Political tech startups are increasingly ditching the build-it-and-they-will-come product model in favor of one that leans on a deep-pocketed client to back new tools. On the left, a recent example is Action Network, which in June said it was developing new tools for its platform in collaboration with the DLCC.
On the right, Numinar, which provides machine learning-backed data modeling and outreach tools, is now following that same playbook after initially taking a traditional political startup approach. Namely, it turned to Startup Caucus, a Republican tech incubator, for help getting off the ground, and has been raising capital in investment rounds, including a recent Series A that closed in April.
But when it came time to create the company’s new relational organizing tool, it changed tack–responding instead to a request from a client who said they needed the organizing tool for their efforts this cycle.
“This one was really sparked into development [by the] Sentinel Action Fund, in particular, who were looking for a solution to galvanize grassroots in a way that the Republican ecosystem hasn’t done before,” said Lauren Devoll, Numinar’s head of growth. “The left has been doing it for a long time, and so Sentinel did a lot of research on who the best technology providers would be on the right and we happened to be the right fit for them.”
The tool is now available in beta form to Numinar’s other clients. “It’s public and live and available, but we’re just treating it like another form of contact tool. We’ve actually seen a lot of organic interest in this.”
