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FiscalNote Holdings, Inc., or commonly FiscalNote, is a publicly traded software, data, and media company headquartered in Washington, D.C. The company was founded by Timothy Hwang, Gerald Yao, and Jonathan Chen in 2013.[6] FiscalNote provides software tools, platforms, data services, and news through the FiscalNote Government Relationship Management (GRM) service, its core product.[7][3][8] The company also uses an artificial intelligence platform to analyze proposed U.S. legislation based on key phrases, comparison to similar bills, lists of strengths and weaknesses, a timeline of the committees it has passed, information about the bill's sponsors, and past legislator voting records. [9]

Key Information

In July 2018, FiscalNote acquired CQ Roll Call, a publishing company that produces several publications, including Roll Call and CQ (formerly Congressional Quarterly), that cover legislative processes, policies, and elections in the United States Congress.[10]

In July 2022, FiscalNote launched FiscalNote ESG Solutions, a suite of services designed to assist organizations in meeting environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) targets.[11]

History

[edit]

FiscalNote was founded in 2013 in Sunnyvale, California, by Timothy Hwang, Gerald Yao, and Jonathan Chen, all former schoolmates at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland.[12][13] Hwang, who had just finished his junior year at Princeton, brought Chen and Yao together to Silicon Valley to pitch the company to investors. The company was founded in a Motel 6,[14] where early employees Dan Maglasang and Dev Shah worked to build the product.[15][16]

In May 2017, FiscalNote announced its initial expansion outside the U.S., providing data sets for Australia and New Zealand.[17]

In June 2017, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser unveiled a major job training program in partnership with FiscalNote.[18] The program was announced alongside a $750,000 economic development package, introduced as an incentive for the company to stay in DC. FiscalNote moved its headquarters to 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue that year.[19][20][21]

In July 2017, FiscalNote announced the availability of data sets for Argentina, Canada, Chile, India, and the United Kingdom.[22]

In 2018 FiscalNote acquired CQ Roll Call, which helped bring stable financial flow with a consistent subscriber base and a competent data set.[23] By adding CQ Roll Call, FiscalNote gained an entryway into the media world and an opportunity to cover what certain bills may mean to subscribers instead of having to interpret the raw data.[24]

In July 2022, FiscalNote unveiled FiscalNote ESG Solutions, a suite of services designed to assist client organizations in meeting environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) goals. Alongside from the suite's main offering – an artificial intelligence-based platform designed to streamline data collection and management – tools offered include ESG-related news, research, and analysis briefings, expert advisory services, and access to peer discussion communities.[25]

Funding and acquisitions

[edit]

In late 2013, FiscalNote received early seed money from Mark Cuban after a cold email from Timothy Hwang.[26][27] This was soon followed by an investment from New Enterprise Associates, Yahoo cofounder Jerry Yang, and First Round Capital, leading to a total $1.3 million round.[28][29]

In fall 2014, FiscalNote received $7 million in its first institutional (and second total) financing round. Investors included AOL founder Steve Case, Visionnaire Ventures (a joint fund between Taizo Son and Temasek), with participation from Jerry Yang, Mark Cuban, New Enterprise Associates, Winklevoss Capital Management, Enspire Capital, Green Visor Capital (led by former Visa Chief Executive Joseph Saunders, and Middleland Capital.[30][31] Steve Case invested as part of his Rise of the Rest Fund.[32]

In February 2015, FiscalNote announced that it had raised $10 million in a third round of financing. Investors included Chinese social network Renren.[33] The move was a part of a larger move by Renren to diversify beyond its core area of online games and e-commerce in China.

In February 2016, FiscalNote raised another $10 million in a fourth round of financing. The round was led by Green Visor and Visionnaire.[34][35] FiscalNote later added $5 million to this round with a strategic investment from South Korean conglomerate MoneyToday Media alongside a strategic partnership with its newspaper and television divisions (MTN).[36] This came after FiscalNote's acquisition of MyCandidate in Korea.[37][38][39]

In August 2017, FiscalNote acquired 16-year old Baton Rouge company VoterVoice, bringing 1,100 new customers and expanding into the advocacy space.[40][41][42] FiscalNote CEO Hwang announced that the acquisition would be the first in "hundreds of millions".[43]

In January 2018, FiscalNote announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos that it had acquired a Brussels-based counterpart called Shungham, giving the company a foothold in the European Union as it seeks to expand globally.[2][44][45][46]

In July 2018, FiscalNote announced that it would acquire Congressional Quarterly and Roll Call from The Economist Group.[47]

In January 2021, FiscalNote announced it had acquired FactSquared,[48] the parent company of White House tracker Factba.se.

