Startup In Residence

What Startup In Residence does

Startup in Residence (STIR) is a cohort-based government innovation program founded in 2014 as an initiative of the San Francisco Mayor's Office of Civic Innovation and operated by the City Innovate Foundation. Over a structured 16-week residency, STIR matches startups from around the world with civic challenges submitted by partnering municipalities, counties, states, and transit authorities, with the goal of co-developing technology products that move from problem statement to working prototype within a single program cycle. The program's core "product" is a methodology — codified in the gated STIR Playbook — covering challenge sourcing and scoping, startup solicitation and selection, residency execution, and Demo Day delivery, rather than a proprietary software platform. Solutions produced through the program include Binti's foster-care platform (now adopted by 31 California public agencies), Appledore's Outreach Grid for homelessness coordination, LotaData's geo-dashboard for San Leandro, and Preschool2me's Head Start enrollment tool for Oakland.

STIR generates revenue primarily through annual membership fees paid by government partners, with pricing tiered from $5,000 (cities with budgets under $100M) to $25,000 (cities with budgets above $5B); a secondary, smaller stream comes from industry partner sponsorship of the Technology Advisory Board. Startups participate pro bono, with the expectation that successful projects convert into direct contracts between the startup and the government agency after the residency concludes. Government partner count grew from 4 cities in 2016 to 28+ by 2019 and 31 in the 2019 cohort (which also included the first state participant, Pennsylvania, and Canada), with a stated goal of reaching 100 cities within five years. The program has been recognized by Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center as one of the Top 25 Innovations in American Government (2017) and has secured institutional backing including a U.S. Department of Commerce three-year grant and a November 2018 partnership with the National League of Cities to channel $100 million in local partnerships toward 14 additional cities. STIR is not venture-backed and operates as a collaborative partnership among the City Innovate Foundation, San Francisco Mayor's Office of Civic Innovation, Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, and media partners including GovTech, Crunchbase, and ReadWrite.

Name

Startup In Residence

Legal name

Startup in Residence

Website

https://startupinresidence.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Startup in Residence (STIR) runs a 16-week cohort-based residency program that matches startups with government agencies to co-develop technology solutions for civic challenges, funded by tiered annual membership fees from participating municipalities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Innovation Programs

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (925)

akta.pro primary industry

Entrepreneurship, Business & Innovation Camps (EDAMALAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA)

Keywords

• Civic innovation programs
• Govtech partnership program
• Government startup matching
• Civic technology co-development
• Public sector residency

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Government Membership Fees: STIR generates revenue through membership fees paid by government partner cities and agencies. Fees are based on the operating budget of the city or agency, ranging from $5,000 for budgets under $100M to $25,000 for budgets over $5B. Membership fees are due in October at the start of the 16-week residency and cover program support, training, and oversight provided by STIR staff.
2. Technology Advisory Board Sponsorship: Industry partners can sponsor the program and gain access to STIR challenges, government leaders, and startup innovators. Sponsors receive insight into smart city use cases and opportunities to engage with the govtech ecosystem.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Startup in Residence (STIR) is a 16-week cohort-based residency program that connects startups with government agencies to co-develop technology solutions for real civic challenges over a structured engagement period. The program sources and scopes challenges from government departments, solicits and selects startups, facilitates the co-development residency, and culminates in public demo days. Government partners commit challenges, dedicated project managers, and budgets, while startups gain access to government decision-makers, mentorship, and an expedited path to government contracts.

Product overview

Startup in Residence (STIR) operates as a civic technology partnership program that connects government agencies with startups to co-develop technology products addressing real civic challenges. The core offering is the 16-week STIR residency program, which includes sourcing and scoping civic challenges from government departments, soliciting and selecting startups, facilitating the co-development residency period, and celebrating outcomes with demo days. The program supports three challenge types: Services (modernizing government service delivery), Processes (digitizing business processes), and Decisions (data-driven decision making through emerging technologies). Notable sub-products include Outreach Grid, a mobile platform for homelessness services coordination developed by the startup Appledore during the STIR program. The program does not offer a standalone software product but rather serves as a framework and network for public-private technology collaboration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• STIR Playbook: The STIR Playbook is a detailed manual and methodology guide available to government partners that documents key learnings and insights for effective public-private partnerships.

