Granicus History
The history of Granicus goes back to 1999 when both Granicus and GovDelivery were independently founded. As you can see from the timeline below, we’ve had a tremendous amount of growth since then.
Granicus and govDelivery were both independent companies that were acquired by a private equity firm, Vista, back in 2016. Vista merged the two companies and rebranded them “Granicus.”
Since then, Granicus has acquired other companies to build up the services it provides to be the best in class at government, cloud-based technology services. Review the timeline below to explore Granicus’s growth:
Granicus & govDelivery Were Independently Founded
The original Granicus company began by offering video streaming of public meetings. It eventually expanded into a broader meeting management portfolio.
govDelivery offered email marketing solutions specifically designed for government with federal-level security.
Granicus & govDelivery Grow Successfully as Independent Companies
For the first 18 years of their existence, both Granicus and govDelivery grew successfully as smaller, independent companies. Granicus made a name for itself in both the meeting streaming market and the agenda management market while govDelivery was transforming the way government communicated with its constituents.
Merger and Rebrand
Granicus and govDelivery were acquired by the private equity firm, Vista, in 2016. In 2017, they merged the two companies and rebranded them "Granicus."
Expanded Meeting Management
In April 2017, Granicus expanded its meeting management portfolio with the acquisition of Novusolutions, a small-to-medium government agenda management application company based in Tampa, Florida. This was an important addition as Granicus' primary agenda management solution prior to this acquisition was Legistar, which is designed for the far more complex agenda management needs of large government. Novus added a more simplified solution to the portfolio, perfect for small and medium government.
Expert Government Websites
In February of 2018, Granicus took a significant step in expanding the breadth of its product offerings with the acquisition of Vision. Vision specialized in the development of Website Content Management Systems designed specifically for government and which required no knowledge of code. Although Granicus already had the Civica content management system application, the acquisition of Vision brought a more modern no-code solution to Granicus' product offerings in this space.
Small to Medium Government Legislative Management
In March of 2018, Granicus expanded its legislative management offerings for small to medium government with the acquisition of IQM2. Like Novus, IQM2 also expanded Granicus' agenda management offerings in the small to medium government space.
Records Management
In November of 2018, Granicus expanded the breadth of its product suites again with the acquisition of Southtech Systems, a software company specializing in public records management.
Civic Engagement Platform Launched
In April of 2019, with the acquisition of Firmstep, Granicus launched the Civic Engagement Platform, a full-service suite of digital applications specifically designed for government. Firmstep filled an important gap in Granicus' product offerings by adding smart, online forms for easy resident request fulfillment to the array of Granicus products.
Short-Term Rentals
In November of 2019, Granicus acquired Host Compliance, adding short-term rental auditing and compliance monitoring software to its govService product suite. Host Compliance added a unique solution to its govService product suite, but one that solves a common problem in local jurisdictions - the fact that enforcing community regulations with short-term rentals was simply not cost effective. The artificial intelligence Host Compliance uses to monitor short-term rental compliance makes enforcing regulations very cost effective.
Digital PCL & FOI Services
In October of 2020, Granicus acquired Calytera, adding specific expertise in Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, as well as permitting, compliance and licensing (PCL) services to its govService platform. The Calytera acquisition brought important and valuable expertise around these specific types of services to the Granicus govService platform.
Community Engagement and Government Websites and Services
In June of 2021, Granicus acquired two companies, the first of which is BangtheTable. With this acquisition, Granicus expanded our govDelivery product suite to include an additional suite of applications devoted to fostering digital community engagement.
Government Website & Services
The second of Granicus' acquisitions in June of 2021 was OpenCities, which added additional Website and digital services to its govAccess and govServices product suites.
Public Request Management
With the September 2021 acquisition of GovQA, Granicus added specific expertise on Freedom of Information request fulfillment and other digital service fulfillment functionality to its govService product suite.
Unified Solution for Resident Engagement
In October of 2022, Granicus took an important step in creating a unified civic engagement platform with its acquisition of Rock Solid. Rock Solid aligns well with Granicus' mission, specializing in creating a digital bridge between local governments and residents, along with a single engagement portal for resident requests, interactions and transactions.
Cloud-Based Permitting, Compliance, and Licensing (PCL)
In January of 2024, Granicus acquired SmartGov, formerly a division of Brightly (a Siemens company) offering cloud-based solutions that help SMG governments automate and operate permitting, compliance, and licensing (PCL). Adding SmartGov to the Granicus Experience Cloud (GXC) has enabled Granicus to deliver high capable PCL solutions to 1200+ SMG customers and open up a new addressable market.
What’s In A Name?
The founder of the original Granicus (pre merger with govDelivery), Tom Spengler, said this about the company he founded in 1999:
Finally, to Granicus. As a co-founder in 1999, I celebrated your birthday every year for 23 years. We chose the name Granicus from the Battle of Granicus, where Alexander the Great had his first major victory. We were the little guy hoping to be destined for greatness. Our early years were extremely challenging, but the GovMeetings business was our first major victory. Now, here we are as the most significant cloud platform for Government. A dream realized for me. There will be continued challenges as Granicus continues to expand, but let’s never forget the customers we serve and our mission. They will be our guiding light through tough times and great ones!