Higher Ground Labs

Founded in 2017 and based in Chicago, Illinois, Higher Ground Labs is an incubator that invests in early-stage companies focused on developing progressive political technology. It provides capital, assistance, programming, and mentorship to support these innovative ventures.

Betsy Hoover

Founder and Managing Partner

Vin Morada

Vice President, Investments

53 past transactions

Momentum

Seed Round in 2024
Momentum is a behavioral-driven fundraising platform founded in 2018 and headquartered in Oakland, California. It enables users to make automatic donations that turn everyday activities into opportunities for charitable giving. By allowing individuals to set predefined giving rules, the platform facilitates donations to a selection of trustworthy nonprofit organizations aligned with users' interests, such as adding a percentage to their restaurant bills to support those in need. Momentum focuses on donor stewardship and impact tracking, ensuring that users can easily contribute to meaningful causes while managing their day-to-day tasks. The company emphasizes evidence-based charity recommendations to maximize the effectiveness of donations.

Quiller

Pre Seed Round in 2023
Quiller is a technology company that specializes in developing artificial intelligence software for political campaigns. Its primary product is an AI copilot designed to assist in creating high-quality, impactful fundraising content. The platform offers automated email drafting, a customizable interface, and various tools and resources to help political candidates and fundraisers craft compelling content that resonates with their audience.

Measure Studio

Seed Round in 2023
Measure Studio develops a platform for creating data-driven social media content strategies. It consolidates and analyzes social media data from multiple platforms, enabling digital publishers, brands, agencies, and influencers to improve their content. The platform offers a secure environment for managing analytics.

Plural

Seed Round in 2023
Plural is a company that provides public policy tools to help teams save time and discover opportunities in workflows.

JusticeText

Seed Round in 2022
JusticeText is a company that specializes in audiovisual evidence management, providing a software platform designed specifically for criminal defense attorneys and the justice system. Founded in 2019 and based in Chicago, Illinois, JusticeText offers a tool that automates the transcription of video evidence, including body camera footage, interrogation videos, and jail calls. Its features include speaker recognition, timestamped notes, video clipping, and transcript editing, which facilitate the efficient processing and incorporation of crucial audio and video evidence in legal defense. By expediting the review of this evidence, JusticeText aims to promote fairer outcomes within the criminal justice system, particularly for public defenders representing clients in legal proceedings.

Plural

Series A in 2022
Plural is a company that provides public policy tools to help teams save time and discover opportunities in workflows.

Civic Eagle

Series A in 2022
Civic Eagle, Inc. is a software company that specializes in providing a workflow solution for advocates and policy teams. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Minnesota, Civic Eagle offers a platform called Enview, which integrates state and federal bills with team communications. This platform enables lobbyists, policy professionals, and government affairs teams to efficiently discover, analyze, and manage legislation without manual effort. By streamlining the process of tracking and working with legislation across the country, Civic Eagle allows policy advocates to concentrate on impactful campaigns, ultimately aiming to foster better democratic outcomes for individuals and communities.

OpenGrants

Convertible Note in 2022
OpenGrants is a grant search engine and marketplace that connects organizations with non-dilutive funding opportunities. The company provides a comprehensive platform that features a database of grants from various sources, including government agencies, foundations, and corporations. This enables users to independently search for grants or hire independent grant consultants to assist in identifying, applying for, and managing funding opportunities. By streamlining the grant search process, OpenGrants aims to enhance the efficiency and accessibility of funding for companies and organizations seeking financial support.

Civitech

Series A in 2022
Civitech is a political technology company that focuses on leveraging technology to address civic challenges and enhance democratic processes. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, Civitech develops an integration platform that supports political candidates, campaign staff, and volunteers. Its flagship product, CampaignOS, serves as a central hub for managing campaign activities and resources, facilitating the recruitment and coordination of campaign personnel. The company aims to empower democratic candidates, promote progressive causes, and improve the ability of local governments to serve their communities more effectively. By increasing civic participation and providing tools for organizations, Civitech strives to create a more equitable democracy.

Greenfly

Venture Round in 2021
Greenfly is a software platform that automates the capture, collection, organization, and distribution of digital media for sports, entertainment, and brands. It provides digital asset management and content collaboration tools that support brand ambassador programs, fan engagement, and monetization by delivering short-form videos and photos to staff, partners, athletes, and audiences in real time. Founded in 2014 and based in Santa Monica, California, Greenfly enables brands and organizations to grow audiences and revenue through streamlined workflows and mobile access.