In February 2021, FiscalNote announced that it had acquired Oxford Analytica, a UK-based political risk consultancy and publisher of the Oxford Analytica Daily Brief.[49]

On September 15, 2021, the company announced the acquisition of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based artificial intelligence company Forge.AI.[50]

In August 2021, FiscalNote acquired Curate, a civic technology company that provides data to help companies monitor risk and provide clarification at the local government level.[51]

In 2022, FiscalNote acquired Aicel Technology, a South Korean alternative data company that specializes in emerging fintech markets.[52]

in January 2023, FiscalNote acquired Dragonfly Eye Ltd. (“Dragonfly”), a UK-based geopolitical and security intelligence provider of actionable data and analysis delivered through Dragonfly’s SaaS-based, proprietary Security Intelligence and Analysis Service (SIAS) subscription platform and API.[53]

Operations

[edit]

FiscalNote is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with regional headquarters in Seoul, Korea covering Asia and Brussels covering the European Union and the Middle East. Other major offices are in New York City, Baton Rouge, Gurgaon, India.[2] FiscalNote operates in multiple languages and had over 1,300 customers and over 21.9 million users as of January 2018.[54]

Advisors and board

[edit]
FiscalNote founder (Timothy Hwang) pictured with board member (Stanley McChrystal)

FiscalNote's board includes General Stanley A. McChrystal, Glenn Hubbard, Alec Ross (author), former Obama White House cabinet secretary and former Deputy Secretary of Labor Chris Lu, Congressman Mike Ferguson, Congressman Glenn Nye, and former publisher of the Washington Post Katharine Weymouth. FiscalNote also added Jayson Kim, General Partner of Legendary Ventures, and Mitch Shue, the former Chief Technology Officer of Morningstar, to their advisory board in 2021.[55][56]

Recognition

[edit]

FiscalNote was named to the CNN 10 in 2014 [57]

FiscalNote won the Technology Pioneer Award and Distinction at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in 2016.[58]

During the 2017 special presidential election in South Korea after President Park Geun Hye was impeached, FiscalNote launched nudepresident.com, matching South Korean voters with their ideal choice for president using artificial intelligence, correctly predicting that President Moon Jae In would be elected. The mobile application received over 5 million users in several weeks.[59][60][61][62]

In late 2017, FiscalNote researchers discovered that millions of comments submitted to the FCC during the net neutrality debate were forged using bots. Researchers used a variety of natural language processing techniques to uncover the anomalies.[63][64][65] Ironically, it was later reported that many of those comments were generated by a FiscalNote subsidiary.[66]

FiscalNote regularly uses its data to publish rankings of lawmakers and their effectiveness.[67]

Curate, a technology platform owned by FiscalNote, won a global award for the best global innovation at the 2022 SAAS Awards.[68]

Civic technology

[edit]

FiscalNote is a tool of civic technology as it provides organizations or companies with real time governmental policies.[69] This connects companies to the government, allowing them to take notice of what policies may impact their business and allowing companies to stay in compliance while pursuing future goals.[70] In addition, FiscalNote could also help the government gain the public's trust by providing transparency in their actions and policies.[70] FiscalNote could possibly provide insight into more streams of Civic Technology such as providing information to citizens about the different policies representatives are associated with and how that would impact their daily life by voting for them.[69] Another use of FiscalNote is to utilize the extensive dataset they provide to conduct research about different administrations or ideologies in government.[71]

Controversy

[edit]

FiscalNote has been criticized for the high price of its service, which critics claim excludes citizens and smaller lobbies that cannot afford the product whilst providing wealthier lobbies with information that leaves them better equipped to protect their clients and self interests.[72]

FiscalNote has also been criticised for putting undue weight on correlations that may not necessarily provide relevant insight as to why a certain bill passed or failed. Additionally, John Wilkerson, a political science professor at the University of Washington, criticises FiscalNote for placing importance onto whether individual bills move forward, rather the policies behind them.[73]

The Economist Group Partnership and 18% Equity

[edit]

