Shorties Roundup: FiscalNote secured $160M in new funding

Major money moves alert: Penn Quarter-based FiscalNote has secured $160 million in growth capital and debt financing led by Arrowroot Capital and Runway Growth Capital.

Proud to announce today that FiscalNote has secured $160 million in financing! This is an incredible milestone for our company in our mission to connect the world to critical government information! https://t.co/qmNOtm7lgu

— Tim Hwang (@timthwang) December 4, 2020

The seven-year-old company provides software and intelligence for workflow analysis and runs a legislative prediction platform. It reports that more than 4,000 companies and organizations are using its platform, including 3M, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Hospital Association. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, more orgs are using FiscalNote’s platform to see how legislation could affect their jobs and businesses, the company said.

FiscalNote —which is currently hiring for a number of open local and remote roles, including software engineers — plans to use this eye-popping amount of new funding to further develop its products and services to meet the increased demand from clients.

“The trajectory of FiscalNote’s growth to date has been impressive, but what’s even more exciting is the company’s market potential,” said Runway Growth Capital’s Mark Donnelly in a statement. “Tim and his team have built a market-leading data platform and have a clear vision to expand upon their current suite of products and services.”

We’ll be doing a deeper dive on the 2019 Technical.ly Awards Growth Company of the Year’s success soon, so stay tuned.

Below are some other news tidbits, aka shorties, from the week, as detailed in Technical.ly DC’s daily newsletter. Get them delivered fresh to your inbox:

Thursday, Dec. 3

• Chicago-based Rheaply took home the $1 million grand prize at the equity edition of the first virtual Rise of the Rest tour. The company’s CEO, Garry Cooper, pitched for Rheaply, which is the creator of  tech for organizations looking to maximize usage of their idle assets. Startups Kanarys and Zirtue each won $500,000. Rise of the Rest also announced a commitment to invest $100,000 into the top 10 semifinalist from the competition that raise a $1 million funding round by March 31, 2021.
• The Science Applications International Corporation launched the SAIC Charitable Foundation to assist its employees and their families struggling with financial hardship. SAIC employees can now tap into some emergency funds as they continue to work through the pandemic.
• The National Association of Home Builders is looking for emerging housing startups to present at its premiere event, the International Builders Show, taking place Feb. 9 to 12, 2021. Housing tech startups are especially encouraged to apply to pitch at the virtual conference. Applications close on Dec. 15.

Wednesday, Dec. 2

• Maryland-based Knowledge to Practice (K2P) has transformed its CurrentMD COVID platform into an application. The company launched the web-based platform in July to provide frontline workers with on-the-go learning material about the coronavirus. The CurrentMD COVID app is loaded with updated coronavirus research and discoveries that’s broken down into bite-sized microlearning modules, spanning about five to 20 minutes each.
• KnowFully Learning Group has acquired Glenn Allen, Virginia-based The Income Tax School for an undisclosed amount. The Income Tax School provides online training and certification programs for professionals working in the tax preparation space.
• Avid commuters, are you ready for this one? The proposed Metro budget cuts could stop service at 9 p.m. during the week, and halt service altogether on the weekends. This is huge, and though the budget isn’t set in stone yet, check out Dcist’s breakdown of what the potential cuts could mean.

Tuesday, Dec. 1

• Germantown, Maryland-based Amentum, a government tech contractor, has been selected by the SecureAmerica Institute to develop real-time 2D/3D visual modeling and simulation framework. The technology will be used to help enhance security for U.S. manufacturers and their supply chains. Amentum was selected from a competitive pool of 30 proposals.
• To help enhance its customers’ experience, phishing defense solutions provider Cofense launched a community resource center. The cybersecurity company gave its online resource hub a big update and integrated it with Zendesk ticketing and other capabilities.
• Former BET VP Jefferi Lee and his cofounders D’Oyen and Azalaya Fraser are planning to launch a social network focused on attracting Black, indigenous and people of color. Columbia, Maryland-based RepItSocial will launch its flagship app at the beginning of 2021.

Monday, Nov. 30

• For $425 million in cash, Rockville, Maryland-based OncoImmune has entered an agreement to be acquired by New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company Merck. The local developer of therapeutics for cancer has been working on advancing a COVID-19 therapeutic candidate for treatment. OncoImmune recently closed a $56 million Series B.
• Blacksburg, Virginia-based software company Exelaration ranked #7 for best internship overall and #3 for best internship for software development in Vault’s 2021 Top 100 Best Internships rankings in the U.S. General Dynamics and Discovery also made the list.
•  WeWork On Demand is now offering a pay-as-you-go plan for professionals who want to work out of one of its spaces for a day. It costs $29 a day, or $10 per hour for a meeting room, in select WeWork locations, including 17 offices in the DMV region. Download the app for more details.