Citizfied is a citizen engagement app for municipalities to interact with citizens anywhere and anytime. It aims to increase citizen participation and knowledge of municipal operations. The team of 5 includes experts in government, technology, and business development. Citizfied is in discussions with New Jersey counties and Miami-Dade to fund development costs and plans to sell to municipalities through existing channels. However, the app currently has no prototype or user base, and relies on municipalities to drive citizen adoption, which may be difficult. Wasabi Ventures declines to invest as Citizfied prioritizes social impact over profits with no clear exit strategy.
Pass the Plate is a platform that connects donors to over 1.5 million non-profits to make online giving easy. It is targeting 7.6% of the growing online donation market by 2020. The platform integrates with HR portals, non-profit websites, and live events to facilitate donations. Pass the Plate is seeking $2 million in seed funding to complete development of its mobile apps and backend systems, and hire key salespeople to implement its solutions for major companies and non-profits.
The document provides an overview of the Haystax Mortgage (RH) Inc. business plan, including:
- The company aims to recruit 100 new agents/brokers and 25 new sub-franchises in the Greater Toronto Area in 2021 to immediately expand.
- Long-term, the company wants to be one of the top five mortgage brokerage firms in Ontario and provide an online mortgage marketplace for GTA residents.
- The business model focuses on a "Task-Trigger-Task" approach to efficiently manage the mortgage process and monitor tasks.
- The large Canadian mortgage market represents an opportunity, as brokers play a key role in helping people navigate the complex process.
Tracxn - Top Business Models - Nordics Tech - Oct 2021Tracxn
The document provides an overview of top funded business models in the Nordics region over the last year. It includes:
1) A summary of total funding by business model, with the top 3 being energy storage tech, alternative lending, and electric vehicles.
2) Details on the top 50 funded business models, listing the business model, total funding, number of funding rounds, and details of the top round for each.
3) One-page profiles for some of the top business models, providing more context on companies in that space and their funding rounds.
Social finance is sustainable investing that aims to generate both social/environmental benefits and financial returns. The document discusses how social finance is gaining momentum in Canada but still lags behind other countries. It outlines various social finance mechanisms like social venture capital funds and investments in areas like affordable housing and community energy. The document proposes a national collaboration called CAUSEWAY to improve awareness of social finance opportunities in Canada and catalyze new financial pathways and products to build the field.
The document summarizes Gartner's Executive Programs monthly report titled "Hunting and Harvesting in a Digital World: The 2013 CIO Agenda". It discusses the opportunities and challenges facing CIOs in an increasingly digital world. To fully realize the potential of digital technologies, CIOs must expand IT's strategic role beyond tending current operations to include hunting for new innovations and harvesting additional value. The 2013 CIO agenda focuses on strategy, funding, and skills to support this expanded role.
"Not-For-Profits Making Profits: Legal Structures for Social Enterprises" was a presentation by Margaret Mason and Michael Blatchford (Bull, Housser & Tupper, LLP) at an event hosted by Enterprising Non-Profits (enp) on January 19, 2011, in Vancouver, BC.
Social enterprises are defined as businesses owned or operated by a non-profit organization. There are different legal structures that social enterprises can operate under, and the possibility of new ones in the future (like BC's proposed Community Interest Corporations, or CIC's).
Enterprising Non-Profits (enp) is a program that supports Social Enterprises. Its website(www.enterprisingnonprofits.ca) provides extensive resources for social enterprises across Canada.
Pass the Plate is a platform that connects donors to over 1.5 million non-profits to make online giving easy. It is targeting 7.6% of the growing online donation market by 2020. The platform integrates with HR portals, non-profit websites, and live events to facilitate donations. Pass the Plate is seeking $2 million in seed funding to complete development of its mobile apps and backend systems, and hire key salespeople to implement its solutions for major companies and non-profits.
The document provides an overview of the Haystax Mortgage (RH) Inc. business plan, including:
- The company aims to recruit 100 new agents/brokers and 25 new sub-franchises in the Greater Toronto Area in 2021 to immediately expand.
- Long-term, the company wants to be one of the top five mortgage brokerage firms in Ontario and provide an online mortgage marketplace for GTA residents.
- The business model focuses on a "Task-Trigger-Task" approach to efficiently manage the mortgage process and monitor tasks.
- The large Canadian mortgage market represents an opportunity, as brokers play a key role in helping people navigate the complex process.