Goodstock

Seed Round in 2021
Goodstock & Co. is a company dedicated to producing products that connect like-minded individuals and celebrate positive causes. Founded by professionals with extensive experience in political campaigns and advocacy, the company offers an e-commerce platform that facilitates the establishment of merchandise stores for various campaigns. This platform is designed to enhance fundraising efforts and increase visibility for causes, while alleviating users from the complexities and costs associated with traditional systems. By empowering communities and individuals who share common values, Goodstock aims to foster connections and support initiatives that resonate with their audience.

GroundBase

Seed Round in 2021
GroundBase is a technology company that specializes in providing affordable and user-friendly organizing tools tailored for progressive campaigns. Its platform features personalized contact tools, SMS and email capabilities for outreach, and resources for door-knocking and calls. Additionally, GroundBase offers an API that facilitates integration with other platforms, empowering organizers, activists, and advocates to effectively manage and engage with voters, volunteers, and donors. By focusing on the unique needs of progressive campaigns, GroundBase aims to create lasting advantages for its users in their organizing efforts.

Measure Studio

Seed Round in 2021
Measure Studio develops a platform for creating data-driven social media content strategies. It consolidates and analyzes social media data from multiple platforms, enabling digital publishers, brands, agencies, and influencers to improve their content. The platform offers a secure environment for managing analytics.

Votus

Seed Round in 2021
Votus is an engagement and data analytics platform focused on enhancing civic representation. The company collects public data on civic issues from various internal and external sources and connects this information to specific voting districts and elected officials. This approach facilitates engagement among neighbors within districts, allowing them to reach consensus on important issues and engage in solution-oriented discussions with their representatives. Additionally, Votus provides tools for organizations to build relationships with persuadable audiences through personalized interactions across multiple digital channels. The platform offers custom data reports that include detailed analytics such as topic analysis, geolocation insights, sentiment analysis, and influencer identification, enabling clients to effectively connect and engage with their audiences across various social networks.

Vocal Media

Seed Round in 2021
Vocal Media is a new venture with a low-end disruption to traditional advertising media that is designed to target hard-to-reach, ethnic immigrant populations living in America. We will reach these target markets by utilizing a new form of advertising space created by the dead-air time in international phone calls. As immigrant populations continue to grow in America, and their buying power continues to increase, advertisers are urgently searching for new and innovative ways to effectively tap this lucrative customer base.

Unpacking

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Unpacking develops a gamified learning platform and professional network focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion to shape healthy workplace cultures for individuals and teams. The platform offers gamified diversity training and interactive experiences that bring together cohorts such as business departments, executive leaders, remote teams, faculty, and study abroad students, helping participants coordinate and work more effectively as a team.

New/Mode

Seed Round in 2020
Founded in 2016, New/Mode develops a values-based digital platform that empowers grassroots activists with targeted engagement tools. These tools include one-click calling, emailing, letter writing, social media campaigns, and more, enabling users to effectively communicate with decision-makers and drive change.

Mobilize

Series A in 2020
Mobilize is an event management and volunteer recruitment platform designed for mission-driven organizations and their supporters. The platform facilitates the recruitment of volunteers, provides organizers with timely updates, and enables the sharing of events with partners. By optimizing social recruitment and leveraging cross-promotions, Mobilize effectively connects activists, progressive organizations, and democratic campaigns, helping them to mobilize resources and achieve their goals.

Wethos

Seed Round in 2019
Wethos Virtual Studios enables solo business owners to expand their capabilities by swiftly assembling teams of skilled creatives and marketers. The platform employs agile methodologies to deliver tailored branding, web development, digital content creation, and growth campaigns in real-time.

SpeakEasy Political

Pre Seed Round in 2019
SpeakEasy Political empowers political campaigns by providing affordable access to top-tier communication tools. Its platform enables campaigns to create their own direct mail and digital ads using pre-built, poll-tested templates combined with their own content, eliminating the need for expensive consultants.

Main Street One

Seed Round in 2019
Main Street One is a technology company founded in 2017 and based in the United States, dedicated to combating misinformation. The company specializes in repairing harmful narratives and promoting positive ones for various causes, campaigns, and companies. Main Street One utilizes an advanced intelligence system to monitor public discourse, identifying opportunities to shift narratives effectively. It provides tools and content designed to influence public perception and change outcomes in favor of its clients.

