A Sustainability Web Portal Re-engineering: Happen Ventures

Challenges of Re-engineering Legacy Sustainability Software

Happen Ventures approached us with a clear mission: to transition their no-code platform into a scalable solution that could better serve businesses, nonprofits, and communities. Their vision was to create a seamless, efficient system where companies could list surplus items — such as clothing, electronics, and office supplies — and match them with organizations in need.

However, turning this vision into reality came with its own set of challenges. The original platform, built using Bubble and Xano, lacked the scalability, flexibility, and customization needed to support growing user demand. To meet their evolving needs, we had to rebuild the platform with a fully custom software architecture, ensuring improved performance, security, and maintainability.

The key challenges we addressed included:

• Quickly integrate into the client’s in-house team to assist with minor improvements to the existing no-code-based portal;
• Undertook the complete redevelopment of the platform: seamlessly migrate the platform from a no-code version to a scalable, high-performance solution without disrupting existing operations;
• Tune robust logistics and tracking capabilities, ensuring that listed items reach nonprofits efficiently. This required integrating features such as real-time notifications, automated donor-matching algorithms, and logistics tracking.
• Build a highly scalable back-end infrastructure and optimize the platform’s performance to handle thousands of donation listings, transactions, and real-time updates, ensuring smooth operation even under peak traffic conditions.
• Create a responsive, user-friendly front-end that simplifies the donation process and ensures a seamless user experience and accessibility for donors and recipients across multiple device types.
• Ensure data privacy and regulatory compliance, including secure authentication, encryption protocols, and role-based access control to safeguard donation logistics and data sharing.

For this project, Happen Ventures required a development partner with experience in both no-code and fully coded solutions, ensuring a smooth transition while maximizing efficiency. Fively stood out due to its expertise in migrating no-code platforms to scalable, custom-built solutions, as well as its proficiency in modern technologies like Nest.js, AWS, and React. We also had a deep understanding of security best practices to protect sensitive user data.

Thanks to the extensive experience with scalable web platform development, high ratings on platforms like Clutch, and great culture fit, Happen Ventures entrusted us with redeveloping their donation portal from the ground up. Our collaboration began in March 2024 with optimizing the existing no-code setup and followed by a complete re-engineering of the sustainability software.

How Fively Re-engineered a Sustainability Platform for Happen Ventures

Happen Ventures partnered with Fively to transform their no-code donation platform into a fully scalable, high-performance web application. Our team of experienced back-end and front-end engineers worked closely with Happen Ventures to design a robust system that seamlessly connects donors with nonprofits. Here’s how we made it happen.

Project architecture. At the start of the project, our primary goal was to help with the existing no-code solution. Then, after 2 months of work on the platform’s maintainability, we started to re-engineer the platform architecture and replace the no-code infrastructure with a scalable, secure tech stack.

Our back-end engineer built a Nest.js-based architecture supported by PostgreSQL for efficient data management. AWS was used for hosting, providing a highly scalable and secure environment for handling increasing traffic and transactions.

On the front-end, our React engineer collaborated with Happen Ventures’ design team to create a a dynamic and responsive MUI-powered interface, ensuring an intuitive experience across all devices.

Team structure. The success of this sustainability web portal development project was a result of seamless teamwork between Happen Ventures’ stakeholders and our dedicated engineering team at Fively: a senior front-end engineer, who was focused on the platform’s UI/UX, performance optimization, and accessibility, and a senior back-end engineer, who led the transition from no-code to Nest.js, ensuring high performance and security.

Communication tools. Throughout this project on software reengineering, we maintained clear and effective communication with Happen Ventures via daily standups and sprint reviews in Google Meet. For project tracking, GitHub was used to monitor deadlines and ensure that tasks were completed on time, maintaining an organized and smooth workflow throughout the project.

By combining these tools and technologies, we successfully re-engineered the Happen Ventures web portal in less than 9 months, and ensured the new platform aligned perfectly with Happen Ventures’ mission. The collaboration resulted in a powerful, secure, and sustainable web application that helps divert usable goods from landfills and into the hands of communities in need.

Sustainability Project Results: Total Software Re-engineering

Through our collaboration with Happen Ventures, we successfully overcame several technical and operational challenges, delivering a robust, scalable, and high-performing sustainability web portal.

• Fively specialists successfully integrated with Happen Ventures internal team and assisted with minor improvements to the existing no-code-based solution. Then, we undertook complete re-engineering of the platform from a no-code version to a scalable, high-performance solution.
• We quickly executed the transition from Bubble and Xano to a fully coded solution without service disruptions or data loss. The new Nest.js-powered back-end provides greater flexibility and long-term scalability. The platform is now optimized for future growth, allowing new features and integrations to be added without limitations.
• We implemented automated matching algorithms, ensuring listed items reach nonprofits quickly and efficiently: real-time notifications alert organizations when donations become available in their area. Logistics tracking features provide complete visibility into donation status and fulfillment rates.
• The new system efficiently manages thousands of donation listings, transactions, and real-time updates. Hosted on AWS, the platform now supports auto-scaling, optimizing server resources dynamically based on demand.
• We redesigned the user interface using React & MUI, making the platform intuitive and easy to navigate. The platform is now fully responsive, ensuring a seamless experience across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
• We ensured total security for the reuse sustainability platform. Encryption protocols safeguard sensitive information, ensuring compliance with data protection regulations. Role-based access controls allow different user types to interact with the system safely and efficiently.

Thanks to Fively’s expertise, Happen Ventures now operates a scalable and highly efficient donation platform, where more than 85% of excess items are successfully redirected to nonprofits, reducing landfill waste. The solution allows to save up to 60% on waste management costs for businesses of all sizes, making it easier than ever for organizations to give back to their communities.

Here’s what the Business Process Manager at Happen Ventures says about our collaboration: