Wikipedia

OpenGov

This article is about the company. For the unrelated foundation, see OpenGov Foundation.

OpenGov Inc. is a government technology company that offers cloud software for public sector accounting, planning, budgeting, citizen services, and procurement. OpenGov serves over 1,000 cities, counties, and state agencies across 49 states. In April 2020, OpenGov released a full-cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) system designed specifically for municipal and county governments.[3] In February 2024, minority owner Cox Enterprises agreed to acquire the company.

OpenGov Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryEnterprise software
Founded2012; 12 years ago (2012)
Founders
Headquarters
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Key people
Zac Bookman (CEO)[1]
Products
  • ERP cloud
  • budgeting & planning
  • financials
  • citizen services
Number of employees
c. 700 (2024)[2]
Websiteopengov.com

History edit

OpenGov, which is headquartered in San Francisco,[1] was founded in 2012 by Nate Levine, Dakin Sloss, Joe Lonsdale, and Zachary Bookman in response to the 2008 financial crisis.[4] The company's founders and several advisors met while working with California Common Sense,[5] a non-profit non-partisan organization, which advocates for open data and open government principles. The group founded OpenGov with the long-term goal of bringing a modern cloud ERP to local and state governments.

In February 2024, minority owner Cox Enterprises agreed to acquire OpenGov, valuing the company at $1.8 billion.[1][2]

Campaigns edit

On September 15, 2021, OpenGov announced its "Across America" campaign.[6] As a part of the campaign, the company's CEO, Zac Bookman, embarked on a 4,000-mile cross-country biking tour, stopping along the way to thank local leadership. In support of this campaign, OpenGov also partnered up with Sandra Day O'Connor Institute to increase awareness for civic engagement and civil discourse, among other goals.[7]

Customers edit

As of February 2024, OpenGov serves 1,900 government entities,[2] including state agencies, city governments, school districts, and other special districts. They offer subscriptions to these entities based on the number of products used and the number of employees who need access.[2]

Municipalities edit

The city of Palo Alto was OpenGov's first customer,[8] following a collaboration between the city and employees from nonprofit California Common Sense to launch a comprehensive open data platform.[9]

Other notable municipality customers include Minneapolis, MN,[10] San Antonio, TX,[11] Richmond, VA,[12] Tampa, FL,[13] Savannah,[14] GA, Stamford, CT, Scranton, PA, Chapel Hill, NC, Topeka, KS, Lubbock, TX, and San Antonio, TX.[15]

Following a chain of cyberattacks and scandals, the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, partnered up with OpenGov to use its cloud based ERP to restore public trust, improve safety, and accelerate the city's operations. The city's Business Administrator, Karl Deeley, stated that Scranton's operations had not undergone any major changes since the 1980s, so its partnership with OpenGov will enable the city to decrease reliance on its old infrastructure.[16]

In September 2021, the municipality of Durango, Colorado, announced its partnership with OpenGov to increase transparency with its citizens by allowing them to view the city's finances, as well as the spending of other government entities, real time. The effort to increase transparency came after Durango's former finance director, Julie Brown, was caught embezzling over $700,000 across 11 years. Durango also lost millions of dollars through clerical errors in 2019, which OpenGov's software could reduce and prevent down the road.[17]

OpenGov is being used by the city of Los Angeles to prepare for the 2028 Summer Olympics.[1]

Counties edit

Notable county customers of OpenGov include Dallas County,[18] Middlesex County, New Jersey, and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.[19]

In June 2021, Crook County, Oregon, joined OpenGov's list of clients when it started to use OpenGov's budget and financing software, enabling residents to interact with the budget. Crook County's budgeting was done by a small team, so the county decided to automate its budgeting process through OpenGov, improving the efficiency and the effectiveness of the budgeting process.[20]

States edit

In 2019, the State of West Virginia partnered with OpenGov to launch statewide financial reporting between the State and West Virginia municipalities, after having launched a transparency initiative with OpenGov in the previous year.[21]