Torch

Seed Round in 2019
Torch.tv, Inc. is a digital content platform established in 2016 and based in New York City. The company specializes in tracking and aggregating international content from mission-driven organizations and individuals. Torch provides a real-time intelligence platform that enhances fundraising, communications, and advocacy efforts for these organizations. Its technology allows users to collect and sort various digital media, including emails, social media feeds, blog posts, and videos, into a customizable dashboard. Additionally, Torch enables organizations to create watchlists for monitoring digital outreach, pin important posts for review, and conduct keyword searches across different types of content, facilitating effective engagement and analysis in the mission-driven sector.

PredictWise

Seed Round in 2019
PredictWise, LLC is a research and consulting firm established in 2010 and headquartered in New York, New York. The company specializes in providing insights into public opinion and political outcomes through a combination of market design, survey design, and the analysis of various data sources, including behavioral data and social media. Its subscription-based dashboard delivers continuous streams of attitudinal and behavioral data, allowing clients to activate and grow their audience effectively. PredictWise's platform integrates custom data and employs algorithmic curation to support advertising and marketing campaigns tailored to specific demographics or individuals. The firm has generated revenue by serving progressive campaigns, advocacy organizations, and prominent media partners, further establishing its presence in the political and financial polling landscape.

Outfox Ai

Seed Round in 2019
Founded in 2018, Outfox Ai specializes in digital tools and marketing for ecommerce and political campaigns. Its platform offers customized solutions for businesses and self-service tools for political and non-profit organizations to optimize online and social ads, raise funds, and engage audiences.

OpenField

Pre Seed Round in 2019
OpenField is a mobile-first community organizing tool that empowers organizations, political campaigns, nonprofits, and advocacy groups to enhance their outreach efforts. The platform facilitates various forms of engagement, including traditional canvassing, deep canvassing, phone banking, and voter registration. Its unique Intelligent Auto Turf Cutter allows users to quickly create walkable canvassing areas across cities, while the natural language notes capture and analytics feature transforms individual responses into actionable insights. As the only tool offering these capabilities, OpenField is designed to be highly scalable, suitable for both local initiatives and national campaigns. The application is user-friendly, enabling most individuals to become proficient in its use within minutes and without formal training. Founded by Arianna Trujillo-Wesler and Emily Del Beccaro, OpenField has gained recognition for its innovative approach, winning the Best Software as a Service award at the 2021 Campaigns & Elections CampaignTech Awards. Trujillo-Wesler, an expert in community organizing and political technology, and Del Beccaro, a veteran in national data management, bring significant experience to the company's mission of building community power.

Countable

Seed Round in 2019
Countable provides virtual community management for corporations, nonprofits, and political campaigns. It uses technology to communicate and strengthen human interconnectedness, delivering technology solutions that facilitate community engagement.

Warchest

Seed Round in 2019
Warchest is a collaborative campaign budgeting and analytics platform

Impactive

Seed Round in 2019
Impactive is a digital platform empowering progressive campaigns and causes. It offers tools for organizing, outreach, fundraising, sharing stories, recruiting volunteers, and encouraging voter participation.

Gatheround

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Gatheround is a team bonding and community engagement platform that focuses on fostering authentic human connections within organizations. Designed for people-centric environments, the platform offers a video chat solution that enhances virtual meetings through interactive tools and pre-built templates. By prioritizing depth and authenticity, Gatheround enables teams to collaborate and brainstorm effectively, addressing the challenges of disconnection in a digital age. Its approach makes it easy for organizations to bring individuals together online in a manner that is both enjoyable and meaningful, ultimately strengthening team dynamics and relationships.

Human Agency

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Human Agency empowers individuals and organizations with digital advertising tools to amplify their voice online. They offer services such as business optimization, performance marketing, branding, web development, data analytics, and AI integration to drive growth and navigate industry challenges.

SameSide

Seed Round in 2018
SameSide, LLC is a Los Angeles-based company that operates an events platform aimed at fostering community engagement in activism and supporting entrepreneurs. Founded in 2017, the platform connects various events and gatherings to specific causes, allowing organizers to raise money and awareness for issues they are passionate about. By enabling individuals and organizations to align their events with meaningful initiatives, SameSide empowers grassroots political action through cultural activities such as music, arts, and food. The platform facilitates interesting experiences that not only engage supporters but also unlock opportunities for political activism, making it easier for individuals to contribute to causes they care about while hosting events.