On August 20, 2018, the Group completed the sale of CQ-Roll Call, Inc and Capitol Advantage LLC to FiscalNote, Inc. The Economist Group received $80,000,000 cash, $58,557,176 loan notes (12.6% PIK loan notes payable by February 2024) and a minority 18.2% equity interest in FiscalNote, Inc[74] (46,008 Preference shares in FiscalNote, Inc. valued at $41,443,000).[75]

The Economist Group’s equity interest was reduced by £12m In FY2020 when FiscalNote raised $54m of additional capital to support its next phase of growth.[76]

On December 29, 2020, the Economist Group sold the interests it acquired in FiscalNote, Inc. for £52,974,000 (US$72,000,000), recognizing a loss on disposal of (£37,151,000).[77]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

FiscalNote

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
FiscalNote Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NOTE) is a technology company headquartered in , that develops AI-powered platforms for global policy and market intelligence, enabling organizations to track and analyze legislation, regulations, and geopolitical risks. Founded on June 11, 2013, by Tim Hwang, Gerald Yao, and Jonathan Chen—then college students—the company originated from the need for better tools to monitor government actions, drawing on Hwang's experience as a young elected official in . FiscalNote went public in August 2022 via a SPAC merger, marking a milestone in its expansion, and has since grown through acquisitions and investments exceeding $500 million, employing around 800 people and serving more than half of the Fortune 100 alongside governments and nonprofits. Its flagship offerings, including the PolicyNote platform—which recently surpassed legacy systems in daily usage—and specialized tools like CQ for federal tracking and VoterVoice for , leverage proprietary databases covering over 5 million policy documents across thousands of jurisdictions. Notable associations include former U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal serving on its board until May 2025, reflecting the company's ties to defense and strategy expertise. While praised for pioneering data-driven policymaking, FiscalNote has faced limited public scrutiny, primarily in early legal disputes over former employees, though it maintains a focus on technological innovation amid competitive pressures in the policy tech sector.

History

Founding and Early Development

FiscalNote was co-founded on June 11, 2013, by , Gerald Yao, and Jonathan Chen, who were childhood friends from and college seniors at the time. The trio bootstrapped the venture with limited initial capital, incorporating the company that June before relocating temporarily to for the summer to develop their concept. Their vision centered on leveraging technology to provide real-time insights into legislative processes, addressing inefficiencies in tracking and predicting policy outcomes that traditional methods struggled with. In the summer of , the founders focused on building an early prototype called FiscalNote , a platform designed to predict the passage or failure of bills by analyzing legislative data, news, and other indicators. This tool incorporated predictive modeling to forecast outcomes, marking an initial foray into data-driven policy intelligence. Following the prototype phase, FiscalNote shifted operations to , to capitalize on proximity to federal policymaking centers and expand its data aggregation from U.S. state and federal legislatures. The company's early efforts emphasized and to automate bill tracking, distinguishing it from manual practices prevalent at the time.

Funding Rounds and Initial Growth

FiscalNote secured its initial seed funding of $1.2 million in September 2013, led by Mark Cuban following a cold email from co-founder and CEO Tim Hwang, with participation from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), First Round Capital's Dorm Room Fund, and AME Ventures. This capital enabled the company, founded in June 2013 by Hwang alongside CTO Jonathan Chen and CSO Gerald Yao, to transition from a college-side project to a formal operation, including relocation from a Motel 6 to offices in Bethesda, Maryland, in September 2013. Subsequent rounds accelerated development: a $7 million Series A in November 2014 from investors including iSelect Capital and Middleland Capital, followed by a $10 million Series B in February 2015 led by , a Chinese , with continued backing from early investors like . These infusions totaled approximately $18.2 million in early-stage within the first two years, supporting product refinement in legislative tracking and analytics. The funding facilitated rapid initial growth, with the first customer onboarded in December 2013 and media attention from outlets like Bloomberg and in 2014 highlighting the platform's real-time government analysis capabilities. Employee headcount expanded from the three founders to about 10 by 2014 and 30 by , culminating in over 100 staff by mid-2015 amid a shift to Washington, D.C., headquarters. Revenue reached the mid-seven figures in , reflecting early market traction in policy intelligence for advocacy groups, corporations, and government entities, while the company raised a cumulative $28 million in over its first three years.
RoundDateAmountKey Investors
SeedSeptember 2013$1.2M, NEA, First Round Dorm Room Fund, AME Ventures
Series ANovember 2014$7MiSelect Capital, Middleland Capital
Series BFebruary 2015$10M (lead), prior investors

