Frequency Foundry

What Frequency Foundry does

Frequency Foundry Inc. is a privately held Canadian software company founded in 2009 and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, with a United States regional headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company builds verticalized customer relationship management (CRM) solutions on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement platform, leveraging Microsoft Azure, Dataverse, and the Power Platform. Its product portfolio comprises four purpose-built applications: greymatter (Full Lifecycle CRM for Higher Education covering recruitment through alumni engagement), Signal (AI-driven 311 and citizen engagement CRM for municipal governments), Prosper (economic development CRM for state, provincial, and municipal governments managing trade, investment, and grants), and Amplify (donor and membership management CRM for not-for-profit organizations extending Microsoft’s nonprofit accelerator). The four products are positioned around common integration scaffolding — Dynamics 365, Dataverse, Power Platform, and Microsoft industry accelerators — with deep integrations into student information systems (Banner, PeopleSoft), learning management systems (Moodle), payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Moneris), and Microsoft 365 productivity tools.

The company’s business model is a hybrid of SaaS subscriptions and professional services. Customers purchase named-user software licenses under multi-year subscription contracts (typically 12-month terms with automatic renewal, billed three months in advance, with 60-day termination notice), supplemented by implementation, consulting, training, and managed services delivered by in-house functional consultants, CRM implementation specialists, and IT project managers. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Distribution runs through a direct enterprise field sales motion, channel partnerships with Microsoft (Gold Cloud CRM Partner), ClickDimensions (Global Partner of the Year 2022), Analytikus (AI/ML), Intermedia (contact center, formerly Telax), and systems integrators such as Alithya. Marketing relies heavily on conference presence at EDUCAUSE, NASPA, AACRAO, EDAC, and Microsoft events, supplemented by case-study content and social channels.

Frequency Foundry serves primarily Higher Education, Public Sector (municipal and economic development), and Not-for-Profit organizations. Greymatter is reported to be deployed at 16+ higher education institutions across Canada and the United States, including Athabasca University (40,000+ students), Thompson Rivers University, Langara College, Simon Fraser University, and College of Southern Nevada. Public sector deployments include municipal 311 deployments and economic development departments, with additional adjacent customers in adjacent verticals such as Gibson Energy in midstream energy. The company operates on three continents with disclosed offices only in Calgary and Las Vegas, and is led by founder Shekar Kadaba (Chief Experience Officer / CEO) alongside a small senior team that includes Charles Finstad as Chief Revenue Officer.

Name

Frequency Foundry

Legal name

Frequency Foundry Inc.

Website

https://frequencyfoundry.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Frequency Foundry builds vertical CRM software — greymatter for higher education, Signal for municipal citizen engagement, Prosper for economic development, and Amplify for nonprofits — on Microsoft Dynamics 365 for universities, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations across Canada, the United States, and beyond.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Vertical CRM Software (Higher Education & Public Sector)

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Industry-Specific CRM (Vertical CRM Suites) (HDAEAFAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Customer Service, Support & Contact Center CRM (HDAEAFAC), Marketing Automation & Campaign Management CRM (HDAEAFAB), CRM Implementation & Customization Services (BPAEAGAC)

Keywords

• Higher education CRM
• Constituent relationship management
• Citizen engagement software
• Economic development CRM
• Donor management software

Headquarters

HQ city

Calgary

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Software Subscriptions (SaaS): SaaS subscription model where customers purchase access to CRM services. Subscriptions are typically for 12-month terms with automatic renewal. Subscription fees are normally charged three months in advance. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed.
2. Professional Services: Implementation services, consulting, training, and customer onboarding for CRM deployments. The company employs Functional Consultants, CRM Implementation Specialists, and IT Project Managers for customer onboarding.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Frequency Foundry develops and sells verticalized CRM software — built on Microsoft Dynamics 365, Azure, Dataverse and the Power Platform — for higher education institutions, municipal governments, economic development agencies and not-for-profit organizations. Its product portfolio comprises greymatter (full-lifecycle constituent CRM for higher education from prospect to alumni), Signal (AI-driven 311/citizen engagement CRM for municipalities), Prosper (economic development CRM for state, provincial and municipal agencies) and Amplify (donor and membership management CRM for not-for-profits), supplemented by managed implementation, consulting and training services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• greymatter: Full Lifecycle Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) solution for Higher Education institutions, built on Microsoft Dynamics 365, covering recruitment, admissions, retention, advancement, and promotions.
• Signal
• Prosper
• Amplify

