Election tech startups across the map are designing systems to engage and empower voters to participate in democratic elections. An emerging space that’s tracked closely by PitchBook, these companies are working toward more transparent and inclusive voting processes in order to expand access to the ballot. With the 2020 presidential race in full swing in the United States, we’re taking a closer look at a handful of election tech companies that could shape our voting experiences and interactions with campaigns and candidates in the years to come.
Election tech startups to know
According to PitchBook, $421.63 million has been invested into 27 election tech startups by 88 investors. A handful of these companies have received funding between the 2016 presidential election and present, and they include:
Votem
Founded in 2014, Cleveland’s Votem is out to change the way we vote, and its team believes that mobile voting will create positive change in the world by bringing modern voting to all people.
The Ohio-based startup developed a blockchain-based mobile voting platform designed to securely cast votes in elections. Votem’s platform provides online and mobile voter registration, facilitates absentee ballot requests—crucial for military personnel, US citizens living overseas and disabled voters, and secure verification. The company’s goal is to enable citizens around the world to easily vote online and from their mobile devices with an unprecedented level of verifiability, accessibility, security and transparency. Votem raised an undisclosed amount of late-stage VC funding from Medici Ventures on August 1, 2018.
Resistance Labs
Oakland, California’s Resistance Labs is the developer of a texting technology designed to support progressive movements and campaigns at critical moments.
Founded in 2017, the startup utilizes peer-to-peer texting to help support grassroots progressive activists, recruit candidates to run for office and help those candidates win. The company offers a marketplace for volunteer texters to support progressive activism, candidates and campaigns, and their election support services have been harnessed by candidates like Sean Casten, a representative of Illinois’ 6th Congressional District, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.Resistance Labs raised an undisclosed amount of angel funding from New Media Ventures on July 5, 2018.
Democracy Live
Headquartered in Washington state, Democracy Live aims to offer interactive, 21st century voting tools to all eligible voters in the US and provide compelling, cost-saving products to its public and private sector clients.
The startup’s cloud-based platform provides balloting technology to military, disabled and remote voters via the web and mobile devices. Founded in 2007, Democracy Live calls itself the leading provider of advanced electronic balloting and voter information technologies in the United States. The company has been deployed in more than a thousand elections across 600 jurisdictions and was selected by the US Department of Defense to assist with military voting. The company raised $4.5 million of angel funding in the form of convertible debt in a deal led by Joe Brotherton, Democracy Live’s Chairman of the Board, on November 15, 2018.
Voatz
Founded in 2014, Voatz believes that the future of voting is mobile. The Boston-based company developed a mobile voting application that makes voting safe, convenient and reliable for everyone.
Voatz leverages security features built into the latest versions of smartphone technology, biometrics and blockchain to ensure every vote is secure. All votes submitted via the Voatz platform generate a paper ballot for tabulation, as well as a receipt for voters to verify their selections. Since 2016, the company says more than 110,000 votes have been cast across 67 elections with Voatz. The startup raised $7 million of Series A venture funding in a deal led by Medici Ventures and Techstars in June 2019.
EasyVote
Woodstock, Georgia’s EasyVote is the developer of an election management software designed to automate and streamline key election processes.
More specifically, the company’s election management platform provides election offices with software tools to increase productivity and reduce the cost of running elections. Founded in 2015, EasyVote’s platform helps election offices manage voter registration, early and absentee ballots, voter information updates, voter eligibility and provisional ballots. The startup raised $2.5 million of seed funding in a deal led by Cofounders Capital in October 2018.
The Tuesday Company
Based in Washington, DC, The Tuesday Company operates a civic technology company intended to reimagine political engagement for the digital age.
Founded in 2016, their Team platform allows political campaigns to turn online supporters into digital volunteers by analyzing their social media influence and suggesting peer-to-peer conversations. With Team, users join an online community of supporters and speak directly with their friends about the causes and candidates they care about. Built by organizers and for organizers, the platform empowers a campaign’s supporters to act as organizers, too. As of March 2020, the company is reportedly seeking $1 million of venture funding from undisclosed investors.
What are emerging spaces?
From carbon capture and removal to clean meat and election tech, PitchBook tracks 110+ nascent but growing areas we call emerging spaces. Rolled out at the beginning of 2020 as part of a feature that helps PitchBook users discover niche spaces and identify burgeoning investment trends, we define emerging spaces using a set of criteria developed by our analyst team. Awareness for and interest in the emerging spaces we track in our platform appear promising, but these spaces aren’t yet established to be considered time-tested industry verticals—at least not yet.
Get to know some of PitchBook’s other emerging spaces
- Carbon capture & removal
- Clean meat
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