Public Listing and Major Milestones

FiscalNote announced its intention to go public through a merger with Duddell Street Acquisition Corp., a (SPAC) sponsored by an affiliate of Counterpoint Global, on November 8, 2021, in a transaction implying an enterprise value of approximately $1.3 billion. The deal included commitments for up to $255 million in additional financing, later expanded to $425 million in gross proceeds to support long-term growth initiatives. Duddell Street stockholders approved the business combination on July 27, 2022, with the merger closing on July 29, 2022. Following the merger, FiscalNote's Class A commenced trading on the under the "NOTE" on August 1, 2022. The company marked its public market debut with an opening bell ceremony at the NYSE on August 4, 2022, attended by CEO Tim Hwang and other executives. On August 15, 2023, FiscalNote commemorated both its 10-year founding anniversary (from June 11, 2013) and its first full year as a with a second NYSE bell ringing event.

Products and Services

Core Policy Intelligence Platforms

FiscalNote's core policy intelligence platforms encompass tools for monitoring, analyzing, and responding to legislative and regulatory developments across local, state, federal, and international levels. These platforms integrate , expert analysis, and capabilities to support organizations in navigating policy risks and opportunities. Key offerings include PolicyNote as the central hub for comprehensive tracking, CQ for specialized U.S. federal insights, and VoterVoice for advocacy activation informed by intelligence data. PolicyNote serves as the company's next-generation flagship platform, leveraging AI and to process unstructured government data into actionable intelligence. It covers policy activity in over 100 countries, providing features such as curated bill summaries, custom alerts, stakeholder databases, and predictive bill forecasting to streamline review processes and inform strategic positioning. Users benefit from reduced research time—often from days to hours—and enhanced , with the platform achieving a in customer adoption by surpassing the legacy FiscalNote platform in daily active users as of June 26, 2025. CQ Federal focuses on U.S. Congressional monitoring, offering access to over 30 years of historical legislative data alongside real-time updates, expert analysis, and visualization tools for tracking bills, votes, and committee actions. Established in 1945, CQ pairs proprietary datasets with patented technologies to deliver granular insights into legislative implications, enabling clients to anticipate policy shifts and assess impacts on sectors like technology and finance. VoterVoice extends intelligence into operational advocacy, integrating policy tracking data to facilitate and grasstops campaigns. It supports targeted through emails, texts, surveys, and scorecards, with performance metrics including 89.2 million messages delivered to officials and 11.3 million new supporters engaged as of 2024. Used by over 2,000 organizations, the platform ensures secure, compliant stakeholder outreach tied directly to monitored policy developments. These platforms collectively form a unified , serving thousands of clients including more than half of the 100, by combining broad coverage with domain-specific depth to prioritize empirical policy signals over fragmented sources.

AI-Driven Innovations and PolicyNote

PolicyNote is an AI-powered policy management platform developed by FiscalNote, unveiled on January 15, 2025, to enable organizations to identify, analyze, and respond to legislative and regulatory changes using . The platform integrates comprehensive U.S. federal and state datasets, including legislative and regulatory policy data, with AI-driven tools such as automated summaries to streamline policy monitoring and decision-making. Built upon FiscalNote's established policy intelligence infrastructure, PolicyNote emphasizes user-friendly interfaces and scalable global coverage to reduce complexity in tracking policy developments. In June 2025, FiscalNote enhanced PolicyNote with AI capabilities for legislative forecasting, intelligent alerts, and bill discovery, allowing users to predict policy trajectories and receive proactive notifications based on machine learning analysis of legislative patterns. This was followed in July 2025 by the addition of AI-powered legislative drafting features, which enable the generation of full bill texts, amendments, and policy proposals tailored to specific jurisdictions, incorporating strategic intent and existing legislative models. By August 2025, the platform incorporated AI-driven social listening to monitor real-time discussions on platforms including X, Truth Social, and Bluesky, surfacing early indicators of policy shifts through sentiment and trend analysis. Further advancements arrived in October 2025 with AI-powered bill comparison tools, which facilitate instant identification of differences between legislative versions, assessment of impacts, and trend detection across bills to support informed and compliance strategies. These iterative AI integrations position PolicyNote as a tool for proactive engagement, combining , , and generative capabilities to enhance organizational agility in regulatory environments.

