As large-language models get better at distilling masses of messy, complex data from a variety of sources, they’ve opened up a new world for startups looking to sell business intel as a service.
NationGraph is applying that principle to the opaque world of US government contracting. With its AI procurement intelligence platform, the startup aims to help vendors access all of the data they might need when hunting for government contracts.
NationGraph is part of a new generation of AI-native startups building atop the groundwork set by AI companies like Anthropic.
The Canadian-founded startup, which has offices in San Francisco, Toronto, and Miami, announced last week that it raised an $18-million USD ($24.6-million CAD) Series A round led by California-based Menlo Ventures, with participation from Perplexity Fund, XYZ Venture Capital, Reach Capital, and some angel investors. The round, which closed in the final quarter of 2025, brings the startup’s total funding to $22.5 million USD. The company did not share its valuation.
There are more than 90,000 US governments—including municipalities and counties—many of which buy from vendors on different budgets and timelines. Information on purchases is “hard to find, often inaccurate and outdated, and hard to use at scale” for vendors, CTO and co-founder Eden Ding told BetaKit on Monday.
NationGraph wants to give teams selling to governments research capabilities several times their size. The company claims its product can identify and surface data across US government buyers, from intel on past purchasing decisions to key contact information.
Much of this data is publicly available, Ding said, but may be buried within meeting minutes, budget documents, and requests for proposals. For what’s not already out there, the platform also automates freedom-of-information requests and delivers the results.
The startup’s customers are primarily mid-market government vendors, which range from software providers to janitorial companies that sell essential office materials. NationGraph offers US procurement and government data, though Ding said that based on customer interest, incorporating Canadian government-specific data is “in the roadmap.”
Roughly half of NationGraph’s 20-person team works in Toronto. Ding is Canadian and attended the University of British Columbia, while co-founder and CEO Kimia Hamidi studied at the University of Victoria.
Both co-founders have experience in finance and data management. Hamidi spent the last few years as head of savings at US corporate spend scaleup Ramp, after it acquired his price intelligence startup, Buyer, in 2021. Ding previously worked at US investment firm Citadel as a quantitative developer.
NationGraph is part of a new generation of AI-native startups building atop the groundwork set by AI companies like Anthropic (which Menlo Ventures also backed).
Menlo was founded in 1976 and is a prominent Silicon Valley early-stage venture firm with more than $6.8 billion USD assets under management. In addition to Anthropic, its portfolio companies include US FinTech Chime and ride-sharing giant Uber.
Information on government contracts is “hard to find, often inaccurate and outdated, and hard to use at scale”
“We’re proud to lead NationGraph’s Series A as they bring transparency to the broken process of government procurement,” Menlo Ventures partner Croom Beatty, who is taking a board seat at NationGraph, said in a statement. He added that the company’s intelligence platform allows companies selling to governments to “discover new revenue opportunities and then execute against them.”
NationGraph currently charges a software subscription fee billed per seat, though Ding said it’s open to pricing based on usage down the road as it looks to add more automation features.
The startup plans to use the funding in part for product development—for example, improving its research infrastructure to structure data outputs as efficiently as possible. It’s also hiring for engineering, marketing, and sales roles across its three offices.
The three locations allow NationGraph “to build a great team and culture in a lot of different places, and tap into the different talents that exist in different regions,” Ding said.
Feature image courtesy NationGraph.