Gates Foundation Sues Software Developer, Claims It Billed $2.8M, Built ‘Nothing of Value in Return’

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation filed a lawsuit against a California-based software company today, alleging that the company failed to deliver on its promise to build a new software platform despite billing the Gates Foundation $2.8 million for the work.

The Gates Foundation is suing Saama Technologies on claims of fraud, breach of contract, violations of the Washington state Consumer Protection Act and more. In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Western Washington, the Foundation alleges it “received nothing of value” from Saama, that the company overstated its expertise and hid past problems delivering on projects.

GeekWire has contacted Saama for comment on the suit, and we will update this story if we hear back.

In 2015, The Gates Foundation brought in Saama Technologies to build a business intelligence and analytics platform that could be used internally to manage data, according to the suit. Saama was to build out the project in phases, with the first pieces scheduled to go live by June 2016.