Omidyar Network, the philanthropic foundation set up by the founder of online auction company eBay, and publishing company O’Reilly Media through its corporate venturing unit have invested in SeeClickFix, a US-based company providing government data.
A regulatory filing said SeeClickFix had nearly raised its target $1.5m last month.
Omidyar Network and O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures (OATV) only disclosed they had made an equity investment in SeeClickFix.
It is Omidyar Network’s first for-profit investment in government transparency investment area and OATV’s first investment in a so-called Gov 2.0 business.
Stacy Donohue, director of investments at Omidyar Network, said: "Omidyar Network is deeply committed to furthering the use of technology platforms to engage citizens on issues of importance to them."
Mark Jacobsen, managing director at OATV, will join the SeeClickFix board and said: "SeeClickFix is poised to bridge citizens into governments which have traditionally offered limited channels of communication."