Tracxn - Top Business Models - Nordics Tech - Oct 2021Tracxn
The document provides an overview of top funded business models in the Nordics region over the last year. It includes:
1) A summary of total funding by business model, with the top 3 being energy storage tech, alternative lending, and electric vehicles.
2) Details on the top 50 funded business models, listing the business model, total funding, number of funding rounds, and details of the top round for each.
3) One-page profiles for some of the top business models, providing more context on companies in that space and their funding rounds.
Social finance is sustainable investing that aims to generate both social/environmental benefits and financial returns. The document discusses how social finance is gaining momentum in Canada but still lags behind other countries. It outlines various social finance mechanisms like social venture capital funds and investments in areas like affordable housing and community energy. The document proposes a national collaboration called CAUSEWAY to improve awareness of social finance opportunities in Canada and catalyze new financial pathways and products to build the field.
The document summarizes Gartner's Executive Programs monthly report titled "Hunting and Harvesting in a Digital World: The 2013 CIO Agenda". It discusses the opportunities and challenges facing CIOs in an increasingly digital world. To fully realize the potential of digital technologies, CIOs must expand IT's strategic role beyond tending current operations to include hunting for new innovations and harvesting additional value. The 2013 CIO agenda focuses on strategy, funding, and skills to support this expanded role.
"Not-For-Profits Making Profits: Legal Structures for Social Enterprises" was a presentation by Margaret Mason and Michael Blatchford (Bull, Housser & Tupper, LLP) at an event hosted by Enterprising Non-Profits (enp) on January 19, 2011, in Vancouver, BC.
Social enterprises are defined as businesses owned or operated by a non-profit organization. There are different legal structures that social enterprises can operate under, and the possibility of new ones in the future (like BC's proposed Community Interest Corporations, or CIC's).
Enterprising Non-Profits (enp) is a program that supports Social Enterprises. Its website(www.enterprisingnonprofits.ca) provides extensive resources for social enterprises across Canada.
The document summarizes a grants management platform called Uplift that aims to connect social investors with nonprofit organizations. It notes that 70% of local nonprofits tried to survive after the pandemic with donations dropping and expenses increasing. Uplift will automate the entire grant lifecycle from requests through approval to simplify the process. The platform aims to drive impact, empower changemakers, and save time by making smart investments. It has the goal of becoming a local guide for patient capital by providing access to data, research, and market intelligence.
The document describes MyGRCityPoints, a program launched by the city of Grand Rapids that rewards citizens with points for community engagement activities that can be redeemed with local businesses. The program aims to create a circular flow of benefits between citizens, local non-profits and businesses by linking community involvement with economic development and civic participation. It will roll out features over time using web and mobile technology to track points for activities like recycling, volunteering and shopping locally.
The document describes MyGRCityPoints, a program launched by the city of Grand Rapids that rewards citizens with points for community engagement activities that can be redeemed with local businesses. The program aims to create a circular flow of benefits between citizens, local non-profits and businesses by linking community involvement with economic development and civic participation. It will roll out features over time using web and mobile technology to track points for activities like recycling, volunteering and shopping locally.
The document describes MyGRCityPoints, a program launched by the city of Grand Rapids that rewards citizens with points for community engagement activities that can be redeemed with local businesses. The program aims to create a circular flow of benefits between citizens, local non-profits and businesses by linking community involvement with economic development and civic participation. It will roll out features over time using web and mobile technology to track points for activities like recycling, volunteering and shopping locally.
Paul Hinrichsen 2020 CUES Emerge PresentationCUES Emerge
Paul Hinrichsen is a Product Manager at GTE Financial in Florida, USA. This is his Finalist presentation that he gave at the Live Pitch Show as part of the 2020 CUES Emerge competition.
This document introduces an app that rewards people for exercising and creating positive impacts. Users can earn crypto tokens for moving and participating in carbon credit projects, impact art NFTs, or donating to charity. The company has developed a mobile app called JustMove and a Make an Impact ecosystem using blockchain and crypto technologies to track positive impacts and rewards.
Optimizing Local Government Management through Performance and Data AnalyticsHarry Black
The document summarizes Cincinnati's efforts to optimize local government performance through performance and data analytics. Key points:
1. Cincinnati created an Office of Performance and Data Analytics to facilitate transparency, understand operations, solve problems, optimize performance, and foster collaboration.
