FiscalNote Raises $160 MIllion In Growth Capital

By Annie Baker ● Dec 10, 2020
  • FiscalNote announced that it has raised $160 million in growth capital and debt financing led by Arrowroot Capital and Runway Growth Capital. These are the details.

FiscalNote — a global technology company that provides software and political intelligence around legislative and regulatory risk — announced that it has raised $160 million in growth capital and debt financing led by Arrowroot Capital and Runway Growth Capital.

Due to macroeconomic and public health uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as heightened political tensions around the world, FiscalNote continues to amplify its capacity to meet increasing demand for deeper domestic and international political and regulatory information. And the completion of this funding coincides with a contentious set of U.S. elections and an unpredictable 2021. The company’s current clients such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Federal Reserve Board, 3M, AstraZeneca, and the American Hospital Association rely on FiscalNote’s products and services to quickly understand and respond to today’s rapidly evolving political and regulatory environment.

When dealing with everything from local public policy responses to potential federal government bailouts, over 4,000 clients utilize FiscalNote products to navigate uncertainty, access information to do their jobs, and collaborate internally and externally to advocate for their most important issues. And in mid-March, at the height of the COVID-19 crisis when cities and states began rapidly shutting down businesses and imposing lockdowns, FiscalNote’s advocacy products saw an incredible 1,894% increase in usage.

Among enterprise clients, average contract values increased 18% during the same time period. And the percentage of enterprise clients engaging in multi-year deals also grew from 48% to 65%. Organizations are engaging more with FiscalNote products frequently, paying more, and signing on for longer.

The growth capital and newly expanded credit facility will fuel further development of technologies and services to meet increasing demand for broader and deeper regulatory information, drive additional strategic acquisitions, expedite expansion into new international markets, and refinance existing debt.

Arrowroot and Runway were joined by an influential list of equity investors and funds that included Carlos Gutierrez (former U.S. Secretary of Commerce), Katharine Weymouth (former Publisher/CEO of the Washington Post), Ron Gula (founder and former CEO of Tenable), Tom Monahan (former CEO of CEB), Daniel Nadler (founder and former CEO of Kensho), GPO Fund, 8090 Partners, Tech Pioneers Fund, Rise of the Rest, Nautilus Ventures, Voyager Capital, Jipyong, Regal Funds Management, Lakebridge Equity Partners, PGS Korea, Firetrail Investments, Thorney Investments, Escondido Ventures, and Pure Asset Management.

And they join a stellar group of FiscalNote investors that includes Mark Cuban, Jerry Yang, S&P Global Ventures, Visionnaire Ventures, Renren/Softbank, Green Visor Capital, Winklevoss Capital Management, The Economist Group, First Round Capital’s Dorm Room Fund, and New Enterprise Associates (NEA).

KEY QUOTES:

“Now more than ever, our products and services have proven critical for organizations dealing with extreme uncertainty around the world. With Arrowroot Capital and Runway Growth Capital, we are thrilled to have gained such capable partners who share in our vision to be the leading technology provider of policy and regulatory information.”

— FiscalNote founder and CEO Tim Hwang

“FiscalNote has become the clear leader in the political and regulatory software space. The long list of blue chip customers across the Fortune 500, government and non-profit sectors speaks to the value FiscalNote brings to their customer base. We are excited to have the opportunity to invest in the business and support the company’s continued growth.”

— Arrowroot Capital’s founder and managing partner Matthew Safaii

“The trajectory of FiscalNote’s growth to date has been impressive, but what’s even more exciting is the company’s market potential. 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 are thrilled to partner with them to fundamentally change the way organizations globally manage and strategically respond to legislative and regulatory risk.”

— Runway Growth Capital’s Mark Donnelly