In 2020, the State of Idaho Controller's Office, which had already used OpenGov software to improve fiscal transparency,[22] began using OpenGov to manage CARES Act grant funding due to the COVID-19 crisis.[23]

Schools and special districts edit

Notable OpenGov school and special district customers include the Menlo Park City School District,[24] Cal Poly San Luis Obispo,[25] Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia, Cincinnati Public Schools in Ohio,[26] Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority in Virginia, and the Jackson County Water and Sewerage Authority in Georgia.[27]

Companies edit

In July 2022, OpenGov acquired Cartegraph, a public cloud software developer, with funding from Cox Enterprises.[28]

In June 2021, OpenGov acquired ProcureNow to enable its customers to run budgeting, procurement and financial operations through the same vendor.[29]

In April 2020, OpenGov launched the first fully-integrated cloud ERP designed specifically for local government, which consists of a fully-integrated Reporting & Transparency Platform as well as three comprehensive software suites: Budgeting & Planning, Accounting, Financial Management, and Citizen Services.[30]

In September 2019, OpenGov acquired ViewPoint Cloud, a platform used by city and state governments to manage community development operations, such as permitting, licensing, inspections, and code enforcement.[31]

In October 2017, OpenGov acquired government-serving tech company, Peak Democracy of Berkeley, California,[32][33] to expand its public engagement, communication, and feedback tools.

In April 2016, OpenGov acquired Ontodia, a leading developer of Open data CKAN, allowing OpenGov to expand its Reporting & Transparency suite.[34]

In October 2020, OpenGov acquired ClearRec, a Texas-based company, to incorporate its step-by-step bank reconciliation process technology into the OpenGov ERP Cloud.[35]

Partners edit

On January 11, 2021, OpenGov announced its partnership with Fyllo, a cannabis compliance software company, to streamline the ability of local municipalities to not only write and approve new cannabis regulations, but to also create a thorough compliance tracking solution.[36]

Advisors edit

OpenGov is advised by experts from the technology, financial, and public service sectors.[37] Examples include:

Funding edit

OpenGov has raised $128 million from venture capital and angel investors.[citation needed] A$3 million Series A round in 2012 included venture funds 8VC, Founder Collective, Valiant Capital, and "a number of high-profile angel investors."[38] In 2013, the company raised $4 million in further investment from 8VC and new investor Thrive Capital.[38]

On May 15, 2014, OpenGov announced a new $15 million Series B round of funding[39] including investments from Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, Group 11, Streamlined Ventures, Sway Ventures, and Thrive Capital.[40]

An additional $25 million Series B round in October 2015 included additional investments from Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, Thrive Capital, and Sway Ventures, as well as new investors Glynn Capital, Scott Cook, and Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary’s Sound Ventures.[41] Marc Andreessen was also added to the board during the October 15, 2015, round.

In May 2017, the company raised $30 million in a Series C founding round[42] and in September 2019, the startup picked up an additional $51 million in a Series D round led by Weatherford Capital and 8VC (Lonsdale's investment firm), with participation from existing investor Andreessen Horowitz.[43]