2. The office established performance management agreements with departments, set up an Innovation Lab to streamline processes, hosts biweekly CincyStat meetings, and publishes open data.
3. These initiatives have helped eliminate request backlogs, increase customer satisfaction by 7%, and generate a 7:1 return on investment through cost savings and increased revenue.
This document discusses trends in fintech financing and deals in 2017 and provides predictions for 2018. The key points are:
1. Global fintech financing hit a record $16.6 billion in 2017, with Europe seeing the biggest funding jump.
2. US early-stage fintech deals fell as investors made more concentrated bets, funding 35 mega-rounds over $100 million totaling $7.76 billion.
3. Looking ahead, trends to watch in 2018 include fintechs expanding beyond single products through building, buying, and partnering; European fintechs growing their global footprint; and companies capitalizing on opportunities in areas like capital markets tech, wealth management, and emerging markets.
The document describes a new incentive program called MYGRCITY Points launched by the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The program aims to encourage community engagement, local spending, and contributions to non-profits by rewarding citizens with points that can be redeemed from local businesses. The program will use web-based and RFID tracking technology to monitor citizens' activities and distribute points. Officials hope the program will boost local government revenues, increase public awareness of non-profits, and encourage economic investment and circulation within the city.
This document provides an overview of Think Digital, a mobile strategy and development firm. It summarizes Think Digital's leadership team and office locations. It also outlines the company's commitments to learning, results, innovation, and empowerment. The document then discusses key mobile trends like mobile advertising spending, social networking, mobile payments, and cloud data/services. It positions Think Digital as able to help enterprises make sense of these mobile trends and effectively develop mobile strategies and applications.
This document brings together a set of latest data points and publicly available information relevant for Business Services Industry. We are very excited to share this content and believe that readers will benefit immensely from this periodic publication immensely.
Using Social Media to Measure Economic Development SuccessAtlas Integrated
Find out how economic development organizations can measure/quantify the value of their promotional activities. Through case studies and illustrations of successful EDOs, find out how top performing communities are competing in today's crowded economic development marketplace and where your community ranks among its peers.
An interview with Manish Choksi Head of Strategy and Chief Information Office...Capgemini
Building a world leader through Digital Transformation
Manish Choksi, Head of Strategy and Chief Information Officer of Asian Paints – the largest paint manufacturer in India – explains how the digital revolution has transformed the company’s operations, and how he views the digital challenges as the company sets out on its ambition to become one of the top five global companies in the sector.
Digitization of Financial Services in Emerging MarketsPabloVerra
This document discusses the digitization of financial services in emerging markets. It makes three key points:
1) Digitization of financial services is no longer optional but compulsory for remaining competitive and reaching underserved customers. Digital services provide convenience, safety, speed and a transaction history for the unbanked.
2) There are different approaches to digitization, including partnering with mobile network operators, technical service providers, fintechs, or a combination. Not all organizations are ready to digitize at the same pace.
3) While emerging markets face challenges like low financial access, literacy and digital infrastructure, they have been among the most proactive in adopting digital finance. Payment
This document provides a summary of new credit card products launched in the first half of 2015 by American Express, Citibank, Discover, and U.S. Bank. It highlights the key features of each new card, including rewards programs, interest rates, and annual fees. The document was authored by Michelle Ammirati of Corporate Insight, a firm that provides competitive intelligence on the financial services industry.
The document discusses the rise of digital banking and the threat it poses to traditional banks. It notes that fintech investments have doubled in recent years and there are now 19 fintech "unicorns" valued over $1 billion globally. Fintech firms have made inroads in areas like lending, payments and wealth management. The document examines how banks can respond, including by digitizing their own services to lower costs and improve the customer experience, or adopting a more holistic "customer ecosystem" approach to integrate banking into customers' daily lives. It also discusses how smaller banks can collaborate with fintech firms to help scale their operations and better compete with larger incumbents.
Tech Cocktail_2012 startup accelerator reportEugene Kim
20-page startup accelerator report that outlines five key factors for startups to consider when choosing an accelerator. Accelerators offer entrepreneurs a chance to spend several months intensely focused on their product and business – fueled by funding and mentorship, and often in shared office space – before pitching in front of investors at “demo day.”
Topics discussed include: Does location matter? Which programs are more hands-on? Which ones have the biggest networks? The report also includes a list of 70 accelerators around the country.
