CivStart is a new government-focused start-up accelerator that wants to ensure civic technology products “don’t get made in a vacuum — that they serve the needs of our most vulnerable and underserved communities.”
How government can enable peace through entrepreneurship
In “Peace Through Entrepreneurship: Investing in a Startup Culture for Security and Development,” former State Department staffer Steven Koltai makes the case that world peace can best be achieved through nonmilitary means, especially entrepreneurship that leads to global job creation.
What’s different about GovTech?
I’ve spent the last eight years building and selling products to governments. At the risk of oversimplifying what works in govtech, I think success comes from three factors.
Ekistic Ventures launches $15M fund to ‘solve critical urban problems’
Adding to the increased interest in investment opportunities around civic and government technology, a new venture fund, Ekistic Ventures, launched with the intent of “building a portfolio of companies that will solve critical urban problems.”
Bay Area cities team with startups to solve civic problems, scale government innovation
Bay Area cities San Francisco, Oakland, West Sacramento and San Leandro teamed with startups this year as part of the Startup in Residence program to “explore ways to use technology to make government more accountable, efficient and responsive.”
Y Combinator wants to make cities better
Y Combinator is looking for a team of people to lead research on how to make cities better, and will use the findings to help determine how to invest in future ventures.
icitizen wants you to stay informed, engaged beyond the voting booth
icitizen re-launched in January 2016 with a broader goal, to change how we communicate on civic issues, connect with our communities and “promote meaningful change.” icitizen’s Jacel Egan shares the vision for its future.
How to be a ‘Start-Up City’
Former Chicago and District of Columbia transportation head Gabe Klein highlights eight lessons leaders should follow when building innovative approaches to better cities in his book “Start-Up City.”
Regulatory hacking
The idea of regulatory hacking — “combining public policy and alternatives to traditional marketing for startups to successfully scale in the next wave of the digital economy” — is important for new companies interested in changing energy, healthcare and especially government itself to understand.
Hacking for Defense (Week 7)
We just held our seventh week of the Hacking for Defense class. Now with over 750 interviews of beneficiaries (users, program managers, stakeholders, etc.) almost all the teams are beginning to pivot from their original understanding of their sponsor’s problem and their hypotheses about how to solve them.
500 Startups opens its doors to (better) government technology
The Department of Better Technology was one of 42 companies accepted into the latest round of the highly-regarded 500 Startups accelerator program, a “4-month curriculum of customer acquisition coaching, fundraising training, and access to 500’s massive ecosystem.”
Government vendor as an ‘open organization’
Earlier, I wrote about the book “Open Organization” and, via a post originally published on ProudCity, wanted to share my extended thoughts on how this applies to government vendors in the context of the work I’m doing there.
Say hello to ProudCity
Today, I’m excited to announce a new civic startup, ProudCity, founded by me and three others, committed to making it easier for cities to stand up and manage municipal digital services.
Funding government technology
I’m always inspired talking and working with entrepreneurs trying to solve big civic problems, especially those who realize much of the challenge lies within modernizing and empowering internal government operations, so it was great to finally meet with Govtech Fund Founder and Managing Partner Ron Bouganim this week.
Romulus wants to make constituent relationship management more delightful
Seneca Systems CEO Chris Maddox shares the inspiration behind the new constituent relationship management system, Romulus.
5 a16z podcast episodes for government
I recently discovered Silicon Valley venture capital firm a16z’s podcast series, and it’s a sign of the times that a VC is leveraging media in a way that not just promotes their portfolio companies, but also addresses the government and regulatory affairs issues Silicon Valley, startups and technology companies increasingly face.
GovDelivery expands government communications offering with Textizen acquisition
Government communications platform GovDelivery announced today it has acquired the civic engagement text messaging service Textizen to “promote citizen action, engagement, and behavior change.”
Cities and startups
Fred Wilson’s talk with The New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin during the recent Cities for Tomorrow 2015 conference about how cities can create startup hubs is a must-watch for mayors.
The changing relationship between tech and government
Silicon Valley venture capital firm a16z hosts an excellent discussion with current Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and former mayor Adrian Fenty on its a16z Podcast series.
Voter wants to be Tinder for politics
Voter co-founder Hunter Scarborough shares the vision and mission behind his new venture.
White House joins with 11 cities for ‘Startup in a Day’ initiative to help businesses launch faster
In an effort to help entrepreneurs get businesses legally established without the red tape hassle, the White House, Small Business Administration and National League of Cities are rallying cities to provide simpler online tools and processes for those applying for licenses and permits.
Sofman joins SmartProcure as government sector EVP
Former Code for America Chief Program Officer Bob Sofman has joined procurement startup SmartProcure as government sector executive vice president.
Accela acquires mobile 311 platform PublicStuff
The service allows citizens to report non-emergency requests, such as potholes and graffiti, via their mobile devices, which are then serviced through a back-end, enterprise customer relationship management system.
Nextdoor now lets neighbors poll one another, better quantify results
The fast-growing, neighborhood-based community platform Nextdoor has launched a new feature, Nextdoor Polls, that now allows neighbors to easily ask one another questions and quantify the results.
GovTribe brings a better user experience to federal government acquisition
In an industry that constantly talks about transforming government procurement, one startup is been quietly making a go of it, and it just keeps getting better.
An investment in the future of government technology
For the past 15 years, I’ve spent much of my professional life working with and in startups. It’s an environment I love. You have complete control over your destiny, and you win by blending the perfect amalgam of people, design, technology, strategy and execution all into one mission.
With BlueLight, there’s a 911 app for that
BlueLight founder and CEO Preet Anand shares his vision for re-inventing 911.
7 characteristics of government technology startups
Code for America recently held a “Bay Area Government Technology Showcase” featuring ventures and investors pitching their ideas, and CfA’s Ashley Meyers and Dharmishta Rood opened the event with an overview of seven traits of the next generation of government technology startups.
Doubling down on government technology
We’ve recently seen an uptick in venture capital interest around government and civic technology startups, but before we enthusiastically celebrate these investments, we must ask ourselves whether this potential bubble will truly reshape government IT or simply leave us five years from now in the same place we are today.
Y Combinator issues request for government-focused startups
Y Combinator posted a list of sectors it’s interested in hearing pitches from in a “request for startups” that includes government-focused ventures.