We Bridge Tech and Politics.
Higher Ground Labs is a startup accelerator and venture fund. We support startups building technology that helps candidates win.
Political movements have grown in breadth and power across the world. The most successful utilize best-in-class technology to find, persuade, and mobilize their voters. Still, the Left remains behind in creating, funding, and adopting new technology. With a new media environment, a more transient voter base, and an increasingly extreme Republican Party, this shortfall is becoming an existential crisis.
Higher Ground Labs invests in companies building solutions to the most pressing campaign challenges and provides founders with programming and mentorship, helping them work quickly with greater short and long-term impact using fewer resources. We discover and support new techniques for effective campaigning, spark and nurture collaborations, and strengthen connectivity across the political tech ecosystem.
We are investors, collaborators, trainers and partners to the progressive community—ensuring candidates are using the right technology to run the best campaigns possible.
Since 2017, Higher Ground Labs has built an enduring platform for technological experimentation and iteration. We have invested in dozens of companies, many of which have become integral components of political tech for the Left. In 2020 alone, our companies reached 7,500 campaigns and 70 million voters.
MILLION DEPLOYED
START-UPS SUPPORTED
ENTREPRENEUR FELLOWSHIPS
CAMPAIGNS USING OUR TOOLS
An active accelerator for companies building scalable political technology
Follow on investments in companies that are prepared to scale
Fellowships that allow individuals to explore ideas for solutions to problems
Regular convenings for political and technology experts to forge alliances and share ideas
A large, experienced board of advisors that supports our entrepreneurs in building better products, developing more sound business models, and navigating the political space
Regular research and analysis that advances the use of technology across progressive politics
Meet the People Behind the Mission
We are a diverse team of expert investors, startup operators, and political advisors dedicated to the same mission: saving our democracy.
Our Values
Excellence
We hold ourselves to high standards of rigor, quality, accountability, timeliness, and responsiveness. Our investment approach is an effective, evidence-based balance of art and science.
- We value the money we invest as our own.
- We consult widely, research deeply, and seek data to inform decisions.
- We share well-founded, data-driven findings and data with ecosystem partners.
Integrity
We treat all members of our community like family: with respect, honesty, dignity and support. We practice inclusion, build collaborative partnerships, and keep our commitments. Our investing, operating and political decisions put our mission and values first.
- We select investors that align with our mission and ethos.
- We invest responsibly and openly share deal information and valuations.
- We provide transparent capital and equal support to our portfolio companies.
Curiosity
We believe there is always space to learn, grow and innovate. We ask difficult questions and challenge our existing assumptions. Our investing, operating, and political decisions allow for trial and error, value-educated risks, and trust in the vision and potential of our portfolio companies.
- We look at concept, founding team, and viability of business before investing.
- We challenge our portfolio companies to learn from their experience.
- We listen more than we talk. We let experts shape our understanding of the challenges at hand.