This document provides an overview of OneFeather, a company that combines e-voting and messaging platforms into a SaaS package. Their target markets are First Nations communities, labor unions, and local governments, which hold over 1 million voting events annually using outdated methods. OneFeather aims to lower the costs of elections and make the process more accessible. The founders have relevant experience and relationships to execute the business plan. Projections estimate $8 million in annual revenue and over 70% EBITDA margins by 2019. The company is seeking $900k in funding over 24 months to expand development and reach technical milestones to achieve profitability.
The document summarizes a grants management platform called Uplift that aims to connect social investors with nonprofit organizations. It notes that 70% of local nonprofits tried to survive after the pandemic with donations dropping and expenses increasing. Uplift will automate the entire grant lifecycle from requests through approval to simplify the process. The platform aims to drive impact, empower changemakers, and save time by making smart investments. It has the goal of becoming a local guide for patient capital by providing access to data, research, and market intelligence.
The document describes MyGRCityPoints, a program launched by the city of Grand Rapids that rewards citizens with points for community engagement activities that can be redeemed with local businesses. The program aims to create a circular flow of benefits between citizens, local non-profits and businesses by linking community involvement with economic development and civic participation. It will roll out features over time using web and mobile technology to track points for activities like recycling, volunteering and shopping locally.
The document describes MyGRCityPoints, a program launched by the city of Grand Rapids that rewards citizens with points for community engagement activities that can be redeemed with local businesses. The program aims to create a circular flow of benefits between citizens, local non-profits and businesses by linking community involvement with economic development and civic participation. It will roll out features over time using web and mobile technology to track points for activities like recycling, volunteering and shopping locally.
The document describes MyGRCityPoints, a program launched by the city of Grand Rapids that rewards citizens with points for community engagement activities that can be redeemed with local businesses. The program aims to create a circular flow of benefits between citizens, local non-profits and businesses by linking community involvement with economic development and civic participation. It will roll out features over time using web and mobile technology to track points for activities like recycling, volunteering and shopping locally.
Paul Hinrichsen 2020 CUES Emerge PresentationCUES Emerge
Paul Hinrichsen is a Product Manager at GTE Financial in Florida, USA. This is his Finalist presentation that he gave at the Live Pitch Show as part of the 2020 CUES Emerge competition.
This document introduces an app that rewards people for exercising and creating positive impacts. Users can earn crypto tokens for moving and participating in carbon credit projects, impact art NFTs, or donating to charity. The company has developed a mobile app called JustMove and a Make an Impact ecosystem using blockchain and crypto technologies to track positive impacts and rewards.
Optimizing Local Government Management through Performance and Data AnalyticsHarry Black
The document summarizes Cincinnati's efforts to optimize local government performance through performance and data analytics. Key points:
1. Cincinnati created an Office of Performance and Data Analytics to facilitate transparency, understand operations, solve problems, optimize performance, and foster collaboration.
2. The office established performance management agreements with departments, set up an Innovation Lab to streamline processes, hosts biweekly CincyStat meetings, and publishes open data.
3. These initiatives have helped eliminate request backlogs, increase customer satisfaction by 7%, and generate a 7:1 return on investment through cost savings and increased revenue.
This document discusses trends in fintech financing and deals in 2017 and provides predictions for 2018. The key points are:
1. Global fintech financing hit a record $16.6 billion in 2017, with Europe seeing the biggest funding jump.
2. US early-stage fintech deals fell as investors made more concentrated bets, funding 35 mega-rounds over $100 million totaling $7.76 billion.
3. Looking ahead, trends to watch in 2018 include fintechs expanding beyond single products through building, buying, and partnering; European fintechs growing their global footprint; and companies capitalizing on opportunities in areas like capital markets tech, wealth management, and emerging markets.
The document describes a new incentive program called MYGRCITY Points launched by the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The program aims to encourage community engagement, local spending, and contributions to non-profits by rewarding citizens with points that can be redeemed from local businesses. The program will use web-based and RFID tracking technology to monitor citizens' activities and distribute points. Officials hope the program will boost local government revenues, increase public awareness of non-profits, and encourage economic investment and circulation within the city.
This document provides an overview of Think Digital, a mobile strategy and development firm. It summarizes Think Digital's leadership team and office locations. It also outlines the company's commitments to learning, results, innovation, and empowerment. The document then discusses key mobile trends like mobile advertising spending, social networking, mobile payments, and cloud data/services. It positions Think Digital as able to help enterprises make sense of these mobile trends and effectively develop mobile strategies and applications.
