Granicus to Acquire SaaS GovTech Leaders Bang the Table and OpenCities
Expanded Granicus Platform Defines the Future of Civic Engagement; Accelerates Digital Transformation for Governments Globally
June 17, 2021 — Granicus, the leading provider of cloud-based civic engagement technologies and services for the public sector, today announced the acquisitions of two high-growth, govtech innovators: Bang the Table, the company behind market-leading community engagement solution EngagementHQ, and OpenCities, the public sector’s leading digital customer journey platform that helps local governments transform their websites, digital forms, and service delivery experiences.
Uniting the three market leaders in digital civic engagement into a single platform, Granicus will transform the way governments and residents engage.
“Great digital customer experiences are driven by data and modern experience platforms, and great resident experiences with government require the same. Granicus, OpenCities, and Bang the Table are bringing together the industry’s richest sets of resident experience data and coupling them with intelligent, multichannel delivery platforms to give governments the ability to seamlessly enable intuitive, predictive, and personalized digital experiences, like never before,” said Granicus CEO Mark Hynes. “Together, we’re igniting deeply informed, transparent, and responsive governments, better-engaged communities, and dynamic experiences that deliver more meaningful outcomes for governments and the people they serve.”
The combination of Bang the Table’s EngagementHQ and Granicus’ Civic Engagement Platform addresses a critical gap in today’s digital journeys: the ability to learn from every digital interaction. Now, by inviting resident input at every touchpoint and generating a steady stream of quantifiable market intelligence, governments gain a detailed picture of what matters most to their communities, in real-time. With Bang the Table’s 360-degree, data-gathering tools capturing audience sentiment, feedback, and engagement data, diverse communities can share their voices quickly and easily to provide actionable feedback to governments on topics big and small.
“Accessibility, inclusivity, and equity are critical factors that must be embedded in the fabric of modern governments. That’s why we pride ourselves on offering tools that give all residents an equal voice in local government,” said Bang the Table CEO Matthew Crozier.
“Together with Granicus, we power government agencies to make smarter decisions informed by the full community at scale.”
Today, residents demand modern, easy-to-use digital government experiences that are on par with their commercial counterparts. With OpenCities, Granicus delivers much more than improved websites, with a fully integrated, drag-and-drop customer experience platform, helping agencies rapidly digitize, track, and improve every step of their customer journey, without custom code. Combined, OpenCities, Granicus, and Bang the Table will make it easy for governments to inform, engage, and serve their communities from the convenience of a single, connected platform, purpose-built for the needs of today’s modern government.
“By joining Granicus, with its reach of over 5,500 government customers, we will accelerate our mission to re-imagine the digital front doors of governments worldwide. Through our technology, data, and shared vision, we can deliver groundbreaking, next-generation resident experiences that are simply unparalleled in the market,” said OpenCities Co-Founder and CEO Alex Gelbak.
“And with data insights from the 250 million strong Granicus Subscriber Network, we can proactively test and evolve those experiences, ensuring agencies not only keep up, but forever stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated resident expectations.”
The addition of two Australia-based GovTech 100 companies will extend Granicus’ commitment to Australia and New Zealand governments, where the combined organization will serve more than 350 governments, while also introducing additional cutting-edge public sector solutions to more agencies in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Today’s news follows a series of recent acquisitions that have strengthened Granicus’ position as the most comprehensive SaaS cloud platform for the public sector with civic engagement solutions that now bring together digital communications and community feedback, website and CMS, digital services and constituent management, agenda automation and public meetings, and records management.
Shea & Company acted as financial advisor to Granicus for the Bang the Table transaction, with GLC Advisors & Co advising Bang the Table. MergerTech served as financial advisor to OpenCities.
About Granicus
Granicus connects governments with the people they serve by providing the first and only civic engagement platform for the public sector. Over 5,500 federal, state and local government agencies and more than 250 million citizen subscribers power an unmatched Subscriber Network that turns government missions into quantifiable results. With comprehensive cloud-based solutions for communications, government website design, meeting and agenda management software, records management, and digital services, Granicus empowers stronger relationships between government and residents across the U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. By simplifying interactions with residents, while disseminating critical information, Granicus brings governments closer to the people they serve—driving meaningful change for communities around the globe.
About Bang the Table
Bang the Table was born in Australia and founded on a deep passion for helping public leaders forge constructive relationships with their residents and stakeholders. Bang the Table’s online engagement platform, EngagementHQ, is being used by over 850 organizations around the world, empowering well over 17 million people with an easy and secure way to participate and inform key decision making, online.
About OpenCities
Built with and for governments, OpenCities provides the website, portal and forms functionality modern governments need to digitize each step of their customer journey. With a code-free, drag & drop approach, OpenCities enables governments of every size to create a world class digital experience, in a fraction of the time and effort of traditional web projects. And as a SaaS platform that powers millions of citizen interactions around the world, OpenCities leverages data to continually optimize & evolve your digital customer experience. Named one of the AFR 50 Most Innovative Companies and recognized with numerous DigitalGov Design awards, OpenCities powers the digital city halls and websites of the most forward-thinking local, county and state governments across North America, Australia and New Zealand.
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