Polimorphic, a startup using AI to help improve governmental workflows, has raised $5.6 million from early-stage fund M13.
The New York-based startup has developed an in-house AI-driven program that can tackle some of the admin faced by local governments – such as automating processes, managing log records, and communicating with constituents.
“A lot of services require you to either come in person or mail in PDFs or checks. So this results in one wasted time, and it’s also a huge piece of frustration for government workers,” said cofounder and CEO Parth Shah.
The startup has developed an AI-first tool called ‘GovGPT,’ which automates a lot of tasks such as handling requests, payments, and applications.
Shah saw the government sector as overlapping with the “customer service business.”
“We’re really focused on helping make that customer service easier, more efficient, but then also magical for constituents,” he said.
The startup makes its money in two ways. Firstly, it charges a subscription to the cities and counties that it works with, but they don’t charge for additional support, such as software implementation. Secondly, it takes a percentage of the digital transactions that it helps to facilitate.
Amid a funding slowdown, Shah found that the startup received “a tonne of attention” because government institutions have traditionally been large, complex buyers that are opaque to investors, he said.
“So when you think about the opportunities AI provides, is the opportunity for governments to be able to provide critical services,” he said. “That’s what really resonated with investors.”
The round was led by early-stage venture capital firm M13, which has previously backed the likes of Ring and Classpass. Additional participation came from existing investors Shine Capital and Pear VC.
“Inefficiency is an expensive pain point in any bureaucracy, and the government is no exception,” said M13 General Partner Latif Peracha. “Polimorphic’s solutions digitize every facet of the constituent-to-city relationship, and remove trillions of wasted dollars and time out of the system.”
With the cash injection, the startup will invest in its client success and engineering teams, and continue to onboard more cities and counties, which are currently on its waiting list.
Check out the 16-slide pitch deck used to secure the fresh funding.
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