Third Sector Intelligence

What Third Sector Intelligence does

Third Sector Intelligence (3Si) is a Seattle-headquartered, privately held software and analytics firm founded in 2012 that builds and operates the Child Universal Success Platform (CUSP), a purpose-built Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS). CUSP integrates population-level child data with administrative data from multiple state and local agency systems — including subsidized child care, licensing, Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS), child care resource and referral, child welfare, and home visiting — to produce longitudinal profiles for every child in a state. Core platform capabilities include configurable eligibility rule engines for policy and legislative simulation, geocoded spatial analysis for child care desert and service gap mapping, deduplicated provider analytics, subsidy lifecycle tracking, and risk and audit analytics for compliance with programs such as CCDF. The technology stack is cloud-native (AWS, Azure, or GCP with Databricks for analytics processing) and built on SQL, R, Python, and Spark.

3Si sells exclusively to U.S. state and local government agencies through an enterprise field sales motion. Revenue is generated through multi-year CUSP platform subscriptions starting at approximately $715,000 annually per state, bundled with implementation and ongoing technical assistance services, plus pass-through cloud infrastructure costs of roughly $15,000–$20,000 per year. Four states currently operate CUSP in production — Washington, Wyoming, Georgia, and Massachusetts — with six additional states (Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Minnesota, Utah, Alaska) engaged in planning work. Sub-state engagements (King County, City of Chicago, City of Seattle) extend the customer base beyond the state tier. The company also operates the CUSP Network, a multi-state community of practice that publishes annual state impact reports, and offers CUSP Public as a free data and visualization tool for demand generation.

The firm is founder-controlled under CEO Chris Strausz-Clark (formerly of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), employs 11–50 staff in a fully distributed remote model, and has not disclosed external institutional funding. Revenue and funding rounds are not publicly disclosed. The business combines a niche government SaaS product with substantial professional services, philanthropic co-funding from major foundations (Gates, Ballmer, Crown, Raikes, McCormick), and a category-leading position in the specialized U.S. state ECIDS market.

Name

Third Sector Intelligence

Legal name

Third Sector Intelligence, Inc.

Website

https://team3si.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Third Sector Intelligence provides the CUSP Early Childhood Integrated Data System, integrating child and provider administrative data across state and local agencies to identify service gaps, simulate policy changes, and manage subsidy programs. It sells multi-year platform subscriptions to U.S. government clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early Childhood Integrated Data Systems (ECIDS)

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611), Information (51), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Data Reporting & Outcomes Measurement for Regulators/QRIS (EDACAKAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Standards Alignment & Curriculum Mapping Resources (State/NAEYC/Head Start) (EDACAJAN)

Keywords

• Early childhood data systems
• Government data analytics
• ECIDS platform
• Child care analytics
• Integrated data platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. CUSP Platform Subscription: Annual subscription licensing of the CUSP platform to state government clients. Implementation is delivered by 3Si's technical team alongside state agency staff. Ongoing subscription fees cover platform hosting, maintenance, enhancements, and technical assistance. Multi-year contract terms are standard given the nature of government procurement cycles.
2. Implementation and Technical Assistance Services: Professional services fees for initial platform deployment, data integration, stakeholder engagement, and ongoing analytical consulting. These services are bundled with the platform subscription and typically span the first year of engagement with states, then continue on an ad-hoc or retainer basis.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Third Sector Intelligence provides the Child Universal Success Platform (CUSP), a cloud-based Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS) that integrates population data and administrative data from disparate sources at state and local agencies to deliver a comprehensive, integrated view of every child and early childhood provider in a state. The company pairs this platform with implementation services, technical assistance, and consulting for state government clients managing early childhood programs.

Product overview

Third Sector Intelligence offers a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on the Child Universal Success Platform (CUSP), an industry-leading Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS). The core CUSP platform integrates population data and administrative data from disparate sources to provide comprehensive, integrated views of children and early childhood providers. Key modules include the CUSP Research Starter Kit for foundational analytics and visualization, the CUSP Analytics Library for building and sharing visualizations, CUSP Risk & Audit Analytics for quantifying provider compliance risk, and CUSP Subsidy Lifecycle Analytics for childcare subsidy management. The company also provides CUSP Public as a free data and visualization tool. Consulting Services support implementation and data strategy. Pricing follows a Total Cost of Ownership model starting at $715,000 annually.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CUSP: Child Universal Success Platform - an industry-leading Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS) that integrates population data and administrative data from disparate sources at state and local agencies.

Products and services

• Child Universal Success Platform (CUSP) An industry-leading Early Childhood Integrated Data System (ECIDS) that integrates population data and administrative data from disparate sources at state and local agencies to provide comprehensive, integrated, dynamic, and timely data capturing the child and family experience in their early childhood journey. Sold to state government agencies on a multi-year annual subscription starting at approximately $715,000/year.
• CUSP Research Starter Kit A powerful, easy-to-use analytics and visualization tool enabling users to answer foundational questions on the demand for and supply of early childhood services, with intuitive interface, trend analysis capabilities, and regularly refreshed data.
• CUSP Analytics Library A unified interface where users search, build, and store analytics and visualizations including 3Si's standard analytical packages for comprehensive views of early childhood services, funding programs, access deserts, and gaps in availability of affordable services.
• CUSP Consulting Services Implementation assistance leveraging CUSP to help clients envision, design, and deliver programs and policies with meaningful community impact, including access to data scientists, subject-matter experts, and data engineers.
• CUSP Public 3Si's free data and interactive visualization tool to explore, analyze, and download child population, demographic, and program eligibility data for all states and counties in the U.S.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4 states with fully operational CUSP deployments, 6 additional states in ECIDS planning engagements
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature7 records

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core, emerging and minor.

