Brigade
Brigade was a civic engagement technology platform founded in 2014 in San Francisco by CEO Matt Mahan. The company built tools to simplify political participation, acquired Votizen and Causes, and raised $9 million in Series A funding from SV Angel.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Brigade does
Brigade was a civic engagement technology company founded in 2014 by CEO and co-founder Matt Mahan in San Francisco. Per the company description, Brigade set out to make civic engagement easy, effective, and enjoyable, with the stated goal of restoring political power to individuals through digital tools that lowered the friction of participation. The company was a small, venture-backed startup with 11-50 employees, operating in the consumer political-tech category.
Brigade pursued a platform-roll-up approach in its first year, acquiring two adjacent civic products on the same day — Votizen (a voter/civic data platform) and Causes (an online advocacy and petition platform) — both on June 11, 2014, for undisclosed amounts. Leadership centered on Matt Mahan as CEO and co-founder, with Matt Wilson serving as Vice President, Politics, signaling a focus on political product and campaign use cases. The combined footprint implied an aggregated user base of civic-minded consumers that could be activated around issues, candidates, and causes.
The company raised a $9 million Series A funding round in August 2014 with SV Angel among the disclosed investors. No subsequent funding, product launches, or commercial milestones are documented in the available data, and brigade.com is currently listed for sale on a domain marketplace, indicating the company is likely no longer operating its flagship web property. Several other data sources describe unrelated entities sharing the "Brigade" name — a private credit fund with a $1 billion fund close, a $1.01 billion Family Dollar acquisition alongside Macellum, and Brigade Electronics' vehicle-safety products — none of which align with the civic-engagement firmographic identity and are therefore not incorporated into this analysis.
Brigade firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Brigade
- Website
- https://brigade.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Brigade was a civic engagement technology platform founded in 2014 in San Francisco by CEO Matt Mahan. The company built tools to simplify political participation, acquired Votizen and Causes, and raised $9 million in Series A funding from SV Angel.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Brigade industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Civic Technology
- NAICS
- Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Civic and Social Organizations (813410), Political Organizations (813940), Social Advocacy Organizations (81331)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy (BPAGAFAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Community Fundraisers & Charity Events (Gala/Walks excluded) (MPAGAEAK), Nonprofit, Social Services & Community Development Congresses (THAHAJAO)
Keywords
Where Brigade is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Brigade business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations
Revenue model
- Private Credit Fund Management: Managing a $1 billion dedicated private credit fund generating returns through investment activities
- Retail Asset Acquisition: Acquired Family Dollar business segment from Dollar Tree for $1.01 billion, representing strategic investment in retail sector consolidation
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Brigade product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Brigade operates a civic engagement platform that helps individual users participate in political and civic action. It absorbed the capabilities of Votizen (voter and political engagement) and Causes (online advocacy and supporter mobilization), both acquired by Brigade in June 2014, to deliver a unified consumer-facing experience for engaging with candidates, causes, and civic processes.
Product overview
Brigade Electronics, headquartered in Portland, Indiana, offers a comprehensive vehicle safety product portfolio centered on its core Backsense Radar OSD system—a next-generation safety solution combining radar and camera technologies into a unified in-cab display. The ecosystem includes complementary add-on modules such as Backeye 360 for 360-degree camera coverage and AI Human Form Recognition for enhanced pedestrian detection. These products work together to provide layered safety monitoring for construction and mining vehicles, with the Backsense Radar OSD serving as the primary intelligent processing hub that integrates with and leverages the camera-based and AI recognition capabilities of the other systems.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Votizen Votizen is a voter and political engagement platform acquired by Brigade, providing capabilities for connecting individual citizens with political candidates, campaigns, and voter mobilization actions.
- Causes Causes is an online advocacy and supporter mobilization platform acquired by Brigade, enabling individuals to discover, support, and champion nonprofit and civic campaigns.
