plans to turn TroopSwap into a larger push to improve military life in a variety of ways. Beyond the very stencil of e-commerce that the platform is built up on, it is ultimately a support system that will naturally lend itself to philanthropic endeavors on the part of every member that makes the conscious effort to join the community. There is perhaps no other medium more indispensable to achieving this goal than the internet and its ability to easily connect people enduring the same conflicts.