State Affairs, a company focused on monitoring legislative and regulatory developments, has raised $70 million in a funding round led by Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures. The investment is intended to bolster the company's platform, which aims to provide corporations with real-time intelligence on policy changes across all 50 U.S. states and the federal government.
As policy becomes increasingly central to business operations, companies face challenges in tracking the thousands of bills introduced annually. State Affairs offers a solution by combining AI analysis with on-the-ground reporting from 76 journalists embedded in state capitols. This approach seeks to provide clients with timely information on legislation that could impact their industries, from digital privacy to food safety regulations.
"Everything that Fortune 2000 companies do is through lobbyists. And lobbyists are both flawed, reactive instead of proactive, and are very expensive," said Keith Rabois, a managing director at Khosla Ventures, in comments to The Post. He suggested that State Affairs could offer a more effective and proactive alternative to traditional lobbying efforts.
State Affairs reports that major corporations, including Walmart, Mastercard, and McDonald's, have already adopted its platform. The service provides clients with visibility into bills, hearings, amendments, and lawmaker activities. Its AI dashboard allows users to sift through this data, track specific issues relevant to their sector, and receive updates on policy trends.
According to co-founder Jamie Roberts Seltzer, the platform can alert businesses early to potential regulatory shifts, such as those concerning flavored vapes or AI chatbots, enabling them to understand the implications before they affect their business operations or stock prices. The company states it publishes over 2,000 original reports monthly.
Evan Burns, co-founder and CEO of State Affairs, highlighted the rapid pace of legislative activity at the state level, emphasizing the need for companies to stay informed in real time. The platform also offers features like tracking similar bills across different states and assigning a "momentum score" to gauge a proposal's progress.
State Affairs positions itself as a "tech company that’s founded in journalism," according to founding editor-in-chief and chief content officer Alison Bethel. The company is focused on placing journalists in locations that have seen a decline in consistent local news coverage, aiming to fill that gap with detailed reporting on policy developments.