Today, I’m thrilled to announce that we raised $1.5M for Pavilion, led by Leadout Capital and joined by Neo. We’re excited to begin working with Alison Rosenthal of Leadout and Ali Partovi of Neo, who bring extensive operating expertise and share our vision to improve how local governments spend $1.5T each year.

Each year, local U.S. governments waste $300B on purchasing inefficiencies. Purchasing inefficiencies don’t just waste taxpayer dollars; they’re also missed opportunities to make government a better place to work, nurture American businesses, and build stronger communities. Most cities and other local governments resort to creating their own contracts through a competitive solicitation process, which is time-consuming and expensive. Pavilion optimizes public procurement by helping local agencies identify and share contracts — a legal and increasingly popular option that already represents 20% of local spend. We’re building a marketplace of competitively-solicited contracts that can be reused by government buyers, saving time and money for buyers and reducing the cost of selling to governments for suppliers.

We’re building Pavilion with local governments across two metro areas. Already, our technology is helping local governments in our pilot regions of Kansas City, MO and Portland, OR metro areas collaborate with peer agencies to buy vehicles, construction services, and even software. Using Pavilion, our government partners have saved time, saved money, and engaged a wider group of businesses.

If we’re successful, public servants will get more timely access to the resources they need to do mission-critical work. More businesses, including diverse and local businesses, will be able to enter the government market and grow. And residents across the country will receive higher-quality services more efficiently.

What would our country look like with billions of taxpayer dollars reinvested into our communities where they matter most? If this question excites you like it excites all of us, join us.