Operations

Leadership and Governance

Josh Resnik serves as FiscalNote's and president, effective January 1, 2025, following a succession plan announced on November 12, 2024. Resnik, previously the company's president and , possesses over 25 years of experience as an executive, attorney, and leader in and services sectors. His appointment aims to enhance , product focus, and simplification amid the company's strategic realignment. Co-founder Tim Hwang transitioned from CEO to executive chairman on the same date, retaining oversight of long-term strategy and board leadership. Hwang, who led FiscalNote through its 2022 public listing on the (NYSE: NOTE) as the youngest Asian American CEO of a NYSE-listed company at the time, continues as board chair. Key executive roles are held by Jon Slabaugh as and , leveraging three decades in investment and operations; Gerald Yao as chief strategy officer and co-founder; and Todd Aman as chief legal and administrative officer. FiscalNote's , chaired by Hwang, comprises eight members as of October 2025, following the December 2024 retirement of director Dickson Yiu, which reduced it to nine, and the May 2025 of , further streamlining to eight. Notable directors include co-founder Gerald Yao and independents such as Michael Callahan and Key Compton. The board operates through standing committees, including , compensation, nominating and , and , as outlined in SEC filings. is supported by formal documents, including an charter, code of ethical business conduct, and code for senior financial officers, ensuring compliance with standards.

Global Operations and Customer Base

FiscalNote maintains its global headquarters at 1201 NW, Sixth Floor, in , serving as the central hub for its intelligence operations. The company operates offices across , , , and , enabling localized support and coverage of international landscapes. This structure supports monitoring and analysis in key jurisdictions, including expansions such as enhanced coverage of Chinese legislative and regulatory developments announced on November 6, 2023. Additional regional presence includes activities in for tracking and partnerships in , reflecting strategic focus on high-impact markets. The firm's international operations emphasize scalable, AI-enhanced platforms that track policy risks and opportunities beyond the United States, with recent growth in commercial agreements across regulated sectors globally. While approximately 90% of revenue derives from U.S.-headquartered customers as of June 2025, self-service tools like PolicyNote facilitate broader adoption in non-U.S. markets, including and . FiscalNote's global intelligence capabilities, bolstered by acquired entities such as and FrontierView, provide clients with insights into over 200 countries and territories. FiscalNote's customer base comprises approximately 5,000 individual buyers across parent organizations worldwide as of mid-2023, spanning small nonprofits, agencies, and large corporations, with over 60 Fortune 100 companies among them. Notable clients include , AstraZeneca, Ingredion, Uber, Lyft, and Shinhan Card, alongside entities such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and members of the U.S. Congress. The base is diversified across sectors like defense, , , pharmaceuticals, and media, with recent expansions in international government contracts and regulated industry upsells. U.S. remains a core strength, but global commercial growth has accelerated, driven by multi-year renewals and new wins in 2024 and 2025.

Financial Performance

Revenue Model and Streams

FiscalNote's primary derives from subscription-based arrangements, which provide customers with access to its policy intelligence platforms, including real-time tracking of legislative and regulatory developments across global jurisdictions. These subscriptions typically involve recurring fees for software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery of data analytics, AI-driven insights, and workflow tools tailored for government relations, , and compliance professionals. In 2024, subscription revenue constituted approximately 92% of total revenues, reflecting the company's emphasis on high-margin, predictable recurring income from a customer base exceeding 5,000 organizations. The remaining revenue, around 8%, stems from non-subscription sources such as advisory services, , and ancillary offerings. Advisory services include customized consulting on strategy and , often bundled or sold separately to enterprise clients seeking specialized expertise beyond standard platform access. arises from sponsored content or targeted placements within the platforms, leveraging FiscalNote's audience of policymakers and influencers. Other streams encompass one-time fees for bespoke exports, training, or integrations, which support and upsell opportunities. This model benefits from across product lines, such as upgrading from core legislative tracking to AI-enhanced features in PolicyNote, which has seen accelerated adoption and contributes to annual recurring revenue (ARR) stability despite market fluctuations. FiscalNote's sales strategy focuses on expanding contracts with existing clients in fragmented sectors like public affairs, where high subscription retention rates underpin long-term financial durability.

