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OpenGov Raises $25M as Civic Tech Continues to Heat Up

It’s another sign that Silicon Valley investors are warming to the growing civic tech market, long considered unsexy because of its connection to government bureaucracy, which is anathema to the tech world’s fast-moving ethos.

By Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle

OpenGov, the Redwood City company whose online tool helps track how government spends tax dollars, has raised a $25 million round of investment and will welcome venture capitalist Marc Andreessen to its board of directors.

Joining venture firm Andreessen Horowitz in the funding round, announced Thursday, was Intuit founder Scott Cook, actor and tech investor Ashton Kutcher, Glynn Capital, Sound Ventures, Thrive Capital, Formation 8 Partners and AITV. Prior to the funding round, the 3-year-old company had raised $23 million.

It’s another sign that Silicon Valley investors are warming to the growing civic tech market, long considered unsexy because of its connection to government bureaucracy, which is anathema to the tech world’s fast-moving ethos.

But more are recognizing the business opportunities in the roughly $7 trillion of public dollars that flow through federal, state and local government entities. Much of the data generated by those entities is virtually inaccessible to the public because of tech interfaces that are archaic or far from user-friendly.

Now, 500 government agencies in 44 states are using OpenGov. And with 90,000 government entities nationwide, there’s still plenty of room for the company to grow.

“Software is eating the business of governing,” Andreessen said in a statement, “and OpenGov is changing the future of government, giving public agencies at all levels the kinds of financial tools that successful companies use to analyze and manage their business. Better data means a better run government — and that’s good for all of us.”

Andreessen, a member of nine other company boards, including Hewlett-Packard and Facebook, will advise the company on building out its cloud platform and provide guidance on how to grow.

OpenGov co-founder and CEO Zac Bookman was nominated last year for the first Chronicle and St. Mary’s College Visionary of the Year award.

“We are committed to engaging the best minds in the tech industry to help shape the future of government,” said Bookman said in a statement released by the company. “It is inspiring as a CEO to have the passionate support of some of the greatest investors and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. It is a vote of confidence in OpenGov, and in the power of gov tech.”

©2015 the San Francisco Chronicle Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.