Missoula tech company lands Montana record $47M venture capital investment | Local News

Submittable, a software company that caters to nonprofits, governments and corporations, announced on Monday that it’s raised $47 million in Series C funding led by technology-focused investment firm Accel-KKR with support from existing investors.

According to CEO Thor Culverhouse, the money will be used to expand the company’s staff in Missoula and in the Seattle area.

“It’s an accelerant for the company,” he said. “We doubled (revenue) last year, and we will probably be close to a double this year. This capital will also likely allow us to double the size of our team. We’re continuing to invest in the culture and the people and talent of Missoula.”

Submittable has 165 employees total, with about 90 of those based in Missoula. The company’s offices are in the historic Florence building downtown, but many of the workers are fully remote.

Submittable was founded in a basement in 2010 by Missoula entrepreneurs Michael FitzGerald, Bruce Tribbensee and John Brownell. In 2019, the company landed $10 million in venture capital. In 2020, FitzGerald stepped away from his role to deal with Stage 4 metastatic colorectal cancer. The company also laid off 30 workers in 2020 as the pandemic dried up demand for its services and products. Monday’s announcement marks a dramatic turnaround from that low point for the company.

The new venture capital funds will be used by the company to boost how it helps organizations launch, manage and measure social impact programs.

Culverhouse said the social impact sector has experienced “unheard-of” growth in recent years as public, private and nonprofit entities have all increased the funding going towards justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

“There is a major shift happening in how the world thinks about social impact, as organizations big and small reshape programs in real-time to address global change,” Culverhouse said. “Social responsibility is now table stakes, and we are privileged to grow and evolve alongside these organizations in transforming the process of making an impact. This funding is central to our ongoing efforts to expand our product and team to better help our customers make that difference.”

For example, Facebook’s foundation gave $25 million to Black content creators in the summer of 2020 in the wake of the nationwide protests after the murder of George Floyd.

“We facilitated that process,” Culverhouse explained.

Essentially, Submittable has developed a grants management platform, software-as-a-service and other technology that allows organizations to push funding to constituents and clients and then measure the impact. Submittable built the underlying technology that allows state governments to dole out COVID relief funds, disaster relief, housing assistance and a variety of other grants. The venture capital will allow Submittable to add new features to its platform to improve the way it measures engagement.

Culverson said Submittable’s technology streamlines program management, from the first application to the final report, and includes workflow automation, funds distribution services and reporting tools.

“Our collective experiences of the past few years have dramatically increased the focus on and scale of giving and impact initiatives, accelerating an already large and growing market,” said Joe Porten, Managing Director at Accel-KKR. “Submittable provides top-rated technology that enables organizations to be both highly efficient and effective in their social impact work.”

The previous venture capital record in Montana was set in 2018, when Livingston-based marketing technology company PFL scored a $25 million investment from Goldman Sachs Growth Equity.

Culverson said the record investment for Submittable is a sign of good things to come for Montana’s high-tech companies.

“It’s an endorsement of the Montana culture and its people,” he said. “There’s a resurgence of high-tech talent in Montana. We’re seeing more companies pop up because it’s a great place to work and live and we’re pleased to be a part of that.”