Products and services

• greymatter Higher Education CRM Full Lifecycle Constituent Relationship Management (FL-CRM) for Higher Education institutions covering the student lifecycle from prospect through alumni, including recruitment, admissions, retention, advancement and promotions. Built on Microsoft Dynamics 365, Azure and Dataverse, with omnichannel communication, process automation, analytics, AI capabilities, role-based security, mobile access and SIS integrations. Used by universities and colleges such as Athabasca University, Thompson Rivers University, Langara College, Simon Fraser University and College of Southern Nevada.
• Signal Citizen Engagement CRM AI-driven 311 and Citizen Engagement CRM for municipal and local governments providing a multichannel contact center, service request management, work order management, fieldwork workforce optimization with GIS-based routing, and case management interchanges between municipal departments and citizens.
• Prosper Economic Development CRM CRM built specifically for economic development professionals at the local, regional or state level. Supports client services, job creation projects, leasing, trade and investment opportunities, and grant disbursement for state, provincial and municipal economic development organizations.
• Amplify Donor Management CRM Donor and membership management CRM for the Not-for-Profit sector that extends the Microsoft Not-for-profit accelerator. Provides donor engagement, membership management, fundraising workflows, event management, gift processing, receipt generation, PCI-compliant payment integrations (Stripe, PayPal, Moneris) and integration with leading financial systems, plus regulatory reporting for fundraisers, executives, membership and event managers.
• Managed Transformation Services Higher Education IT consulting and implementation services delivered by Functional Consultants, CRM Implementation Specialists, IT Project Managers and Higher Education IT experts (including MVPs and industry leaders), offering Virtual CIO services to manage constituent transformation programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Thompson Rivers University will save $120,000 annually by retiring 5 disparate systems
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration21 records

AI capability8 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• MicrosoftcoreTechnology or IntegrationPremier Microsoft Gold Cloud CRM Partner with focus on higher education, government and not-for-profit solutions based on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement platform. Deep technical integration with Azure, Dataverse, Power Platform, and Microsoft industry accelerators.
• ClickDimensionscoreTechnology or IntegrationOfficial ClickDimensions Global Partner of the Year. Provides only unified marketing, analytics and services platform for Microsoft Dynamics to Frequency Foundry customers. Nearly 5 years of integration with greymatter and other products.
• IntermediasecondaryTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with Intermedia (formerly Telax) provides best-in-class contact center solution with superior reliability, easier adoption and faster resolve times for customers.
• AnalytikuscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership bringing together Frequency Foundry's Student Relationship Management expertise with Analytikus' Machine Learning and AI capabilities. Focused on transforming Higher Education through AI-driven solutions for student recruitment, retention, and engagement analytics.
• AlithyasecondaryImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSystem Integration Channel Partner exhibiting with Frequency Foundry at EDUCAUSE 2022. Joint go-to-market for Higher Education CRM implementations.
• OneWorldSISsecondaryTechnology or IntegrationStudent Information System Partner at EDUCAUSE 2022. Partnership enables SIS integration capabilities for greymatter customers.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• TargetX: TargetX is a Higher Education CRM vendor (now part of Encoura/Liaison) focused on student recruitment, retention, and alumni engagement for colleges and universities. It targets the exact same primary buyer (institutional enrollment leaders) and use cases (recruitment, retention, advancement) as Frequency Foundry's greymatter, making it the most direct product-line competitor.
• Technolutions (Slate): Slate by Technolutions is a leading Higher Education CRM and admissions platform serving universities and colleges with applicant tracking, recruitment, and CRM workflows. It is one of the most widely adopted Higher Ed CRMs in the U.S. and competes head-to-head with greymatter for institutional CRM budgets.
• Jenzabar: Jenzabar provides student information systems and CRM-style solutions for higher education institutions, including recruitment, retention, and student success modules. It targets the same small-to-mid U.S. university buyer segment as Frequency Foundry with overlapping functionality.
• Granicus: Granicus is a government technology vendor specializing in citizen engagement, 311 service requests, workflow automation, and communications for municipalities. It is the closest direct peer to Frequency Foundry's Signal product for the public-sector 311/citizen engagement CRM segment.

Broad incumbents

• Salesforce Education Cloud: Salesforce Education Cloud is Salesforce's vertical package that delivers CRM for student recruitment, alumni engagement, and advancement at universities. As a horizontal incumbent offering overlapping vertical functionality (and powering TargetX under the hood), it competes with Frequency Foundry at the platform level.
• Ellucian: Ellucian is the largest SIS/ERP vendor for Higher Education (Banner, Colleague, PowerCampus) and increasingly bundles CRM-adjacent student experience modules. It is a broad incumbent whose Banner SIS footprint is frequently integrated into Frequency Foundry's greymatter, making it both partner and competitor.
• Anthology (formerly Campus Management): Anthony (Anthology) is an EdTech incumbent delivering SIS, CRM, student success, and workforce development products to higher education institutions. Its student experience CRM overlaps directly with Frequency Foundry's greymatter while bundling additional enterprise-scale capabilities.
• HubSpot: HubSpot is a broad CRM and marketing automation platform increasingly penetrating education and mid-market verticals. While not Higher-Ed specialized, it competes for the same CRM/marketing-automation budget that Frequency Foundry's greymatter addresses via ClickDimensions integration.
• Microsoft (Dynamics 365): Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement is the underlying platform on which all of Frequency Foundry's products are built. As the platform vendor, Microsoft is the most consequential incumbent - it could either expand first-party Higher Ed or Public Sector vertical offerings or remain a partner-friendly substrate, with major implications for Frequency Foundry.
• PowerSchool: PowerSchool is a leading K-12 and higher education technology vendor with SIS, enrollment, and student-information products. It is a broad EdTech incumbent whose expansion into higher ed retention/engagement modules makes it an indirect competitor to Frequency Foundry's full-lifecycle higher-ed CRM.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/freqfoundry
• Facebookfacebook.com/FrequencyFoundryYYC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/frequency-foundry

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Frequency Foundry