Government technology startup Polco Inc., which has its headquarters near Madison, recently merged with Denver-based public engagement software firm Balancing Act.
Middleton-based Polco, whose software helps government agencies engage with their constituents, has gained momentum in recent years as state and local governments have sought to demonstrate the impact of an influx of federal grant dollars.
While Polco was founded in 2015, the company's "rate of growth has certainly inflected since the pandemic," Polco CEO Nick Mastronardi said.
"I think (the pandemic) did accelerate how business is done," Mastronardi said. "It also increased the requests for transparency and accountability."
Major recent federal funding to local governments has come from programs including the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act.
More than 500 local governments already use Polco, including agencies in Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Dane County and Middleton. The startup's software allows governments to gauge constituent satisfaction through polls, surveys and data analytics.
Polco's merger with Balancing Act was years in the making. The companies had been connected since around 2015, and Mastronardi and Balancing Act president Chris Adams had a key "meeting-of-the-minds" conversation in 2019, Mastronardi said.
Balancing Act makes simulation-based public engagement tools for budgeting, housing, climate, planning and other issues. Milwaukee County, for instance, is using its Prioritize tool to gauge stakeholder feedback on ARPA-funded projects for 2023.
Coming out of the pandemic, both companies were growing and the time was right to join forces, Mastronardi said.
The merger was effective Jan. 1. Balancing Act’s staff and services will continue under the same name while operating under the Polco umbrella. The companies declined to share the terms of the deal.
Together, the combined company has nearly 80 employees with more than 70 coming from Polco. Around a third of the employees are in Wisconsin, a third are in Colorado and a third work remotely, Mastronardi said.
As Polco continues to scale, it may raise Series-B funding later this year, Mastronardi said. The startup previously raised $14 million in a round announced in October 2022.
"The market is so big and I think we're having such great momentum," Mastronardi said. "That would put us in a really strong spot."
