Text To Ticket

Local Violation Enforcement App

Company Information

Website:

https://texttoticket.com/

Sector:

Government Software

Location:

San Francisco, CA

Text to Ticket is a mobile app that incentivises users to report violations in their communities.

Whether they see a distracted driver texting behind the wheel, a broken streetlight, or an illegally parked car, vigilant citizens can use Text to Ticket to earn money and make their community better.

Local governments don’t have the time or resources to focus on every problem. But with Text to Ticket, everyday citizens can bring problems to the attention of their local government — and get paid for doing so.

Here’s how it works:

First, a user notices an issue (say, a dangerous pothole) or a violation (for example, a car parked in a handicapped spot) and reports it on the Text to Ticket app.

The issue is then reviewed by the proper department.

Finally, action is taken, either by ticketing the violator, or by completing a service request to repair an issue.

The app was designed to benefit local municipalities as well as its community members:

By capturing more violations, local governments enjoy additional revenues. And by reporting these violations, not only do community members improve the quality of their town, but they can make money:

Currently, for example, Text to Ticket enables community members to report "distracted" drivers. Using their cell phone, users can submit videos of distracted drivers (texting while driving, for example), and in exchange, they'll earn a $5 payment.

But now the company is expanding its services:

It aims to add a Unique City App (which would let each city select which issues get reported), and a Parking Enforcement App (which would enable citizens to submit parking violations).

In exchange for providing its technology to cities, Text to Ticket receives a "processing fee" of $15 per ticket. And that could lead to some serious revenue.

Last year, for example, 400,000 texting-and-driving tickets were issues in California alone.

And police believe they only captured 5% of those violation, suggesting that there were 8 million violations in California.

If it captured just 5% of this one market, Text to Ticket could bring in $6 million in annual revenue — or $24 million with a 20% capture rate.

And with Text to Ticket’s Parking Enforcement App, there’s potential for even greater revenue.

In Phoenix, for example, the parking enforcement market hit $98 million last year.

In Los Angeles, that figure was $250 million.

And in New York City, it reached $534 million.

Text to Ticket is backed by 500 Startups, an early-stage "accelerator" that’s behind major success stories like Twilio, a $2.5 billion public company.

It’s also gained the attention of former Sacramento, California mayor Kevin Johnson, who serves as a company advisor.

The company currently has two utility patents pending, and recently signed an agreement with a leading "red-light camera company" — the type of company that installs cameras at intersections and captures images of vehicles making a violation. Text to Ticket hopes this partnership will help it create relationships with multiple municipalities.

In May 2017, it signed its first city government contract, worth $35,000.

The company is forecasting an additional 43 service contracts in the U.S. over the next year, which would generate about $1.5 million in revenue.

Team Background

Jesse Day - CEO & Co-Founder

Jesse received a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, where one of his main interests was exploring the effects of distracted driving.

He has worked as a clinical medical assistant, and as a certified pharmacy technician.

Gagan Johal - Co-Founder

Before starting Text to Ticket, Gagan spent more than 10 years as a law enforcement officer. This gave him hands-on experience with driving violations and ordinance issues.

Gagan is also the former co-founder of Venture Buckets, an investment company specializing in technology start-ups and commercial real estate.

Steve Nguyen - Co-Founder

Steve brings a wealth of technology experience to Text to Ticket.

He spent five years as the Director of Resource Development with Natoma Technologies, a top IT consulting firm.

While there, he was responsible for managing a staff working on government technology projects and helped develop the company’s technology infrastructure.

Prior to that, Steve spent more than 11 years with Teksystems, a company that helped clients build technology solutions.

Steve earned his Bachelor’s degree in Managerial and Business Economics from University of California, Davis.

Co-Investors

500 Startups

Prominent seed fund and accelerator program founded by PayPal and Google alumni. Investments include AngelList, Unbounce, and Behance.

Raising
$750K
Committed
$48.7K (6%)
Current Valuation
$2.5 million Cap / 20% Discount
Min. Investment
$500
Deal Type
Title III
(For all investors)
Offering Type
SAFE
Finance History
Notable Investors
  • 500 Startups
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