15 Exploding GovTech Companies & Startups
Local and state governments are increasingly relying on private innovation to modernize the public sector.
According to the World Economic Forum, the global govtech market size is expected to eclipse $1 trillion by 2028.
From AI and blockchain technologies to cybersecurity and data privacy, govtech can increase public sector efficiency while lowering costs.
Below is our list of exploding govtech companies worth watching in 2024 as the industry is set for major growth.
1. Flock Safety
5-year search growth: 890%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2016
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
Funding: $380.5M (Series E)
What they do: Flock Safety is a govtech startup that sells license plate recognition (LPR) cameras and other public safety tech to law enforcement agencies and local governments. Unlike traditional LPR cameras, Flock Safety uses machine learning to capture license plates and vehicle characteristics and send automated alerts to law enforcement. As of February 2024, this tech is functional in 4,000 cities in 42 US states.
2. Chainalysis
5-year search growth: 216%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2014
Location: New York, New York
Funding: $536.6M (Secondary Market)
What they do: Primarily used by banks, governments, and law enforcement, Chainalysis provides blockchain analysis services to track illicit cryptocurrency transactions. The software platform scans the public blockchain using four key clustering heuristics to map transaction and wallet activity. The startup estimates they've monitored over $10 trillion in transactions and helped recover more than $11 billion in stolen funds.
3. CivicPlus
5-year search growth: 58%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2010
Location: Manhattan, Kansas
Funding: $366M (Series C)
What they do: CivicPlus is a civic engagement platform where local governments and municipalities can increase engagement with their citizens and streamline digital operations. The platform allows users to build custom-branded municipal websites, manage emergencies and send alerts, accept and track service requests, and more.
CivicPlus supports 10,000 global entities and 340 million residents in the United States and Canada.
4. Zencity
5-year search growth: -16%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2015
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Funding: $91.2M (Series C)
What they do: Zencity is an AI-powered community trust platform used by local governments to gather and analyze resident feedback data. Users can create surveys, compare their own data to similar communities, and build customizable reports. Over 350 government agencies use the platform every day, including leaders from Los Angeles, Chicago, and Ft. Lauderdale.
In June 2024, the startup secured $40 million in Series C funding to fund new hires and expand the company's artificial intelligence capabilities.
5. UniCourt
5-year search growth: 453%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2014
Location: Tustin, California
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: UniCourt is a Legal Data as a Service startup that provides real-time court data and legal analytics for case tracking and research. The UniCourt database contains over 700 million court documents and 3 billion docket entries.
6. Elliptic
5-year search growth: 14%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2013
Location: London, England
Funding: $100M (Series C)
What they do: Elliptic is a blockchain analytics company that provides crypto compliance, risk management, and transaction monitoring. Primarily, the startup supports crypto businesses like Coinbase and Wirex but they also help financial intelligence units and law enforcement agencies with transaction tracking and forensic investigation. They screen an estimated $1 billion in crypto transactions every week.
7. Shield AI
5-year search growth: 488%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2015
Location: San Diego, California
Funding: $1.1B (Debt Financing)
What they do: Shield AI is a defense company providing AI-driven drones, fighter pilots, and technology to the US government and international militaries. Notably, the company has developed Hivemind, an AI pilot that can react like a human pilot without GPS, waypoints, or comms. In December 2023, they announced $500 million in Series F funding.
8. Numero
5-year search growth: 79%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2019
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: Undisclosed
What they do: Numero is fintech software for political campaigns. The platform streamlines the fundraising process for publicly elected officials and candidates by offering a donor CRM database, payment processor, and event management system. Since launching, Numero has supported 1,000+ campaigns and raised more than $2 billion in donations.
9. OpenGov
5-year search growth: 111%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2012
Location: San Jose, California
Funding: $178M (Series E)
What they do: A public sector software platform, OpenGov offers accounting, budgeting, asset management, and procurement for local governments and state agencies. Currently, the startup supports more than 1,900 public agencies, including city governments, school districts, etc.
10. Accela
5-year search growth: 90%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 1999
Location: San Ramon, California
Funding: $215.6M (Private Equity)
What they do: Accela, the most-funded govtech startup in the industry, is a software platform that offers permitting, licensing, code enforcement, and service request features. In March 2024, Fast Company named Accela the 8th most innovative company for enterprises. The startup provides digital government services to more than 300 million citizens.
11. Token Transit
5-year search growth: 33%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2015
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: $4.1M (Seed Round)
What they do: Token Transit is a ticketing app where users can pre-pay for public transit on their mobile devices. Inside the app, users can access a ticket wallet to manage their existing multi-day tickets and pre-paid transit passes. Today, they handle mobile ticketing for 200+ transit agencies in the United States and Canada.
12. ClearGov
5-year search growth: 7,500%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2015
Location: Maynard, Massachusetts
Funding: $29.2M (Series Unknown)
What they do: A budget cycle management software, ClearGov helps local governments streamline their annual budgeting processes. The startup’s ClearBudgets suite of tools includes capital, personnel, and operational budgeting for public sector departments, including governments, counties, and school districts.
As of February 2024, ClearGov supports over 1,000 budgeting customers with a 98% customer satisfaction score.
13. Hayden AI
5-year search growth: 6,522%
Search growth status: Regular
Year founded: 2019
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: $83.2M (Series B)
What they do: Named a GovTech 100 company for the fourth year in a row, Hayden AI has developed a mobile perception platform to improve public transit safety. The platform's camera system uses computer vision, embedded 5G connectivity, and geospatial analytics to detect traffic violations, monitor parking, and create a more efficient traffic flow.
The company has installed 500 bus-mounted cameras in NYC that have increased bus lane stopping compliance. In October 2023, Hayden AI raised $53 million in Series B funding to continue expanding globally.
14. Swiftly
5-year search growth: 131%
Search growth status: Exploding
Year founded: 2014
Location: San Francisco, California
Funding: $27.3M (Private Equity)
What they do: Swiftly is a public transportation startup that tracks billions of data points to modernize transit operations. The platform provides real-time passenger information and historical insights to improve transit agency reliability and the rider experience. Swiftly operates in more than 100 cities and tracks over 1.6 billion passenger trips each year.
15. PermitFlow
5-year search growth: 340%
Search growth status: Peaked
Year founded: 2021
Location: San Jose, California
Funding: $36.5M (Series A)
What they do: PermitFlow is a construction permit management platform for general contractors, developers, and builders. Users can manage permit research, preparation, submission, tracking, and expediting in one place. In February 2024, the company raised $31 million in Series A funding to expand and make the permitting process more efficient.
Conclusion
This concludes our list of the top govtech companies in 2024.
It’s clear that these startups are taking on some of the most pressing public sector issues, including public transportation, government budgeting, public safety, and more.
Another trend among these startups is implementing AI to modernize workflows like resident data collection and political campaign fundraising. We expect this trend to continue in 2024 and beyond.