• State of WashingtonflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerWashington State is one of four states with a fully operational CUSP deployment, with its Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) as the primary agency partner. Washington serves as a flagship reference client and a founding member of the CUSP Network.
• State of WyomingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWyoming is one of four states with an active CUSP deployment, representing a smaller-state implementation of the ECIDS platform.
• Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerDECAL is the Georgia state agency leading the CUSP implementation in Georgia. Georgia is one of four states with an operational CUSP deployment and publishes annual CUSP Member State reports documenting the partnership's outcomes.
• Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerMassachusetts EEC is the state agency leading the CUSP implementation in Massachusetts, publishing annual CUSP Member State reports. Massachusetts is one of four states with an active deployment.
• State of TexasemergingStrategic or Co-development PartnerTexas is engaged in an ECIDS planning engagement with 3Si, not yet at full deployment stage. The Texas Education Agency is referenced as the state entity involved.
• State of OklahomaemergingStrategic or Co-development PartnerOklahoma's Department of Human Services is engaged in an ECIDS planning engagement with 3Si, in the early stages of the partnership.
• State of NebraskaemergingStrategic or Co-development PartnerNebraska's Department of Health and Human Services is engaged in an ECIDS planning engagement with 3Si, in the early stages of the partnership.
• State of MinnesotaemergingStrategic or Co-development PartnerMinnesota is engaged in an ECIDS planning engagement with 3Si. The specific state agency leading the engagement is not specified in available sources.
• State of UtahemergingStrategic or Co-development PartnerUtah's Department of Health is engaged in an ECIDS planning engagement with 3Si, in the early stages of the partnership.
• State of AlaskaemergingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlaska is engaged in an ECIDS planning engagement with 3Si. The specific state agency is not specified in available sources.
• City of SeattleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe City of Seattle is listed among 3Si's partner organizations, suggesting some level of collaboration on early childhood data or policy initiatives in the Seattle metro area.
• City of ChicagominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe City of Chicago is referenced as a 3Si partner organization, with a planning engagement underway for early childhood data integration in Chicago.
• King County, WashingtoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKing County is listed as a 3Si partner and is the subject of a published child care access analysis (co-funded by Gates Foundation and Ballmer Group). The county represents a sub-state government partner engaged in early childhood data analysis.
• Prosperity NowminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProsperity Now, a national nonprofit focused on economic mobility, is listed among 3Si's partner organizations. The nature of the partnership likely relates to shared policy goals around child and family economic security.
• Charities Review CouncilminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Charities Review Council, a Minnesota-based nonprofit focused on nonprofit accountability, is listed among 3Si's partner organizations.
• Child Care Aware of WashingtonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChild Care Aware of Washington (a statewide child care resource and referral network) is listed as a 3Si partner. This partnership may involve data sharing or collaborative analysis using CUSP's provider data integration.
• Neighborhood HouseminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNeighborhood House, a Seattle-based community services organization, is listed among 3Si's partner organizations, suggesting a local community-level collaboration.
• Centralia CollegeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCentralia College, a community college in Washington State, is listed as a 3Si partner organization, potentially collaborating on workforce or early childhood education data.
• University of WashingtonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe University of Washington is listed among 3Si's partner organizations, suggesting a research or academic collaboration related to early childhood data and policy.
• University of PennsylvaniaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe University of Pennsylvania is listed among 3Si's partner organizations, suggesting a research or academic collaboration in early childhood data and policy.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Abt Associates: Abt Associates is a research and consulting firm that delivers social policy analysis and program evaluation for federal and state agencies, comparable in scale and government client base.
• ICF International: ICF provides research, analytics, and digital modernization services to federal and state agencies across health and human services, often competing in adjacent data integration and policy analytics procurements.
• Westat: Westat provides statistical research, data collection, and evaluation services for government clients, including human services and ECE programs, often appearing alongside 3Si in state agency RFPs.
• NORC at the University of Chicago: NORC is a major independent research institution conducting large-scale data collection and analytics for government agencies, including child and family programs, often serving as a partner or competitor on state-level data engagements.
• MAXIMUS: MAXIMUS is a large government services and technology provider with broad human services and health programs, occasionally intersecting with state ECE and CCDF operations, though not specialized in ECIDS.

Direct peers

• Public Consulting Group: PCG provides data systems, consulting, and implementation services to state health and human services agencies, including early childhood and CCDF programs, directly competing with 3Si for state ECIDS RFPs.
• Child Trends: Child Trends is a research nonprofit focused on child and family wellbeing, producing data products and applied analytics for state ECE stakeholders; comparable to 3Si's research and policy analytics work.
• Mathematica: Mathematica conducts large-scale policy research and data analysis for federal and state agencies, including early childhood and family-support programs, overlapping with 3Si's analytics consulting practice.

Emerging players

• Aurrera Health Group: Aurrera Health is a women- and minority-owned health policy and data analytics consultancy serving state Medicaid and human services agencies, comparable to 3Si's data integration and policy analytics capabilities.
• Opportunities Exchange: Opportunities Exchange focuses on data, tools, and consulting for child care providers and ECE entrepreneurs, partially overlapping with 3Si's supply-side analytics and provider risk modules.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/team3si
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@thirdsectorintelligence
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/3si

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Third Sector Intelligence