Last week, Government Technology magazine released its fifth annual GovTech 100 list. The GovTech 100 was created to recognize technology companies that were primarily focused on state and local government as a customer. The GovTech 100 is curated by Government Technology’s editorial team with input from market experts, government officials, investors, and a variety of data partnerships – including Crunchbase. On the GovTech 100, you’ll see companies both big and small and new and old – but equally focused on government as their customer.
5 years ago, gov tech had an ‘app store’ moment of sorts, where the market began to experience a tipping point similar to Apple’s launch of the iOS AppStore in 2008. This was driven by a perfect storm of new digital infrastructure maturity (such as cloud computing and software-as-a-service applications), more flexible procurement regulations, available capital from investors, new tech-savvy C-level executives in government, and an ecosystem of supporting organizations like Code for America, Living Cities, and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Gov tech on the rise
What many may not realize is that gov tech is not a new market category. It has a deep history that predates the Internet. Over the decades the market has been shaped by other market-defining moments, such as the first push for state and local government to have a website in the 1990s (what we called e-Government) or the rise of open data and civic technology in the 2000s (what we called Government 2.0 and CivicTech).
Fast forward to today and state and local government agencies spend more than $3 trillion annually – with approximately $107.6 billion just on technology. Since the GovTech 100 was first released in 2015, investors have pumped $1.95 billion into US-based gov tech firms to help them rise to the challenge and rapidly scale. In addition, the funding landscape around gov tech companies continues to diversify as the market has matured, with countless new investors entering the market and existing investors expanding their footprint.
Data Source: Crunchbase Pro
Data Source: Crunchbase Pro
New Companies for 2020 GovTech 100:
The 2020 GovTech list saw many new entrants across all industries, including Administration & Finance, Health & Human Services (HHS), Public Safety, Public Works, and Transportation. Here’s a breakdown of the new companies on the list for 2020:
Administration & Finance
- Civis Analytics – Civis Analytics helps leading commercial, nonprofit and government organizations leverage data to make better decisions.
- PrimeGov – PrimeGov’s software streamlines legislative management and facilities collaboration.
- UrbanLeap – UrbanLeap offers software that helps governments run pilot projects to test new technologies.
- Rock Solid – Rock Solid Technologies develops technology for state and local government agencies and recently acquired a popular citizen engagement technology called Citysourced.
Health & Human Services
- Cardinality.ai – Cardinality.ai is an AI_based case management platform for health and human services.
Public Safety
- 3AM Innovations – 3Am’s FLARE technology helps improve firefighters’ situational awareness and safety during emergencies.
Public Works
- Citibot – Citibot allows citizens to directly text message their governments to report issues and ask questions.
- FATHOM – FATHOM provides utilities with smart water meters and the software that supports them.
- Utilis – Utilis uses satellite imagery to monitor underground water systems and detect leaks.
- 120WaterAudit – 120WaterAudit offers cloud-based water management software.
- Varuna – Varuna’s dashboards gather water utility data and make predictions and recommendations for improvement.
Environment & Natural Resources
- Planet – Planet’s small satellites help cities map, analyze and manage land and urban growth.
Transportation
- Cubic – Technology from Cubic Corporation modernizes fare payment for transit systems and also serves the defense market.
- Replica – Replica is a tool to help public agencies use transportation data to improve urban land use.
- Waycare – Waycare helps cities manage their roads by harnessing municipal traffic data.
For a deeper dive, you can read more on Government Technology’s take of the 2020 GovTech 100 or watch the pre-recorded announcement webcast here. Also make sure to explore the full list at https://www.govtech.com/100. You can also read more about the 2019 Govtech 100 at https://about.crunchbase.com/blog/top-govtech-companies-2019.
Dustin Haisler is the Chief Innovation Officer for e.Republic – the nation’s leading state and local government media and research company – and the parent company of Government Technology, Governing, and the Center for Digital Government. Dustin also serves as an Eisenhower Fellow (2019 Zhi-Xing Program) and Program Faculty for the Texas State Certified Public Management Program (CPM).