This document brings together a set of latest data points and publicly available information relevant for Business Services Industry. We are very excited to share this content and believe that readers will benefit immensely from this periodic publication immensely.
Using Social Media to Measure Economic Development SuccessAtlas Integrated
Find out how economic development organizations can measure/quantify the value of their promotional activities. Through case studies and illustrations of successful EDOs, find out how top performing communities are competing in today's crowded economic development marketplace and where your community ranks among its peers.
An interview with Manish Choksi Head of Strategy and Chief Information Office...Capgemini
Building a world leader through Digital Transformation
Manish Choksi, Head of Strategy and Chief Information Officer of Asian Paints – the largest paint manufacturer in India – explains how the digital revolution has transformed the company’s operations, and how he views the digital challenges as the company sets out on its ambition to become one of the top five global companies in the sector.
Digitization of Financial Services in Emerging MarketsPabloVerra
This document discusses the digitization of financial services in emerging markets. It makes three key points:
1) Digitization of financial services is no longer optional but compulsory for remaining competitive and reaching underserved customers. Digital services provide convenience, safety, speed and a transaction history for the unbanked.
2) There are different approaches to digitization, including partnering with mobile network operators, technical service providers, fintechs, or a combination. Not all organizations are ready to digitize at the same pace.
3) While emerging markets face challenges like low financial access, literacy and digital infrastructure, they have been among the most proactive in adopting digital finance. Payment
This document provides a summary of new credit card products launched in the first half of 2015 by American Express, Citibank, Discover, and U.S. Bank. It highlights the key features of each new card, including rewards programs, interest rates, and annual fees. The document was authored by Michelle Ammirati of Corporate Insight, a firm that provides competitive intelligence on the financial services industry.
The document discusses the rise of digital banking and the threat it poses to traditional banks. It notes that fintech investments have doubled in recent years and there are now 19 fintech "unicorns" valued over $1 billion globally. Fintech firms have made inroads in areas like lending, payments and wealth management. The document examines how banks can respond, including by digitizing their own services to lower costs and improve the customer experience, or adopting a more holistic "customer ecosystem" approach to integrate banking into customers' daily lives. It also discusses how smaller banks can collaborate with fintech firms to help scale their operations and better compete with larger incumbents.
Tech Cocktail_2012 startup accelerator reportEugene Kim
20-page startup accelerator report that outlines five key factors for startups to consider when choosing an accelerator. Accelerators offer entrepreneurs a chance to spend several months intensely focused on their product and business – fueled by funding and mentorship, and often in shared office space – before pitching in front of investors at “demo day.”
Topics discussed include: Does location matter? Which programs are more hands-on? Which ones have the biggest networks? The report also includes a list of 70 accelerators around the country.
This document provides an overview of OneFeather, a company that combines e-voting and messaging platforms into a SaaS package. Their target markets are First Nations communities, labor unions, and local governments, which hold over 1 million voting events annually using outdated methods. OneFeather aims to lower the costs of elections and make the process more accessible. The founders have relevant experience and relationships to execute the business plan. Projections estimate $8 million in annual revenue and over 70% EBITDA margins by 2019. The company is seeking $900k in funding over 24 months to expand development and reach technical milestones to achieve profitability.
1. Friday, September 4, 2015
Due Diligence & Investment Analysis
Prepared by:
Michael Hwan
Chris Eldridge
Alexander Hinds
Section 1: Idea Brief
Citizfied is a “frictionless” citizen engagement app for municipalities and their citizens. It
enhances your existing citizen engagement strategies many-fold using modern technology to
create interaction “anyplace, anytime”. It creates positive opportunities for municipalities to
increase knowledge of citizen needs impacting municipal operations, projects requiring public
input, and policy, as well as a “place” that provides focus for citizen initiatives, community
forums, and capital campaigns.
Staff Profile, Experience, and Contribution to Team
Meredith Aronson (CEO) - 22 years in public office, regional strategy, corporate, and higher
education. She is responsible for market positioning and organizational strategy. Non-
technical.
Dan Nasello (COO) - 6 years in technology. He is responsible for operations, sales, and
technical innovation. Technical but running sales.
Michael Nasello (CCO) - 8 years in technology, media, cultural analysis, and creative work. He
is responsible for marketing.
Rafi Chehirian (CTO) - 13 years in project management (finance and technology), and
technology startup consultancy experience. Technical.
