Imagine trying to read every bill introduced in state legislatures across the US last year. You’d need to spend eight hours a day reading for six straight years just to finish the stack.
That’s the scale of the problem Miami-headquartered State Affairs is trying to solve.
The AI-powered policy intelligence company emerged from stealth this week with $70 million in funding, backed by a group of blue chip investors including Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures. The funding comes as the company argues that policy and regulation increasingly shape businesses and investors, yet the tools used to understand them remain far behind those available for financial markets.
For decades, Wall Street has had Bloomberg Terminals. State Affairs believes government and regulatory affairs deserve their own equivalent.
“Policy and regulatory markets are often more impactful to organizations than financial markets, yet everybody from voters to companies are often the last to know what’s happening,” Evan Burns, co-founder and CEO of State Affairs, said in a press release. “State Affairs helps organizations proactively understand and engage with policy markets at scale across the U.S.”
Rather than relying primarily on publicly available information, State Affairs has built its platform around one of the country’s largest networks of statehouse reporters. Those journalists produce more than 2,000 original, nonpartisan stories each month, while the company’s data teams organize policy information covering legislation, regulations, hearings, and political activity across all 50 states and the federal government.
That gives the company’s AI access to proprietary reporting alongside structured government data, allowing customers to monitor legislative developments, compare policy trends across states, and respond more quickly as issues emerge.
The need is growing rapidly. According to State Affairs, state legislatures introduced more than 135,500 bills in 2025, a roughly 55% increase from the previous year. The company estimates it would take one person reading eight hours a day for six years to get through every bill introduced during that period.
Customers already include one-third of state and federal elected officials, according to the company, as well as Walmart, Mastercard, and McDonald’s.
The leadership team reflects its mix of technology, media, and public policy. Burns previously co-founded The Finnish Long Drink before its acquisition, while co-founder Jamie Roberts Seltzer is also General Partner at LightShed Ventures. Veteran journalist Alison Bethel serves as Founding Editor-in-Chief and Chief Content Officer.
That focus on journalism remains central to the company’s strategy.
“We need more nonpartisan journalism to build a better democracy and future,” Jamie Roberts Seltzer, co-founder of State Affairs, commented. “Because nearly all state capitols are underreported on, the exclusive reporting and original data gathering that powers our platform not only provides more comprehensive information, it also mandates that we further invest into objective journalism to widen the moat of the intelligence you get on State Affairs versus anywhere else.”
He continued: “We intend to hire many more full-time reporters over the next few years.”
Pictured above: State Affairs co-founders, left to right, Evan Burns, CEO, and Jamie Roberts Seltzer, COO.
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I am a Miami-based technology researcher and writer with a passion for sharing stories about the South Florida tech ecosystem. I particularly enjoy learning about GovTech startups, cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence, and innovators that leverage technology to transform society for the better. Always open for pitches via Twitter @rileywk or www.RileyKaminer.com.
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