The San Francisco-based Govtech Fund and Sunstone Technology, which has offices in Copenhagen, Paris and Berlin, collectively manage more than $500 million U.S.
Since launching in 2014, Govtech Fund has invested in 19 startups through two $25 million funds, the second of which became active in June. These startups have made tech for all manner of government operations, from law enforcement and parking to foster care, bond issuance, food safety and pensions. According to the statement, companies in Govtech Fund’s portfolio have raised more than $300 million from firms like First Found Capital, Lowercase Capital, Bezos Expeditions, General Catalyst and Khosla Ventures, and led to more than 20,000 relationships with government agencies.
Sunstone Technology Ventures Managing Partner Jimmy Fussing Nielsen cited these numbers in explaining why his firm joined with Govtech Fund, as their goal was to partner with “the market leader in the govtech market.”
Sunstone Technology has backed more than 80 founding teams across various industries since the firm’s inception in 2007. These include U.S.-partnered international companies Prezi, Neo4j and Seriously.
Govtech Fund founder and managing partner Ron Bouganim said his firm is “thrilled” about the partnership’s new European initiatives.
"Governments around the world spend over $400 billion a year on government technology solutions," he said in the statement. "There is an exciting new global wave of startups leveraging the cloud, software-as-a-service and mobile technologies coming to market, achieving venture backable growth rates, that are singularly focused on modernizing the operations of government.”