New/Mode

Seed Round in 2018
Founded in 2016, New/Mode develops a values-based digital platform that empowers grassroots activists with targeted engagement tools. These tools include one-click calling, emailing, letter writing, social media campaigns, and more, enabling users to effectively communicate with decision-makers and drive change.

Avalanche Strategy

Seed Round in 2018
Avalanche Strategy is a Vancouver-based company that specializes in communication and public relations services tailored for election candidates. By leveraging the principles of human cognition, the company designs effective communication strategies aimed at resonating with diverse audiences. Its clientele includes political leaders, parties, business executives, funders, and government programs, as well as other businesses seeking to enhance their outreach efforts. Avalanche Strategy's mission is to empower clients to inspire action, whether it be voting, volunteering, or investing in new ideas, thereby transforming innovative concepts into tangible successes.

Swayable

Seed Round in 2018
Swayable is a media analytics platform that helps marketers test and refine advertising content before launch. By combining randomized controlled trials with data science, the platform isolates the persuasive elements of creative assets for specific audience segments. Its Persuasion Intelligence data framework enables organizations to understand how different creative choices influence attitudes and behaviors, allowing them to craft more effective communication campaigns.

5 Calls

Seed Round in 2018
5 Calls allows citizens to call the government that is supposed to represent them.

Voter Protection Partners

Seed Round in 2018
Voter Protection Partners is a Washington, D.C.-based organization founded in 2017 that focuses on enhancing voter protection efforts for political campaigns. The organization provides comprehensive services that include advising campaigns on program design, election day operations, and rapid response strategies. It operates secure tools for managing voter protection teams and for tracking, analyzing, and addressing voting incidents and election administration issues. By collecting and maintaining anonymous voter protection data, Voter Protection Partners offers actionable insights and recommendations that span multiple campaign cycles. Additionally, the organization has developed a mobile application called Guard Donkey, which uses location sharing to assist campaigns in mobilizing volunteers effectively. Through its initiatives, Voter Protection Partners aims to ensure that every vote earned is a vote counted, thereby strengthening the democratic process.

Grow Progress

Seed Round in 2018
Grow Progress is a company that develops tools to help progressive campaigns and social change advocates test and optimize messaging to persuade audiences. Its platform uses behavioral science and data-driven insights to understand audience identities and values, rapidly evaluating message effectiveness and predicting personality traits to tailor communication to the right people. The company serves campaigns, agencies, and social good organizations, providing methods to refine messaging and improve campaign outcomes by revealing which content resonates and how to influence potential supporters.

FactSquared

Pre Seed Round in 2018
FactSquared is a technology company that specializes in developing advanced, AI-powered research platforms tailored for media, politics, and finance. Its flagship product, Factbase, utilizes unique models for each subject to deliver high-accuracy, low-cost analytics, enabling users to conduct rapid and effective analysis of video, audio, and text content. The company employs machine learning and neural networks to convert unstructured data from various sources—including videos, audio files, PDFs, and images—into structured, searchable formats. Additionally, FactSquared operates factba.se as a public service aimed at enhancing transparency in political discourse.

Change Research

Seed Round in 2018
Change Research offers rapid, precise, and cost-effective public opinion polling services using advanced technology. It serves political campaigns and causes, delivering representative voter insights within a short timeframe.

calltime.ai

Seed Round in 2018
CallTime.AI operates a telephone fundraising platform designed to enhance efficiency through automation and artificial intelligence. Based in Visalia, California, the company was established in 2017 with the mission to optimize the call time process for political campaigns. The platform compiles social, political, and public data points into detailed donor profiles and employs machine learning to analyze call and donor metrics. This approach aims to make telephone fundraising more effective and less time-consuming, addressing a critical need for campaigns that rely heavily on this method for income.

Civic Eagle

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Civic Eagle, Inc. is a software company that specializes in providing a workflow solution for advocates and policy teams. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Minnesota, Civic Eagle offers a platform called Enview, which integrates state and federal bills with team communications. This platform enables lobbyists, policy professionals, and government affairs teams to efficiently discover, analyze, and manage legislation without manual effort. By streamlining the process of tracking and working with legislation across the country, Civic Eagle allows policy advocates to concentrate on impactful campaigns, ultimately aiming to foster better democratic outcomes for individuals and communities.

Swayable

Seed Round in 2018
Swayable is a media analytics platform that helps marketers test and refine advertising content before launch. By combining randomized controlled trials with data science, the platform isolates the persuasive elements of creative assets for specific audience segments. Its Persuasion Intelligence data framework enables organizations to understand how different creative choices influence attitudes and behaviors, allowing them to craft more effective communication campaigns.