Key Financial Metrics and Profitability Shift

FiscalNote has demonstrated a strategic focus on achieving profitability through cost discipline and operational efficiencies, despite revenue challenges. In the second quarter of 2025, the company reported of $23.3 million, a 20% decline from $29.1 million in the prior-year quarter, primarily due to the non-renewal of legacy contracts and a net revenue retention rate of 96%, down from 98%. Adjusted EBITDA reached $2.8 million, marking a 58% year-over-year improvement and doubling the adjusted EBITDA margin to approximately 12%, driven by an 18% reduction in total operating expenses to $25.7 million. However, net loss widened slightly to $13.3 million from $12.8 million year-over-year, reflecting ongoing amortization of intangibles and other non-cash charges. The company's profitability trajectory shows a marked shift from persistent losses to positive adjusted EBITDA. For full-year 2024, FiscalNote achieved adjusted EBITDA of $9.8 million, reversing a $24.5 million loss in 2022, supported by sixth consecutive quarters of year-over-year adjusted EBITDA gains by Q4 2024, when it reported $3.3 million on $29.5 million in revenue. This improvement stemmed from aggressive cost management, including workforce reductions and divestitures of underperforming assets, alongside a pivot to product-led growth emphasizing AI-enhanced platforms. In Q1 2025, adjusted EBITDA held at $2.8 million on $27.5 million revenue, with margins expanding to 10% from 4% year-over-year. also strengthened, improving by $69 million over the prior two years through these measures.
PeriodRevenue ($M)Adjusted EBITDA ($M)Net Loss ($M)Key Notes
FY 2022N/A-24.5N/APre-shift heavy losses
FY 2024N/A9.8N/ATurn to positive EBITDA
Q4 202429.53.3N/AExceeded guidance
Q1 202527.52.8N/AMargin expansion to 10%
Q2 202523.32.8-13.3Revenue down 20% YoY, EBITDA up 58%
FiscalNote reaffirmed full-year 2025 guidance of $94-100 million in revenue and $10-12 million in adjusted EBITDA, signaling confidence in sustained profitability amid revenue stabilization efforts. For Q3 2025, it anticipates $22-23 million in revenue and approximately $2 million in adjusted EBITDA. While profitability remains elusive due to legacy debt and acquisition-related costs, the consistent adjusted EBITDA positivity underscores a causal shift toward financial , prioritizing expense leverage over top-line expansion in a maturing market.

Recognition and Partnerships

Awards and Industry Accolades

FiscalNote has garnered recognition from various industry bodies for its intelligence platforms, , and advocacy tools, primarily through awards focused on and business performance. These accolades, often self-reported via company announcements, highlight achievements in SaaS product excellence and sales operations, though independent verification from awarding organizations confirms the honors. In 2021, FiscalNote received two Stevie Awards for & , including a Gold Stevie in the or Solutions Technology Partner category, acknowledging superior performance in client engagement and technological support. The Stevie Awards, administered annually by an independent judging committee, evaluate entries based on innovation and results. The year 2022 saw multiple honors: FiscalNote's platform earned the "Best Data Innovation in a SaaS Product" at the SaaS Awards, judged by a panel of industry experts for advancements in and . Its Equilibrium ESG solution won "Best SaaS Product for CSR/Sustainability" in the same program, recognizing capabilities in environmental, social, and governance analytics. Additionally, FiscalNote and its campaigns secured recognitions across categories at the Reed Awards, including for effectiveness, continuing a pattern of wins in and public affairs tools. also named it one of "America's Best Startup Employers" based on employee satisfaction surveys and growth metrics from over 2,500 startups. The company further received a Timmy Award for best tech work culture, emphasizing internal innovation and employee development. In 2023, FiscalNote's VoterVoice platform was awarded "Best Advocacy Technology" in the Grassroots Advocacy category at the Reed Awards, citing its AI-driven features for stakeholder mobilization. It also earned a Silver Stevie Award for Sales & Customer Service, building on prior recognitions. CEO Tim Hwang was named an EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 Mid-Atlantic winner by Ernst & Young, selected from regional nominees for entrepreneurial vision and company impact.
YearAwardCategory/DetailsSource
2021Stevie AwardsGold: Sales or Customer Service Solutions Technology Partner
2022SaaS AwardsBest Data Innovation in a SaaS Product ()
2022SaaS AwardsBest SaaS Product for CSR/ (Equilibrium)
2022Reed AwardsMultiple categories for campaigns
2022America's Best Startup Employers
2022Timmy AwardsBest Tech Work Culture
2023Reed AwardsBest (VoterVoice)
2023Stevie AwardsSilver: &
2023EY Entrepreneur of the YearMid-Atlantic Winner (Tim Hwang)

