Justin Wenig recalled his experience at Y Combinator in 2019. During that time, his initial startup, Coursedog, aimed to offer contemporary tools to higher education institutions, including those collaborating with state agencies. He soon realized that many of his peers avoided working with the public sector due to its inherent bureaucracy.
Obtaining even fundamental information, such as a school district’s past year purchases, involved extensive paperwork.
Wenig noted that among numerous startups, only a few focused on modernizing government and education processes. Investors often perceived this area as slow, bureaucratic, and difficult to scale, a sentiment Wenig acknowledged as valid given the challenges of selling to the public sector.
Coursedog was sold in 2021 to JMI Equity for a nine-figure sum, and Wenig continues to serve on its board. In 2024, he founded Starbridge, a platform designed to assist business sales teams in tracking public sector opportunities. This enables them to pursue actions like submitting proposals or preparing bids for grants and budgets. Starbridge recently announced a $42 million Series A funding round, led by David Sacks’ Craft Ventures.
Wenig identified fragmented and inaccessible data as a primary challenge within the public sector.
According to Wenig, essential purchasing information is dispersed across various sources, including PDFs, agency websites, meeting minutes, and outdated directories. This forces vendors to spend considerable time compiling contact details and other crucial insights.
Starbridge aggregates public web data from various sources into a single, centralized location. Sales teams utilizing the platform can access a ranked scoring system, provided by Starbridge, indicating which public sector accounts are most likely to acquire new technology. The platform also provides updates on leadership changes or new initiatives.
Wenig stated that the platform offers users a clear, data-backed perspective on where to concentrate efforts and when to take action, rather than pursuing irrelevant information.
Wenig characterized the fundraising process as “fun,” mentioning that the connection with Craft Ventures was made through a friend. Other participants in the Series A round include Owl Ventures, Commonweal Ventures, and Autotech Ventures. The company’s total funding now stands at $52 million, following an initial $10 million seed round.
The startup intends to introduce a “Starbridge integrated experience,” aiming to allow users to access its technology without needing to always navigate directly to the Starbridge platform.
Wenig explained that the goal is for every competitor to integrate directly with a user’s CRM, for account-related questions to be answerable via a slackbot, and for job changes to automatically update in a sequencer.
Competitors in this sector include GovWin and GovSpend. Starbridge differentiates itself by incorporating AI workflows on top of its datasets, enhancing usability for sales teams.
Wenig recalled that during his fundraising efforts for Coursedog, venture capitalists showed little interest. However, he noted a shift in sentiment within the current AI era.
He added that while fewer individuals might aspire to public office, there is a strong desire to build. Wenig expressed optimism for the future, observing a new wave of mission-driven founders addressing significant, systemic challenges.
