We’re thrilled to announce that Work-Bench led GovWell’s $4.5M Seed round with participation from existing investor Bienville Capital, to support GovWell’s mission to help governments serve communities better with modern software.
While AI may dominate headlines, we at Work-Bench believe that any great software can make a significant impact. It all starts with the right founders who can identify pain points, deeply understand their customers, and effectively address their needs.
That’s where co-founders Troy LeCaire and Ben Cohen come in. Their experiences in tech but most of all, their deep passion for improving government, have given them a new perspective on the underserved area. Having known Troy from prior role as Chief of Staff at RippleMatch, another Work-Bench portfolio company, we could not be more excited to support his new venture.
Today, people can buy anything on Amazon or order an Uber with one click. Yet, renewing a driver’s license, getting a permit, or accessing unemployment benefits is a painful and confusing ordeal.
Right now, America’s 80,000+ local governments spend $1.8 trillion per year on a wide range of essential services. Yet, much of the software that government teams use to administer these services remains inefficient, clunky, on-premise, decades-old, and in many cases unusable.
In building GovWell, Troy and Ben spoke with hundreds of municipalities and realized the urgent need to update our government’s tech stack.
Since its founding in 2023, GovWell has built a cloud-native, multi-tenant, no-code solution that automates core workflows for local government agencies, including Building and Planning, Fire, Public Works, Health, and Parks and Recreation departments.
Because each government runs their processes differently, GovWell’s platform can be configured by no-code tools to make the software adaptable to different teams within one municipality.
Today, they serve more than a dozen government agencies in seven states representing 200,000+ citizens. Customers are seeing as much as a 90% reduction in time to renew licenses, issue permits, and conduct inspections.
What truly sets the team apart is their deep connection and passion for government. More than 60% of GovWell’s founding team has direct experience working for or with government entities. CEO Troy LeCaire, who studied government in college and graduate school, witnessed firsthand the reliance on outdated software while working in the U.S. Senate. CTO Ben Cohen, who grew up helping his father, a self-employed general contractor, experienced the challenges of obtaining permits quickly from local governments to build new homes.
We have seen how the team’s authentic passion for these users and this space resonates - in how they speak with customers, how they’ve built the GovWell product, and most of all, how this software can unleash their customers in new ways. As shared by a customer: “what we can do is…unlimited.”
The team’s early hustle, massive vision, and relentless energy has made them an unstoppable force and we know GovWell is just getting started!
Congratulations to the entire GovWell team. Based in NYC, they are building out a world class team of mission-oriented technologists - if you’re passionate about building exceptional products that drive value for customers and communities, check out their open roles here.
Read more about GovWell in TechCrunch and on their blog.
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