Money Moves: FiscalNote is reportedly in talks to go public following 2 acquisitions

Penn Quarter-based policy software and media company FiscalNote is on a roll this week.

The company announced Monday that it made two acquisitions: fellow Penn Quarter company Fireside, and Australia’s TimeBase. Terms were not disclosed.

Fireside is a fellow SaaS provider of workflow tools used on Capitol Hill, while TimeBase provides research and tracking tools to keep up with legislation. The company has now made four acquisitions this year. FiscalNote acquired Factba.se parent company FactSquared in January, and the UK’s Oxford Analytica in February.

Bloomberg also reported yesterday that the company is considering going public through an initial public offering or SPAC merger, and recently raised $40 million from investors including  Clearvision Ventures, Maso Capital Partners and CBC Group. That funding is on top of a $160 million funding round in December led by Arrowroot Capital and Runway Growth Capital. FiscalNote is reportedly valued at $1.4 billion.

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Government software company GCOM, which has its business headquarters in Columbia, Maryland, acquired Reston, Virginia-based Qlarion this week for an undisclosed amount.

Qlarion, a business intelligence and data analytics firm, was tapped by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services in 2017 to build the Framework for Addiction Analysis and Community Transformation to share data around the opioid crisis. Qlarion will be working with the GCOM team to add analytics into its software as a service products.

GCOM CEO Kamal Bherwani with Qlarion CEO Jake Bittner. (Courtesy photo)

Kamal Bherwani, GCOM’s CEO, said that state and local governments need to shift from volume-based metrics to outcome-based ones for a more holistic data approach, which he hopes Qlarion can help with. He added that it’s a necessary step for GCOM’s mission of establishing NextGen Outcomes, which aim to improve population well-being, promote social equity and create a thriving economy.

“Data analytics is key to delivering those outcomes, but an impactful data analytics program can’t be turned on overnight,” Bherwani said. “State and local governments must take the mandatory steps of breaking down data silos and embedding data sharing and data-driven decision making into their organizational culture. Qlarion has a proven framework for doing just that and has helped state and local governments create scalable, end-to-end analytics programs. ”

GCOM is already hiring for new positions, both remote and out of its Maryland offices. It expects to double Qlarion’s workforce over the next two years.

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The Arlington-based Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which hosts the CES trade show, announced an investment in Atlanta’s Collab Capital.

The investment is the sixth of a $10 million commitment CTA made in 2019 to invest into venture firms and funds that are centered on diversity and inclusion. Led by Jewel Burks Solomon, Justin Dawkins and Barry Givens, Collab Capital focuses on startups in the future of learning, work and care spaces, led by Black founders.

“The need for innovation in education, workforce and healthcare has never been more important,” said Tiffany Moore, SVP of political and industry affairs at CTA, in a statement. “The team at Collab are committed to helping Black founders build sustainable, tech-enabled businesses. This deeply resonates with CTA’s goal to drive growth of the tech industry by leveraging the best and diverse talent in our nation.”

In July, CTA announced that venture firm MaC Venture Capital was the fifth recipient of the funds. Previous investments went to Harlem Capital Partners, SoGal Ventures, Rethink Ventures and Founders First Capital Partners.

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Dawn Myers. (Courtesy photo)

Dawn Myers, director of Vinetta Project DC, was announced as the winner of Pitch BLCK, a pitch competition organized by P&G Ventures and Revitalize Venture Studio.

Myers, a 2020 Technical.ly Awards nominee, is also the founder and CEO of THE MOST, which manufactures hardware and appliances for textured hair styling. As the Pitch BLCK winner, she’ll receive $30,000 to put towards a crowdfunding campaign to raise an additional $300,000 to put towards the development of THE MOST. Myers previously also received a Glossier Black-owned beauty business grant, and participated in Sephora’s accelerator program.

Other finalists included mother-daughter duo Debbie and Markea Dickinson. They’re cofounders of DC’s Thermaband, a wearable device for regulating body temperature.