In mid-August 2021, Weatherford Capital, a private investment firm in Florida, closed nearly $355 million in its first round of investments for the government technology space, with OpenGov being one of the multiple civic technology companies that received a portion of the investments.[44]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Thomas, Lauren (February 26, 2024). "Cox Enterprises Strikes $1.8 Billion Deal for Government-Software Provider". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 27, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Trubey, J. Scott (February 27, 2024). "Cox Enterprises buys majority stake in government software firm OpenGov". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Archived from the original on February 28, 2024.
  3. ^ "Discover OpenGov and Our Bold Mission".
  4. ^ "Plattsburgh, N.Y., Inks Deal with OpenGov Budgeting Software". GovTech. October 30, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  5. ^ "CACS Team". California Common Sense. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  6. ^ "OpenGov Across America". OpenGov. September 16, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  7. ^ "OpenGov Launches "OpenGov Across America" Campaign In Support of Local Government Leaders and Public Service" (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  8. ^ "Delphi builds data tool for Palo Alto". Silicon Valley Business Journal. October 5, 2011. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  9. ^ "City of Palo Alto Continues Open Government Push with Launch of "Open Budget"". HighBeam Research. September 21, 2012. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  10. ^ "StackPath". opengov.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020.
  11. ^ "OpenGov – San Antonio Finance and Budget Visualization".
  12. ^ "StackPath". opengov.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020.
  13. ^ "How Tampa Is Transforming Their Budget Process For Tomorrow". OpenGov. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
  14. ^ "StackPath". opengov.com. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  15. ^ "Proposed Stormwater Management Program – Spanish".
  16. ^ "After Hack and Scandal, Scranton, Pa., Focuses on Cloud ERP". GovTech. May 28, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  17. ^ Johnson, Nicholas A. "Durango to launch transparent OpenGov budget resource next week". Durango Herald. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  18. ^ "Dallas County, Redding, Calif., Pompano Beach, Fla., and others using OpenGov Reporting & Transparency Platform to Enable Crisis Communications and Virtual Council Meetings" (Press release).
  19. ^ "Open Data: Suffolk County, New York". Suffolk County. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  20. ^ "Crook County, Oregon, Goes Live with OpenGov Budgeting & Planning" (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  21. ^ "The State of West Virginia Partners with OpenGov to Modernize Statewide Financial Reporting".
  22. ^ "The State of Idaho Partners with OpenGov to Launch Transparent Idaho Initiative".
  23. ^ "The State of Idaho Selects OpenGov CARES Act Grants Application Management Solution".
  24. ^ "MPCSD's OpenGov". district.mpcsd.org. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  25. ^ "Cal Poly Demonstrates Commitment to Open Communication Using New Budget Platform – OpenGov". OpenGov. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  26. ^ "OpenGov". Cincinnati Public Schools. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  27. ^ McCann, Bailey (December 6, 2016). "Jackson County, GA Taps OpenGov For Budgeting". Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  28. ^ Drew Kann (July 29, 2022). "Cloud software acquisition completed with Cox Enterprises investment". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  29. ^ "OpenGov Jumps Into Procurement With Startup Acquisition". GovTech. June 23, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  30. ^ "OpenGov Completes Cloud ERP Suite with Accounting Software". April 28, 2020.
  31. ^ "OpenGov acquires ViewPoint Cloud, to add licensing and permitting functionality to its platform". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  32. ^ "Exclusive: OpenGov Acquires Peak Democracy, Aims for Citizen Feedback Across Product Lines". govtech.com. October 20, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  33. ^ "OpenGov expands the meaning of transparency with latest acquisition". StateScoop. October 25, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  34. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (April 13, 2016). "OpenGov acquires Ontodia to add open-sourced data to its civic intelligence platform". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  35. ^ "OpenGov Acquires ClearRec for Government Accounting Software". govtech.com. October 14, 2020. Retrieved March 29, 2021.
  36. ^ Fyllo. "OpenGov and Fyllo Announce Strategic Partnership to Create the First Comprehensive Cannabis Licensing, Regulatory and Compliance Tracking Solution for Local Governments" (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  37. ^ "OpenGov Advisors". OpenGov. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  38. ^ a b "OpenGov Receives $4M for Transparency Software". SiliconANGLE. July 3, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  39. ^ By Tom Cheredar, Venture Beat. "/ OpenGov has another $15M to show how governments spend your money." May 15, 2014. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  40. ^ By Balaji S. Srinivasan, Andreessen Horowitz. "/ OpenGov: The Startup Analyzing $50B in Spending." September 24, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  41. ^ Buhr, Sarah (October 15, 2015). "OpenGov Picks Up $25 Million More And Adds Marc Andreessen To The Board". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  42. ^ "OpenGov Raises $30M in Series C Round, Plans More Product Launches". May 16, 2017.
  43. ^ "OpenGov raises $51M to boost its cloud-based IT services for government and civic organizations". September 3, 2019.
  44. ^ "Weatherford Raises $355M for Gov Tech and Other Investments". GovTech. August 19, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
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