Philadelphia govtech startup FSH Technologies has raised a $20 million Series A, the company today announced, bringing its total funding to $25 million.
The investment puts considerably more money behind FSH’s people-first approach to replacing outdated government IT systems.
The woman-owned company builds software for cities, school districts and state agencies. Founder and CEO Lilly Chen told Technical.ly the new funding will help FSH grow from 11 employees to more than 45, with hires in engineering, design and client strategy. The company recently moved into a new headquarters at 2400 Market St. in Center City.
The company also plans to expand into areas including transit management, public-safety scheduling, compliance and accounting software.
“We’re not incentivized to do anything other than provide quality products and services that actually work for local governments and their constituents,” Chen said.
A former Meta machine-learning infrastructure engineer, previously told Technical.ly that working in big tech left her wanting a closer connection between the technology she built and the people affected by it. With FSH, Chen flipped the big-tech model she grew disillusioned with: Start with the people and processes already in place, then figure out what technology actually needs to be built.
That approach has landed sizable contracts, including a 10-year, $2 million deal with Pittsburgh Public Schools to modernize food-service operations supporting about 22,000 meals daily.
FSH primarily grows by expanding its work with existing government clients, Chen said, and plans to be doing business in all 50 states within 12 months.
The Series A round was led by Australian investor Lachy Groom, an early backer of Figma, Notion, Ramp and Lattice, with Acrew Capital co-leading. Operator Partners, Contrary, Cooley and several angel investors also participated.
FSH will cut the ribbon on its new Philadelphia headquarters Aug. 21.