Chris Mateiro (CFO) - 6 years in sales and marketing. He is responsible for company financials
and administrative duties. Legal.
Successes
Dan is in pre-sell discussions with New Jersey working with some counties of New Jersey
Hudson county (7 municipalities). Dan is also working with Florida Miami Dade county IT
department and is in talks to get $175K (April 2016) in funding from the municipality.
Key Players
Meredith Aronson (CEO) – She knows how government municipalities work and how to sell
their service to them.
Dan Nasello (COO) – Has a technical background but not taking a technical role. Running sales
strategy. Dan runs combustion group that employs 4 designer and 6 developers (domestic
employees are not 100% committed). 15 employees in total if everyone on board.
Rafi Chehirian (CTO) - Technical background.
2. Future Hires
An Inside Sales Manager to build out their sales team.
Advisors
None.
Existing Partners
None
Section 2: Company Overview
Currently there are 5 team members. Two technical and three in business development. Dan
is taking on a business role and is not working on the technology side.
Highlights
The team completed the 10 week social impact incubator, Thryve, in Tucson Arizona.
Concerns
The Citizfied team will not be focusing all their time on making one feature of their app.
No funding, product, or user groups as of August 9th, 2015. They plan on having beta users in
Florida, Arizona, and New Jersey.
Assessment
The application is only good if the citizens are using it. You can sell the product to a
municipality, but it does not come with users. You are relying on the municipalities to get the
users which may be difficult.
Section 3: Barriers
Citizfied is entering a difficult market to push sales. Government budgets are getting tighter
and tighter due to decreases in funding and the long sales cycle of getting new purchases
approved. Many local governments would love a new way for them to communicate back and
forth with their citizens, but it might be a drawback due to the large hurdles of getting a
large expenditure approved.
Citizfied is hoping that municipalities are going to cancel other existing services to move to
the Citizfied platform. Municipalities are currently spending equal amounts of money on
individual services such as event calendars, polling, notification systems and fundraising
campaigns, which are all currently planned to be implemented in the Citizfied application.
Section 4: Investors
At this time, Citizfied does not have any formal investors. However, Citizfied is currently in
talks to receive $175,000 of funding from Miami Dade County to put towards their
development costs of approximately $250,000. A portion of this money was already set aside
from a previous RFP that Miami Dade had for online polling services.
In return, Miami Dade is hoping to receive good publicity from the investment, a launch party,
and a thank you on the website. Miami Dade will still be paying to utilize the Citizfied
application.
3. At the time of our meeting there was no cap table for Citizfied, nor was the company legally
incorporated.
Section 5: Business Model
Value Proposition - Citizfied is looking to capitalize on the disconnect between local and
municipal governments, and the citizens they represent. The company believes that their
application will provide the connection and voice that citizens want in their government, and
that governments need in order to hear the voices of their citizens, thus providing the
mutually beneficial solution.
Citizfied estimates there are 90 million people between the ages of 18 and 39 who are
distanced from their local governments. This age range makes up the largest percentage of
smartphone users, giving Citizfied a large potential user base out of the roughly 390 million
people who are able to vote in the US.
Revenue Model
Citizfied’s revenue model is based off of a SaaS (Software as a Service) model. This allows
Citizfied to provide extended features for a premium beyond the base offering for the
product to bring in additional revenue. Their estimate for projected revenue through 2018
can be seen in Revenue Table 1.
As an added revenue model, Citizfied is planning on collecting 10% from capital fundraising
campaigns. This model is popular with crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter and
Indiegogo. At the time, Citizfied did not have an estimated revenue projection based off of
this portion of the service.
Citizfied is planning on going through traditional municipal groups and associations for sales,
as well as through consultants and auditing services that many municipalities already utilize.
Citizfied is also currently talking with a county in New Jersey who has a total of 34
municipalities.
Their Revenue Cost structure is based off of the size of the population the municipality serves
as well as the level of service they sign up for (Bronze, Silver, and Gold). Different levels of
services are based on how much data they are looking to receive from the application.
Customers have access to all features of the application, however the data that the customer
receives is based on the level of service they sign up for. Their current pricing structure can
be seen below in Revenue Table 2.
Gamification - To urge citizens to utilize the application Citizfied is planning to utilize
gamification with a leaderboard based on how often citizens use the application. Top citizens
will receive gift certificates from local companies as a reward for their active participation
inside the application. Citizfied plans on partnering with a company who has previous
relationships with local businesses for reward programs such as these.
