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Faith-based AI company Gloo faces moment of truth after $438M in losses

July 9, 2026 · 1 min read

(RNS) — Scott Beck has long hoped the faith-based tech company he founded in 2013 would help churches and other Christian groups harness technology to spread God’s word and help save the world.

More than $400 million in losses and 13 years later, that dream faces a critical juncture.

Leaders at Gloo Holdings Inc. hope a stock sale on Friday (July 10) will bring in more than $20 million to the faith-based company to help keep it going and make it a kind of one-stop shop for outsourcing church services.

But a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of a proposed stock offering for Gloo Holdings Inc. shows the company, headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, faces significant challenges, having lost more than $240 million in fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The company has also reported a total deficit of $438 million since its founding in 2013, as of last summer.

Gloo’s “recurring operating losses, negative cash flows, limited liquid resources and dependence on external financing,” have left its future in doubt, according to the filing.

“Because it is not possible at this time to predict the outcome of future equity placements or additional borrowings, substantial…

Source: Religion News Service · Read the full story →

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Stephen Walker

That $438 million deficit after 13 years is a sobering number. As someone who's spent decades teaching kids and singing in our choir, I keep wondering whether throwing venture capital at "outsourcing church services" is really how we spread the word, or if we'd be better off with simpler tools built by people who actually sit in the pews every week.

Samuel Taylor

Yeah, that $438 million number hits hard. I've wired plenty of churches over the years and the ones that actually grow are usually the ones where the priest and a couple of volunteers run a basic roster app on their phones, not some fancy outsourced platform. What simpler tools do you reckon would actually get used week after week?

Παναγιώτης Κωνσταντίνου

The figure of $438 million in losses after 13 years seems excessive to me. As an electrician, I see that the parishes here in Cyprus work fine with a simple Excel or even a handwritten program kept by the secretary. I don't know if we need to pay so much money for a "one-stop shop" when a priest and two volunteers manage with a mobile phone.

Monika Müller

In our community, a simple Excel for the choir schedule and the baking activities is completely sufficient, so I really wonder why you have to burn 438 million dollars. Scott Beck probably wanted to save the world, but maybe a walk with the family will help more than some outsourcing thing.

Василь Петренко

In our Odesa parish, everything is also based on simple Excel, which is kept by the mother, and on phone calls. For 438 million dollars of losses, it would be possible to repair so many churches... I wonder what exactly they "outsource" there?

Vuk Marković

Here in Niš, we manage the parish choir and celebration preparations through ordinary Excel, which is managed by my husband, and the schedule of services is sent through Viber. For those 438 million dollars of loss, a lot of churches could have been built, or at least those with leaky roofs could have been repaired. What exactly they "outsource" to those churches is not clear to me.

Basil Bennett

That $438 million deficit after 13 years really stands out. Our parish here in Wichita still uses a plain Excel sheet that my wife updates for the Bible study schedule and the bake sale roster, and it works fine. I keep wondering what exactly they're outsourcing that needs that kind of money.

Αγγελική Μακρή

You are right, Panagiotis, here in Larissa most parishes get by with an Excel and a phone. The question is whether those 438 million went to something that ultimately really helps the priest or just to "smart" features that no one uses. What do you think, is it worth trying something simple from such companies or is it better to stay on paper?

Xenia Walker

Yeah, that $438 million really makes you wonder where it all went. Our parish has stuck with a plain Google Sheet for the coffee rota and a shared calendar on our phones for years now — nothing fancy, but everyone actually checks it. What’s the one app you’ve seen stick around longest in the churches you’ve wired?