Strategic Partnerships and Equity Investments

FiscalNote has pursued strategic partnerships to integrate its policy and market intelligence with complementary technologies, particularly in AI, , and global expansion. In March 2023, the company was selected by as the inaugural launch partner for its plug-in, serving as the sole provider in the political, legal, and regulatory domain to deliver real-time policy insights via the platform. This collaboration extended FiscalNote's data into generative AI applications, with subsequent integrations including 's and technologies announced by November 2024. In the realm of risk and compliance, FiscalNote announced a with Empowered Systems on August 8, 2024, to enhance third-party by combining FiscalNote's policy with Empowered's solutions, targeting broader enterprise adoption in regulated industries. Earlier, on May 20, 2024, it partnered with Creolytix to blend data-driven with expert intelligence from FiscalNote's unit, aiming to provide seamless stakeholder mapping for efforts. Internationally, FiscalNote formed a commercial alliance with Era Global Technologies on December 11, 2023, to accelerate its AI co-pilot program in markets. A 2022 with Korea's Shinhan Card integrated FiscalNote's legislative tracking into for . On equity investments, FiscalNote has maintained portfolio holdings as part of its global intelligence strategy, though it has shifted toward divestitures to streamline operations. In February 2025, it agreed to sell two portfolio companies, and Intelligence—acquired to bolster expert analysis capabilities—to for approximately $40 million, closing the deal on March 31, 2025, with net proceeds of $27.1 million after adjustments. This transaction reflects a focus on core AI-driven platforms over diversified equity stakes in advisory firms, enabling reinvestment in infrastructure amid profitability improvements. No major new equity investments by FiscalNote in external entities were publicly announced as of October 2025, with emphasis instead on organic partnerships and internal R&D.

Controversies and Criticisms

Accessibility and Pricing Concerns

FiscalNote's pricing structure operates on a subscription-based model with tiered plans, such as Essential and Comprehensive options for its PolicyNote product, but specific costs are not publicly disclosed and require custom quotes, contributing to perceptions of opacity. This lack of transparent pricing has drawn criticism from potential users, particularly smaller organizations evaluating affordability before commitment. User reviews on platforms like highlight the high cost as a primary drawback, with one reviewer noting it is "so expensive but well worth the price if your company can afford it," implying barriers for budget-constrained entities. Similarly, aggregated feedback indicates concerns over "high cost for smaller budgets," positioning FiscalNote as more suitable for large corporations or well-funded groups rather than startups, nonprofits, or individual lobbyists. On , while overall ratings are positive for functionality, pricing remains a noted con, with limited reviews underscoring the expense relative to alternatives like Plural Policy, which markets itself as more accessible for streamlined tracking. These pricing dynamics raise issues in the context of intelligence, as the platform's advanced AI-driven monitoring—covering millions of documents across global jurisdictions—is effectively gated behind substantial fees, potentially exacerbating asymmetries in and regulatory environments. Critics argue this limits of , favoring entities with deep pockets and sidelining smaller stakeholders who rely on free or low-cost resources. Despite FiscalNote's emphasis on broad coverage, the absence of affordable entry-level options or robust free tiers reinforces concerns that its tools primarily benefit established players, as echoed in comparative analyses of affairs software.