4. Revenue Table 1
Revenue Table 2
Section 6: Financing
Citizfied is not seeking funding from Wasabi Ventures. The application development costs are
estimated to be $250,000. They are in discussions with Miami Dade municipality to finance
the initial $175,000, with a decision expected to be made in April 2016. Citizfied hopes to
pre-sell other municipalities to fund the remaining $75,000.
Section 7: Market Overview
The United States and local IT spending is expected the reach $25.5 billion in 2015, with $6.4
billion of that going towards civic tech market. Citizied estimates that 90% of $6.4 billion
spent on civic tech will be spent in municipalities with populations over 15,000, and 10% of
that is estimated to be spent on civic engagement tech, totaling $575 million.
Citizfied is targeting the 5,054 municipalities in the United States with a populations of more
than 15,000. They have segmented their customers by their size, as seen below:
Citizfied offers bronze, silver, and gold pricing plans which varies depending on the size of the
municipality. Given their pricing plans and estimated product mix, the total revenue that
could be achieved from 100% market share would be $114,035,592.
MarketSegments 2016 2017 2018 Total
Muncipality <50k 334,396$ 1,253,984$ 2,507,969$ 4,096,349$
Muncipality <250k 347,250$ 1,302,188$ 2,604,376$ 4,253,814$
Muncipality <1M 71,782$ 269,184$ 538,368$ 879,334$
Muncipality >1M 11,732$ 43,994$ 87,988$ 143,714$
Total 765,160$ 2,869,350$ 5,738,701$ 9,373,211$
Population <50k 50-250k 250k-1M >1M <50k 50-250k 250k-1M >1M <50k 50-250k 250k-1M >1M
Monthly Review 1,200$ 1,800$ 2,700$ 4,050$ 1,600$ 2,400$ 3,600$ 5,400$ 1,800$ 2,700$ 4,050$ 6,075$
Annual Revenue 14,400$ 21,600$ 32,400$ 48,600$ 19,200$ 28,800$ 43,200$ 64,800$ 21,600$ 32,400$ 48,600$ 72,900$
Bronze Silver Gold
5. TAM, SAM, SOM
!
Section 8: Sales
Citizfied plans to leverage their relationships with municipalities and sell directly to them. In
the future, they plan to hire additional salespersons.
Section 9: Competition
Community Networks - Nextdoor, Brigade
Civic Funding - neighbor.ly, Citizinvestor
Civic Engagement - Code for America, change.org (citizen action), iCitizen (polling),
Civocracy, City Sourced, iCity, mindmixer
Meredith did not point to any specific competitors among the three verticals she listed.
Citizfied wants to build in funding, petitioning, polling, and forum features in their app. She
specifically wants to tackle multiple features in their app instead of focusing on one app
feature.
Differentiation Strategy
Taking bits and pieces from three verticals (community network, civic funding, civic
engagement) and building it into the Citizfied app. The existing apps on the market do not
have all three features covered.
6. Section 10: Exit Strategy
Citizfied does not have an exit strategy at this time. Meredith states that “I do not see an
exit that is simply for financial gain”. However, if the right partners were to appear in the
future, it is something they would consider. Their goals appear to be more aligned with social
entrepreneurship and municipal transformation.
Section 11: Recommendations
WV Investment Recommendations
The Citizfied team plans to sell their product to municipalities. Once a sale is made,
municipalities will have to spend additional time and resources to grow their user base.
Meredith mentioned in the call that she sees this project as a social venture and not a for-
profit venture.
The team has no app prototype to demo at the time of the call. It’s very hard to visualize
what the app is capable of without a live demo.
Based on Citizfied’s projected revenue and market size, we do believe this project to be large
enough for Wasabi Ventures to be interested in investing. WV invests in “for profit”
businesses only and it does not seem that this is the priority of Citizfied. There is also no
clear exit strategy, which is important for investment.
Citizfied Recommendations
Alternatively, we recommend Citizfied consider a different business model, acquiring users
first instead of selling the app to directly to municipalities with no users. The application
could be a free download. Once the Citizfied team has existing users, it is easier to approach
municipalities and allow them to purchase the Citizfied product, users, and analytics. The
benefit is municipalities do not have to spend additional time and resources to acquire users.
It would also put the emphasis on developing a product that is ideal for citizens.