Upstart Startups: Echo Ridge

Working for a Silicon Valley tech firm, Jeff Allan witnessed the influence that lobbyists with deep pockets could wield in the Capitol.

The former Marine and NH resident wanted to make legislative change available to the little guy and the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network at Dartmouth College in Hanover provided the opportunity to develop his idea.

The result is NationCrowd, a social media platform that, when complete, will guide people through the process of legislative change and help them connect to people who share their passion. “For people who are novices, we help them get from a grand idea to an actionable item,” says Allan, founder and CEO of Echo Ridge, the company behind NationCrowd.

The site will be the place where funds can be raised for individual causes. “We will give some guidelines as to what it takes to run a state or federal campaign,” he says.

Once people have raised money, they can then use the site to connect with lobbyists, publicists and other political professionals. The site will also run analytics and track public sentiment, Allan says, noting Echo Ridge collects 7% of the funds raised and 8% of what lobbyists bill.

This past year has been a whirlwind of activity for the company. Allan says it now has eight employees, raised $150,000 in pre-seed funding in October, conducted a private beta launch with 200 individuals and three nonprofits in December, and was one of two companies to win investment from the Millworks Fund II at Accelerate NH’s Startup Shindig in May. The firm walked away with $100,000.

Echo Ridge is in the process of raising $350,000 to fully launch. (Its website is currently causefund.nationcrowd.com)
While aimed at leveling the playing field, Allan says nonprofits have demonstrated the most interest in using the platform for lobbying. “That has become a big segment of what we are doing.”