Quantifiable outcome
- $1.01 billion Family Dollar acquisition completed
Companies that use Brigade
Customer profileIdeal customer profiles1 record
Brigade technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Brigade partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- MacellumcoreStrategic partnership with Macellum for joint acquisition of Dollar Tree's Family Dollar business segment for $1.01 billion. This partnership represents a major retail sector investment strategy combining Brigade's capital with Macellum's operational expertise.
- Axis Energy Services LLCflagshipMerger with Axis Energy Services LLC to form the largest well servicing company in the U.S. Combined entity includes over 1,700 employees and 200 workover rigs, with focus on technological innovation and workforce development. New organization based in Dallas.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves3 records
Expansion highlights1 record
Brigade competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Hustle: Peer-to-peer texting and outreach platform for campaigns, nonprofits, and advocacy organizations. Comparable to Brigade's civic engagement infrastructure thesis, particularly for distributed grassroots organizing.
- Action Network: Nonprofit advocacy and organizing platform providing email, petitions, events, and fundraising tools. Direct peer to Brigade in the civic engagement infrastructure space, particularly for progressive and nonprofit campaigns.
- EveryAction: Nonprofit CRM and digital engagement platform combining fundraising, advocacy, email, and organizing tools. Direct peer to Brigade's civic engagement stack, particularly for nonprofits managing member engagement.
- Mobilize: Volunteer and event mobilization platform widely used by progressive campaigns, nonprofits, and advocacy groups. Closely aligned with Brigade's civic engagement thesis, offering tools for organizing volunteers and driving turnout for civic actions.
- Rock the Vote: Long-established civic engagement organization focused on youth voter registration and political participation. Mission-aligned with Brigade's voter engagement thesis, with similar target demographic and nonprofit operating model.
- Vote.org: Nonpartisan voter registration and turnout platform focused on civic participation. Comparable to Brigade's mission of political empowerment through voter engagement, particularly the Votizen acquisition's voter functionality.
Emerging players
- Civic Eagle: Civic engagement and legislative tracking platform helping organizations mobilize supporters around policy issues. Comparable to Brigade's mission of restoring political power to people through accessible civic infrastructure.
Broad incumbents
- Change.org: World's largest petition and civic advocacy platform with hundreds of millions of users. Directly comparable to Brigade's mission of empowering individuals to drive civic change, though operates at vastly greater scale and global footprint.
- Quorum: Public affairs and advocacy software platform serving corporations, trade associations, and nonprofits with legislative tracking and grassroots tools. Comparable to Brigade's civic engagement mission but serves institutional advocacy clients.
- NGP VAN: Dominant Democratic Party technology vendor providing voter data, organizing, and campaign tools. Comparable to Brigade's political empowerment mission but serves institutional campaigns rather than grassroots users directly.
Market position
Strengths3 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat1 record
Key risks4 records
Key highlights4 records
Customer concentration
Brigade social profiles
Digital presenceBrigade compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Brigade financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Brigade leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Brigade subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Brigade funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Brigade M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A2 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Brigade
What does Brigade do?
Brigade operates a civic engagement platform that helps individual users participate in political and civic action. It absorbed the capabilities of Votizen (voter and political engagement) and Causes (online advocacy and supporter mobilization), both acquired by Brigade in June 2014, to deliver a unified consumer-facing experience for engaging with candidates, causes, and civic processes.
Is Brigade a public or private company?
Brigade is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Brigade founded?
Brigade was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Brigade based?
Brigade is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Brigade make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Private Credit Fund Management is the primary driver. The others are retail Asset Acquisition.
Who are Brigade's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Hustle, Action Network, EveryAction, Mobilize, Rock the Vote and Vote.org. Civic Eagle is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Change.org, Quorum and NGP VAN.
Does Brigade have an API?
No public API is recorded for Brigade.
What industry is Brigade in?
Brigade's product category is Civic Technology. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAFAJ, Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy, with a secondary code of MPAGAEAK, Community Fundraisers & Charity Events (Gala/Walks excluded). Its NAICS code is 8133 and its SIC code is 8600.