The IT Nerd

America’s public institutions were once legendary examples for how governments ought to engage their citizens. While these services are critical to maintaining the Country’s social fabric, the technologies that facilitate them are known for being slow, hard to use, and multiple generations behind our expectations. Kaizen is changing that for America’s public agencies, one digital roadblock at a time. The company announced a $21 million funding to accelerate its mission to restore public faith in government services through beautifully designed, modern e-government solutions.

The Series A funding round was led by NEA with participation from 776, Accel, Andreessen Horowitz, and Carpenter Capital. This follows an $11m seed co-led by Accel and Andreessen Horowitz’s American Dynamism practice. To date, Kaizen has raised $35 million.

Kaizen is specifically focused on modernizing “resident services” — the essential public-facing institutions that deliver constituent services and facilitate high-volume, e-commerce–style transactions. Common examples include parks & recreation, transit, DMVs, hunting and fishing licenses, utility billing, courts management, passport renewals, social security, tax filing, and more. These services span all levels of government, including city, county, state, and federal agencies. 

Across the Country, these agencies rely on clunky systems and long-term contracts that charge tax-payers billions in service charges and junk fees. Kaizen offers an alternative: a unified commerce and purchase platform that lets governments launch essential services to their communities in weeks. On the back-end, Kaizen gives administrators powerful digital building blocks to create service offerings, manage operations, and process payments. On the front-end, Kaizen serves a branded and hyper-configurable purchase experience for the constituent simple. The result is a consumer-grade experience for residents to access, enjoy, and explore their public services – and a way for governments to build a stronger bond with the communities they serve.

The timing for Kaizen couldn’t be better. Across the country, governments are investing billions to modernize outdated digital systems and make public services as intuitive as the private-sector apps people use every day. The federal government recently instituted a new National Design Office, tasked with leading a $10 billion modernization effort to overhaul more than 25,000 government portals  Kaizen is building the resident-first technology that embodies this new era of accessible, human-centered government.

For founders Nikhil Reddy and KJ Shah, the company’s mission is deeply personal. Reddy, an early engineer at defense-tech pioneer Anduril, saw firsthand how modern software can power critical operations with speed and precision. Shah, who began his career in M&A and was exposed to public-sector technology companies at William Blair, witnessed how legacy software and fragmented tools were holding government agencies back. Together, they founded Kaizen to help power a new era for these kinds of public services. “For decades, public servants have been forced to use stagnant software built through acquisitions, not product innovation. Our agencies need and deserve a platform built natively and designed to grow with them,” said Shah.

The results are already clear. In Maryland, Kaizen launched a new day-pass system for state parks in less than 60 days, a month ahead of schedule. On the Fourth of July weekend, the parks hit full capacity with no major check-in delays for the first time in years. Virtually overnight, seven-mile traffic jams were eliminated, visitor satisfaction soared, and the state saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime costs.  The impact even extended beyond human experience: park leadership reported a resurgence of wildlife thanks to the newfound peace and predictability of daily entry. 

Since the start of 2024, Kaizen’s customer base has grown 10x, and ARR has jumped 9x YoY. The company now works with more than 50 agencies across 17 states. In the last eight weeks alone, Kaizen has announced partnerships with Maricopa County, AZ, San Bernardino County, CA, Suffolk County, NY, and the Cherokee Nation, America’s largest tribal organization. The team of 30 will expand to 50 by early next year as Kaizen prepares to expand to Federal agencies and net-new verticals like DMVs, courts management, and licensing.

Kaizen’s long-term vision is to become the technology prime that builds beautiful, effective, and ever-improving interfaces for civic institutions. These constructs empower our democracy, and usable, trustworthy interfaces are necessary for their continued success of our social fabric in America.