Mike Vichich, hailing from Michigan, has always been influenced by a strong family tradition of public service. With parents who were teachers, an uncle who served as a fighter pilot, and grandparents who were in the army, he believes public service is a noble pursuit. As a father of three, Vichich hopes for a government that effectively addresses the needs of its citizens.
His professional journey began in consulting before he established a consumer-focused company, which he sold to Olo for $200 million in 2021. Following the birth of his third child, Vichich joined forces with Brandon Max, a founding engineer from his previous startup, to explore their next career moves.
Through their discussions, they identified a common challenge: the difficulty companies face when trying to sell to the government. This insight led them to create Pursuit in 2023, a platform designed to assist businesses in securing government contracts. Recently, the company announced it has raised $22 million in seed funding, bringing its total to $25.5 million, with notable investors including Mike Rosengarten of OpenGov, Jack Altman from Alt Capital, and Bill Gurley.
Pursuit leverages advanced AI to sift through public data from approximately 11,000 state and local government entities, enhancing access to valuable information for businesses. Vichich notes that the platform scrapes budgets, contract registers, and proposals from various levels of government, converting fragmented data into actionable insights. "We turn fragmented public data into fully researched opportunities," he explained.
The platform identifies which governmental agencies are most likely to require its customers’ services within the next year, analysing factors like budgets and organizational challenges. Vichich describes Pursuit as an "AI clone," designed to keep its users informed about developments relevant to them.
Vichich expressed hopes that Pursuit will render SLED (state, local, and education) contract opportunities more transparent and accessible. He pointed out the irony that this data has always been public yet often obscured by being scattered across numerous websites and buried in PDFs and video recordings. The challenge, he noted, has been the high cost of finding and interpreting this information, which has historically outweighed the value of potential contracts.
Ultimately, Pursuit aims to illuminate the opportunities within government contracts, reshaping the way businesses engage with public entities and ensuring that essential data becomes a useful resource for those navigating this complex landscape. Other competitors in this arena include Starbridge, GovSpend, and Deltek GovWin IQ, yet Pursuit’s innovative approach sets it apart as it seeks to simplify the procurement process for its clients.
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