Qriously

Series A in 2017
Qriously is a global market research company that specializes in real-time, location-based sentiment analysis. It offers a software-as-a-service platform that replaces ads with surveys in mobile applications, enabling businesses to gather insights from diverse audiences worldwide. The company, founded in 2010, is headquartered in London with offices in New York and Los Angeles, and operates as a subsidiary of Runtime Collective Limited. Qriously's platform collects data through various survey types, including trackers, real-time polls, and location-based surveys, providing valuable consumer insights for marketing, planning, and investment decisions.

VoterCircle

Pre Seed Round in 2017
VoterCircle, Inc. is a technology company that specializes in friend-to-friend outreach for political campaigns and organizations. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Los Altos, California, VoterCircle offers a platform that integrates email communication with personal outreach methods, such as phone calls and door-to-door canvassing. This innovative approach enhances voter engagement by empowering individuals to support their preferred candidates in a more personal manner. The platform also identifies and recruits influential individuals within a campaign's electorate, thereby maximizing outreach effectiveness. VoterCircle caters to various electoral levels, including local, state, and federal races, making it suitable for campaigns of any size, from school board elections to U.S. Senate contests.

Hope

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Hope explains the headlines and tells you the smartest actions you can take to actually make a difference.

Hustle

Series A in 2017
Hustle, Inc. is a technology company that operates an online peer-to-peer text messaging platform designed to enhance communication for organizations. Founded in 2014 and based in San Francisco, California, Hustle provides a software-as-a-service solution that enables users to send personalized text messages for various purposes, including event attendance, fundraising, admissions, recruiting, advocacy, and sales and marketing. The platform facilitates two-way conversations, allowing organizations to engage in authentic dialogues with large audiences, thereby fostering genuine connections with supporters and customers. Hustle’s tools also support goal tracking, contact management, and conversation history viewing, empowering clients to strengthen relationships and broaden their outreach efforts effectively.

Victory Guide

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Victory Guide is a technology company that provides a digital campaign management platform specifically designed for progressive, Democratic, or left-of-center candidates. The platform offers essential tools to facilitate the electoral process, including customized daily guidance, identification of target voters, and comprehensive voter outreach plans. By automating time-consuming activities, organizing voter information, and managing volunteers, Victory Guide enables candidates to efficiently navigate the complexities of running for office. The company aims to empower progressive candidates, enhancing their ability to connect with voters and achieve electoral success.

GroundGame

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Affordable and easy-to-use organizing tools for progressive campaigns, unions, nonprofits, and advocacy groups with teams and budgets of any size.

The Tuesday Company

Pre Seed Round in 2017
The Tuesday Company develops software aimed at enhancing supporter engagement for organizations. Its platform is designed to transform political engagement in the digital era by analyzing social media influence and promoting peer-to-peer conversations. Through friend-to-friend outreach and digital organizing, the company's technology enables nonprofits to effectively mobilize volunteers, expand their membership base, and increase fundraising efforts. By focusing on building strong relationships with supporters, The Tuesday Company seeks to drive community involvement and activism.

Mobilize

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Mobilize is an event management and volunteer recruitment platform designed for mission-driven organizations and their supporters. The platform facilitates the recruitment of volunteers, provides organizers with timely updates, and enables the sharing of events with partners. By optimizing social recruitment and leveraging cross-promotions, Mobilize effectively connects activists, progressive organizations, and democratic campaigns, helping them to mobilize resources and achieve their goals.

Field Day

Seed Round in 2017
Field Day connects national brands with local marketers, known as ambassadors, to drive demand for their products and services at a grassroots level. With over 10,000 ambassadors nationwide, Field Day offers high-paying opportunities for side hustlers while providing clients like Panera Bread and Square with targeted outreach, promotional events, and performance tracking.

BallotReady

Seed Round in 2017
BallotReady is an online, non-partisan voter guide for local elections that aggregates content from candidate websites, League of Women Voters questionnaires, news articles, campaign finance records, and legislative roll calls to provide nonpartisan background information on every candidate and referendum on a voter's ballot. The platform enables users to compare all candidates on their ballot, obtain essential information needed in the voting booth, and save selected candidates to a mobile device for offline review. It supports civic engagement by offering data services and digital tools that help voters understand their entire ballot and make informed choices.
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