Cambridge-based startup Polis raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round led by Haystack VC, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based VC and PE firm that invested in DoorDash and Instacart.
The sales tech company, which was part of Techstars Boston spring cohort in 2016, is a provider of data and analytics software for both door-to-door political campaigns and commercial sales. Through a data-driven approach, Polis gathers data from a variety of sources, including online forms and social media, to help companies zero in on the right customers or supporters.
"We don't want a world where your door is getting knocked on once a week," CEO and Founder Kendall Tucker said. "We really want something where once or twice a year, you have a great, in-person interaction."
Polis bagged its first seed round in 2017. Led by Jennus Innovation, a Boston-based business development incubator, that early financing came from angel investors—a handful of "prominent Boston business leaders," the company said at that time.
It was one of the company's initial angels who introduced Polis to Haystack VC, Tucker explained in a recent interview. The new round, which brings the company's total funding to $4.5 million, is the first VC-led seed funding round for Polis.
With a team of 19 people in its Harvard Square headquarters, Polis plans to use part of the funding to add between 30 and 60 employees by the end of this summer, from engineers to salespeople. The company also has offices in Lehi, Utah, and some people based out of Baltimore and Philadelphia.
"Our software and data is definitely best in class for door-to-door outreach," Tucker said. "But, there are challenges to overwhelm with recruiting and retaining the best people. At the end of the day, door-to-door is about having great people talking about your message. It led us test out programs where we are more involved with the recruiting and training of our door-knockers, and see where it leads."
Tucker started Polis in October 2015 as a door-to-door canvassing app to help campaigners and politicians keep better track of their door-knocking campaigns. After raising its first seed round, the company started working on the enterprise version of its software, designed to support businesses that run door-to-door sales operations.
"We're still very involved in the political campaigns," Tucker said. "Our biggest campaign last cycle is the Beto O'Rourke race in Texas; they knocked at about three million doors, people are super excited about that, but the majority of our revenue is corporate."
Currently, Polis is working with customers in three main industries: energy, telecommunications and home security. In the energy sector, the company is working with NRG Energy and Inspire Energy.
Additional investors in the new round include Initialized Capital, the firm co-founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and former Y Combinator partner Garry Tan, Liquid2 Ventures, the firm by former NFL quarterback Joe Montana, Fathom Capital and Background Capital.
