FiscalNote Holdings, Inc.

FiscalNote was founded in 2013 in Sunnyvale, California, by Timothy Hwang, Gerald Yao, and Jonathan Chen, all former schoolmates at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland. Hwang, who had just finished his junior year at Princeton, brought Chen and Yao together to Silicon Valley to pitch the company to investors. The company was founded in a Motel 6, where early employees Dan Maglasang and Dev Shah worked to build the product.

In May 2017, FiscalNote announced its initial expansion outside the U.S., providing data sets for Australia and New Zealand.

In June 2017, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser unveiled a major job training program in partnership with FiscalNote. The program was announced alongside a $750,000 economic development package, introduced as an incentive for the company to stay in DC. FiscalNote moved its headquarters to 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue that year.

In July 2017, FiscalNote announced the availability of data sets for Argentina, Canada, Chile, India, and the United Kingdom.

In 2018 FiscalNote acquired CQ Roll Call, which helped bring stable financial flow with a consistent subscriber base and a competent data set. By adding CQ Roll Call, FiscalNote gained an entryway into the media world and an opportunity to cover what certain bills may mean to subscribers instead of having to interpret the raw data.

In July 2022, FiscalNote unveiled FiscalNote ESG Solutions, a suite of services designed to assist client organizations in meeting environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) goals. Alongside from the suite's main offering – an artificial intelligence-based platform designed to streamline data collection and management – tools offered include ESG-related news, research, and analysis briefings, expert advisory services, and access to peer discussion communities.

Funding and acquisitions

In late 2013, FiscalNote received early seed money from Mark Cuban after a cold email from Timothy Hwang. This was soon followed by an investment from New Enterprise Associates, Yahoo cofounder Jerry Yang, and First Round Capital, leading to a total $1.3 million round.

In fall 2014, FiscalNote received $7 million in its first institutional (and second total) financing round. Investors included AOL founder Steve Case, Visionnaire Ventures (a joint fund between Taizo Son and Temasek ), with participation from Jerry Yang, Mark Cuban, New Enterprise Associates, Winklevoss Capital Management, Enspire Capital, Green Visor Capital (led by former Visa Chief Executive Joseph Saunders, and Middleland Capital. Steve Case invested as part of his Rise of the Rest Fund.

In February 2015, FiscalNote announced that it had raised $10 million in a third round of financing. Investors included Chinese social network Renren. The move was a part of a larger move by Renren to diversify beyond its core area of online games and e-commerce in China.

In February 2016, FiscalNote raised another $10 million in a fourth round of financing. The round was led by Green Visor and Visionnaire. FiscalNote later added $5 million to this round with a strategic investment from South Korean conglomerate MoneyToday Media alongside a strategic partnership with its newspaper and television divisions (MTN). This came after FiscalNote's acquisition of MyCandidate in Korea.

In August 2017, FiscalNote acquired 16-year old Baton Rouge company VoterVoice, bringing 1,100 new customers and expanding into the advocacy space. FiscalNote CEO Hwang announced that the acquisition would be the first in "hundreds of millions".

In January 2018, FiscalNote announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos that it had acquired a Brussels-based counterpart called Shungham, giving the company a foothold in the European Union as it seeks to expand globally.

In July 2018, FiscalNote announced that it would acquire Congressional Quarterly and Roll Call from The Economist Group.

In January 2021, FiscalNote announced it had acquired FactSquared, the parent company of White House tracker Factba.se.

In February 2021, FiscalNote announced that it had acquired Oxford Analytica, a UK-based political risk consultancy and publisher of the Oxford Analytica Daily Brief.

On September 15, 2021, the company announced the acquisition of Cambridge, Massachusetts -based artificial intelligence company Forge.AI.

In August 2021, FiscalNote acquired Curate, a civic technology company that provides data to help companies monitor risk and provide clarification at the local government level. In March of 2026, the entire Curate staff was laid off with no notice.

In 2022, FiscalNote acquired Aicel Technology, a South Korean alternative data company that specializes in emerging fintech markets.

In January 2023, FiscalNote acquired Dragonfly Eye Ltd. ("Dragonfly"), a UK-based geopolitical and security intelligence provider of actionable data and analysis delivered through Dragonfly's SaaS-based, proprietary Security Intelligence and Analysis Service (SIAS) subscription platform and API.