Socrata Announces Record Revenue, Customer and Employee Growth in 2013
Socrata, a Seattle-based cloud software company focused exclusively on democratizing access to government data, today announced outstanding gains in 2013 – including 166% revenue growth, 80% customer growth and 108% employee growth – as well as significant growth projections for 2014.
“We grew in three key areas in 2013 – revenue, customers and head count. Our business is expanding rapidly and we’re excited to help our growing family of customers take their place as leaders in open data and performance measurement. I am proud of what we’ve achieved and where we’re going,” says Socrata CEO and Founder Kevin Merritt.
Triple-Digit Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth
Socrata benefited from its place at the front of the growing open data market. Its revenue grew 166% year-over-year in 2013. This is a healthy increase compared to 136% revenue growth in 2012.
Highlighting the momentum behind Socrata’s current growth, Merritt notes that 61% of the revenue increase Socrata had in 2013 came from new customer acquisitions.
80% Year-Over-Year Customer Growth
Socrata’s family of open data innovators grew by 44 in 2013, with 61% of those newer customers joining in the final two quarters of the year, a strong sign of momentum heading into 2014. This number especially stands out when compared to the 29 customers gained in 2012.
Some of Socrata’s newest customers, added in the second half of 2013, include the City of Los Angeles Office of the Controller and the City of Las Vegas, Nevada.
And, Socrata’s customer retention rate is at 99.5%, with 79% of customers upgrading or expanding to new Socrata products and offerings in 2013.
This increased use of the Socrata platform resulted in massive growth in data movement and application programming interface (API) calls in 2013; a sign of greater production of new apps and more uses for civic data.
The number of datasets accessible to citizens through the Socrata platform increased 83% year-over-year in 2013. The consumption of data on the company’s network grew 267% in 2013, including an astounding 1,065% increase in API-based usage.
108% Year-Over-Year Employee Growth
Socrata invested in its future by adding new talent to its engineering, sales, marketing, client services, finance, and product teams in 2013, for a total of a 108% increase in headcount. A round of capital raised in June of 2013 helped to make this rapid growth possible.
“I am proud of the hard-working and creative team we have built. They impress me every day by delivering the best solutions to our customers so that they can, in turn, improve the lives of the citizens they serve,” says Merritt. “Our team is passionate about the work we do.”
Additions to the leadership team in 2013 include Bill Glenn as Vice President of Marketing, Saf Rabah as Vice President of Product, former White House Innovation Fellow Ian Kalin as Director of Open Data and Ken Melero as Director of Federal Sales. New board members include OpenView Venture Partners Founder and Senior Managing Director Scott Maxwell, international technology leader Francois Steiger, and former CFO and COO of RightNow Technologies Susan Carstensen.
Customer Awards by the Dozens
Socrata’s customers earned dozens of awards for their open data and performance measurement programs in 2013. Merritt counts their achievements as the highlight of the year. Socrata’s customers pioneered new ways to make open data more mainstream, improve citizen services, boost transparency and create greater efficiencies through technology. Awards earned in 2013 include:
| Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge – City of Chicago |
| Data Liberation Award – Dr. Nirav Shah, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health |
| 2013 Digital Counties Survey Award – Montgomery County, Snohomish County, King County |
| State Program Innovation Award – State of Oregon |
| 2013 Web 2.0 Award – Raleigh, N.C. |
| 2013 Best of Web Winner, 2013 CSAC Merit Award, and 2013 Digital Government Achievement Award Winner – Alameda County |
| 2013 Digital Cities Winners – Boston, Seattle, Austin, Chicago, Baltimore, Raleigh |
“We are thrilled to part of the growing Socrata community. So much is possible when those of us working in open data share best practices and innovate quickly to improve our service to citizens,” says Tobin Broadhurst, Chief Technology Officer for the County of Alameda in California.
New Solutions Added in 2013
Launched early in 2013, Socrata GovStatTM helps organizations publish their progress against goals in real time, both internally and publicly. Organizations like the City of Edmonton, Alberta, San Mateo County and the State of Hawaii are leading adopters of the solution. And, in its second release, GovStat added new features that allow for more flexible goal setting and tracking of metrics.
In support of international expansion, Socrata’s solutions became available on Microsoft’s global Azure platform in 2013, and are being used by the Lombardia Region of Italy to power its open data initiative.
Socrata also launched a new suite of financial transparency apps. The company is currently working with design partners like Montgomery County, Maryland and other municipalities to develop the apps further. Socrata has expanded the capabilities of its OpenCheckbookTM application, now in use by San Mateo County, the City of Boston and the City of Los Angeles Controller’s Office.
Other apps released by Socrata in 2013 included Open311, used by Kansas City, Mo., and a campaign spending app used by the State of Hawaii.
Leading the Way in Open Data Thought Leadership
In addition to new solutions that strengthen the open data movement, Socrata produced its first edition of “Open Innovation” in 2013, a magazine that features the success stories and latest trends in the global open data movement.
Continued Momentum Forecasted For 2014
Socrata forecasts continued strong momentum in the public sector for its open data and performance measurement solutions, as well as its growing number of civic apps created on Socrata’s cloud platform. For example, in early January 2014, Socrata welcomed its 100th customer, followed quickly by several more.
Socrata plans to deliver its platform, solutions and apps to local and regional governments globally, while continuing to expand into the U.S. Federal market with help from newly hired sales leadership in its Washington, D.C. office.
Socrata is working on broadening the types of apps it offers and increasing its support of the open data ecosystem. Its newly formed apps team has plans to announce multiple new apps in 2014 in the areas of financial transparency, public safety, and services designed to promote greater quality of life in communities around the world.
About Socrata
Socrata is the cloud software company focused exclusively on democratizing access to government data. It helps government leaders improve transparency, modernize citizen access to information, and bring facts into every decision, with unprecedented speed and cost savings.
Delivered as turnkey cloud services, Socrata’s data consumerization products unlock data in enterprise silos and transform it into useful information that everyone can easily access, visualize, share and reuse. Innovators like the World Bank, Medicare, Data.gov, EnergyStar, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Kenya, Lombardia, and Maryland, have all chosen Socrata as the data sharing platform for their open innovation initiatives. To learn more about Socrata, visit www.socrata.com or follow us on Twitter @socrata.