As the civic tech ecosystem continues to gain momentum, Code for America launches its second Incubator class. This year saw numerous applicants to our Startup Accelerator program and more than 80 governments present at our annual Summit. Our Accelerator and Incubator alumni companies continue to see interest from governments.
After the success of last year’s Incubator — all of last year’s companies continue to grow as well as work out of the CfA office — we are commencing the second-ever all-Fellows Incubator class on January 7, 2014.
We’ve admitted one company comprised of six 2013 Code for America Fellows. This company, PostCode, provides local governments with tools as well as contract services. Their team will focus on research, design, development, implementation, and maintenance. Currently the team has three open-source products that arose from the 2013 Fellowship: CityVoice, Promptly and RecordTrac.
“During the Fellowship year we saw how the values of Code for America — open source, collaborating with partners, focusing on user needs — can lead to the development of great technology for cities. More importantly, we have all seen how technology can have a real positive impact on people. Our company is built around the values of CfA and on the idea that what we build has a positive impact on people’s lives,” said Andy Hull, director and co-founder of PostCode.
PostCode is comprised of six co-founders, Andy Hull, CJ Bryan, Cris Cristina, Reed Duecy-Gibbs, Richa Agarwal, and Tamara Manik-Perlman. The team hails from four different Code for America city teams New York City, Oakland, Calif., San Francisco, and South Bend, Ind.
“I’m excited to be working with a group of talented individuals who share the same drive and passion for this work as I do,” Reed Reed Duecy-Gibbs, co-founder of PostCode said.
The Code for America Incubator rose out of interest in sustaining Fellowship projects.
“Code for America has demonstrated that cities both need, and want to collaborate with their communities to bring them a better civic experience, but internally don’t often have the resources to do so. PostCode was created as a sustainable solution to this need — we believe our engagement with cities doesn’t end with the Fellowship, and we’re interested in bringing the mission of Code for America to scale,” Richa Agarwal, co-founder of PostCode said.
The goals of the Incubator program are to help Fellow teams create viable and sustainable civic startups, to further the sustainability of CfA Fellowship projects, and also to cultivate the civic technology ecosystem that will move government toward more innovative technologies. The six-month program begins in January and provides the admitted startups with office space, mentorship, and in-kind resources. The program features support in topic areas such as sales, marketing and product, with a core focus on creating a financial plan.
“The CfA Incubator is an opportunity for us to learn how to turn our idea of what a company should be into a real business that can grow for years to come,” noted Andy.
Questions? Comments? Hit us up @codeforamerica.
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