Constituency engagement has been on the rise over the past decade, with more Americans reaching out to their representatives about issues that matter to them than ever before. This is due in part to how much easier it is to contact elected officials. With sites and apps like Resistbot, Common Cause, My Reps and 5 Calls Civic Action, constituents can get in contact with their representative with just a few clicks. While it’s important for people to contact their representatives, the rise in demand for constituency communications has left many elected officials and their staff with countless emails and voicemails to parse through.
One platform is making it easier for government officials to engage with their constituency. Indigov, which just raised $25 million in Series B funding, is a multi-channel constituent experience management platform that helps public officials organize and engage with those they represent. Reporting and analytics also give officials insight into their constituency, allowing them to more easily keep track of what issues matter most to their base. Currently, Indigov is used by thousands of elected officials who represent more than 150 million Americans at the federal, state and local levels.
“Elected officials desperately need new technology tools to effectively respond to and represent their constituents. With the rising number of constituents trying to reach their elected officials on social media and email, government officials need a way to ingest and triage all communications,” Indigov founder and CEO Alex Kouts told Built In in an email. “Democracy must scale and our mission is to be part of that solution. That is why we are excited to announce a new round of funding that will allow us to continue growing our team and expand to new markets to better equip elected officials with the tools they need.”
According to Indigov, the platform has automated over 70 percent of incoming mail for representatives, reducing response times from over 45 days to less than eight hours. This frees up time for elected officials and their staff to focus on individual responses and agency casework. The platform is also cloud-native and secure, meaning officials can safely engage with their constituents from anywhere.
The latest capital raise was funded by Tusk Venture Partners, 8VC, Wicklow Capital, Align Ventures and Valor Equity Partners. Indigov isn’t Tusk’s first foray into using technology to make government work better for the people. The philanthropic branch of Tusk funds the Mobile Voting Project, a non-profit effort to increase voter turnout by allowing citizens to cast ballots on their mobile devices.
“I spent over a decade working in local, state and federal government before becoming a political advisor and investor,” Tusk Venture Partners co-founder Bradley Tusk said in a statement. “We have seen a lot of companies promise to fix government, but Indigov is the only platform I have seen that is actually providing a solution to a massive problem facing elected officials. The platform is easy to use for elected officials and allows them to spend more time addressing individual needs of constituents.”
Indigov plans to use its new funds to deepen its product offerings and expand into other markets in order to connect more constituents with their representatives across the nation. The company is currently hiring seven positions across its operations, product and sales teams.
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