Impact on Lobbying Dynamics

FiscalNote has transformed dynamics by integrating analytics and into traditionally manual and relationship-driven processes, enabling lobbyists to predict legislative outcomes, track bills in real time, and identify influential stakeholders with greater precision. Founded in , the platform aggregates data from websites, voting records, and regulatory filings to generate effectiveness scores for legislators and forecast vote probabilities, reducing reliance on anecdotal intelligence and allowing for proactive strategy formulation. For instance, users such as the Zoldak Agency, a smaller firm, report using FiscalNote to map key players and set automated alerts, tasks that would otherwise require extensive staff or manual research, thereby enhancing across firm sizes. Recent AI enhancements, including legislative forecasting, bill discovery, and comparative analysis tools introduced in PolicyNote as of June 2025, further accelerate this shift by providing predictive alerts and drafting aids that help advocacy teams anticipate policy changes and prioritize outreach amid accelerating legislative volumes. This data-centric approach empowers smaller affairs teams—often with limited personnel—to monitor developments across federal, state, and global jurisdictions, scaling their influence without proportional increases in headcount, as evidenced by client testimonials noting nationwide coverage capabilities for compact operations. Clients spanning corporations like and nonprofits such as the ASPCA leverage these tools to refine and align internal teams, fostering more targeted interventions in policy debates. However, these advancements have raised concerns about reinforcing lobbying asymmetries, as subscription costs ranging from $10,000 to hundreds of thousands annually limit access primarily to well-resourced organizations, potentially entrenching advantages for large corporations and established interests over or underfunded advocates. Critics, including political scientist Tim LaPira of and creator of .org, argue that while FiscalNote democratizes data aggregation for paying users, it disproportionately equips powerful with sophisticated predictive capabilities, enabling more effective obstruction or influence tactics that smaller entities cannot match. This dynamic aligns with broader observations that tools in amplify the upper hand for entities with financial means, potentially widening disparities in influence rather than equalizing them.

Impact and Civic Technology

Enhancements to Policy Transparency

FiscalNote's PolicyNote platform aggregates legislative data across local, state, federal, and global jurisdictions, enabling real-time tracking of bills, regulations, and policy developments to make governmental processes more accessible to users. This includes monitoring over 12,000 cities and 4,000 school districts alongside higher levels of government, with customizable dashboards for visualizing meetings, agendas, and updates. AI-driven features, such as bill comparison launched on October 16, 2025, allow users to identify similarities and differences in , surfacing deeper insights beyond basic monitoring. Further enhancements include AI-powered social listening, introduced August 4, 2025, which scans real-time posts and discussions to detect early indicators of policy shifts, integrating public sentiment with official records for contextual analysis. The Presidential Actions Widget, rolled out March 17, 2025, provides near real-time monitoring and AI analysis of within a centralized interface, allowing queries via proprietary AI to interpret impacts. Similarly, the Tariff Tracker, launched April 16, 2025, offers dedicated visibility into evolving global trade policies. These capabilities, combined with non-partisan analysis from CQ Federal on congressional actions, support by connecting users to legislators and providing tailored reports from policy experts. Founder Tim Hwang has noted that digitizing reveals the mechanics of policymaking, increasing overall transparency as more information becomes analyzable. While primarily subscription-based for organizations, such tools advance by streamlining access to otherwise fragmented public .

Broader Market and Regulatory Influence

FiscalNote's PolicyNote platform enables organizations to influence regulatory outcomes by providing AI-powered legislative drafting tools, which generate full bill text, model legislation, amendments, or policy proposals tailored to specific sectors and jurisdictions as of July 10, 2025. This functionality incorporates strategic clarity and jurisdictional nuances, allowing policy professionals to refine proposals rapidly and respond to legislative developments proactively. Similarly, AI-driven bill comparison features, introduced on October 16, 2025, permit instant identification of changes across bill versions, supporting targeted efforts. In the broader market, FiscalNote's intelligence services shape corporate strategies by delivering actionable insights on regulatory risks, as demonstrated by its AI-powered tariff impact reports launched on September 25, 2025, which provide personalized analyses of global trade disruptions. Financial and enterprises, including those navigating integration under the GENIUS Act passed in 2025, rely on FiscalNote to track legislative and regulatory shifts, enabling preemptive compliance and market positioning. The platform's expansion to near real-time monitoring and AI analysis, added in March 2025, centralizes tracking to help over 4,000 organizations anticipate and mitigate industry-specific regulations at federal, state, and local levels. FiscalNote further extends regulatory influence through comprehensive coverage exceeding 5 million policy documents across U.S. localities as of December 17, 2024, equipping government agencies and enterprises to secure funding opportunities and engage in policy shaping. In ESG and compliance domains, its tools support proactive frameworks that transform regulatory data into strategic actions, reducing fines and enhancing market adaptability, as utilized by EU-facing firms under regulatory pressures documented in FiscalNote's Q3 2024 overview. This data-driven approach indirectly standardizes policy engagement, fostering more informed market responses to evolving global regulations.

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