Products and services

• Startup in Residence (STIR) Residency Program A 16-week cohort-based residency program connecting startups with government agencies to co-develop technology solutions for civic challenges. Government partners submit challenges, dedicate project managers and budgets, and work alongside selected startups through problem-focused procurement. The program includes sourcing and scoping challenges, soliciting and selecting startups, facilitating the co-development residency, mentorship, and culminating demo days. Three challenge categories are supported: Services, Processes, and Decisions.
• STIR Playbook The STIR Playbook is a documented methodology manual and learning resource available to government partners that codifies the four-phase STIR framework — Source & Scope Challenges, Solicit & Select Startups, The Residency, and Deliver & Celebrate — and provides replicable best practices for public-private civic technology partnerships.
• Outreach Grid A mobile platform developed by startup Appledore during the STIR program that coordinates homelessness information, featuring an intake tool for field data collection including GPS coordinates and client history storage for social service coordination. Adopted by the West Sacramento Police Department, reducing manual data collection time by 1-8 hours per week.

Quantifiable outcome

• Binti reduces social worker time by 20-40%
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• City Innovate FoundationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead organization managing the STIR program. Provides program infrastructure, central coordination, and operational support for the government startup matching platform.
• San Francisco Mayor's Office of Civic InnovationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerOriginal launching entity of the STIR program in 2014. Continues to provide leadership and support for the national expansion of the program.
• Nasdaq Entrepreneurial CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner providing resources, venue support for Demo Day events, and connections to the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• GovTechcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMedia partner providing press coverage, thought leadership, and visibility for the STIR program and startup alumni.
• CrunchbaseminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMedia partner providing news coverage and visibility for the STIR program.
• ReadWriteminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMedia partner providing editorial coverage of the STIR program and startup-government partnerships.
• Civic MakersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCivic technology community organization supporting STIR through connections to the maker and civic tech community.
• ImpactHubSFminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoworking and accelerator space partner providing workspace and community connections for STIR participants.
• Runway IncubatorminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIncubator partner providing resources and connections for startup participants in the STIR program.
• National League of Cities (NLC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership announced in November 2018 for $100 million in local partnerships to expand STIR to 14 additional cities.
• Technology Advisory Board MemberscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGroup of subject matter experts from global technology organizations who review challenges and provide technical guidance. Chaired by Will Barkis, Principal at Orange Silicon Valley.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Code for America: Nonprofit that runs a civic-tech fellowship placing technologists inside government agencies to deliver digital services. Directly comparable to STIR in mission (bridging startups/technologists with government), cohort-based delivery model, and target customer (U.S. municipalities).
• GovTech Fund: Venture fund investing in early-stage companies selling to government. Comparable in straddling the startup-to-government bridge, though it does so via capital deployment rather than a residency program.

Broad incumbents

• 18F (U.S. General Services Administration): Federal in-house civic-tech team that helps government agencies build and buy digital services. Comparable in accelerating govtech procurement and modernizing public-sector technology, but operates as a federal office rather than a startup-matching residency program.
• U.S. Digital Service (USDS): Federal civic-tech organization embedded in agencies to deliver technology improvements. Comparable in mission to bring modern tech practices into government, but focused at federal level and staffed by rotators rather than recruited startups.
• New America Foundation: Large public-policy think tank with programs in civic engagement, government innovation, and social impact. Comparable in its nonprofit operating model and focus on public-sector reform, though it operates at a broader policy level rather than as a cohort program for startups.

Emerging players

• Fast Forward: Accelerator for tech nonprofits, with a portfolio of organizations building products for government and social services. Comparable in nonprofit-cohort model connecting technology builders with public-sector impact goals.
• Echoing Green: Fellowship program supporting social-impact leaders and entrepreneurs with seed funding and mentorship. Comparable in cohort-based social-entrepreneurship delivery model, though not specifically focused on government contracts.
• Blue Ridge Labs (by Robin Hood Foundation): Social-impact incubator that supports entrepreneurs building tech products for low-income communities. Comparable in cohort-based program structure and nonprofit/grant funding model.

Regional players

• Nesta (UK): UK innovation foundation running challenge prizes, accelerators, and government innovation programs. Comparable in running government-facing innovation programs and documenting methodologies, but primarily serving UK/European public-sector partners.
• MindLab (Danish government innovation lab): Cross-ministerial innovation unit that develops citizen-centric services with municipalities. Comparable in facilitating public-private collaboration on civic challenges, but operates as a Danish government unit rather than a startup-matching program.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Startup In Residence