CrowdBlue

CrowdBlue (formerly known as Crowdpac) is a politics-centric crowdfunding platform founded in 2014. It has four founders: Stanford University professor Adam Bonica, David Cameron's former political advisor Steve Hilton, Google executive Gisel Kordestani, and social entrepreneur Paul Hilder. In 2025, It was rebranded as CrowdBlue and Bart Myers appointed as a new CEO.^[1][2]

CrowdBlue

Type of site	Crowdfunding / political technology
Available in	English
Headquarters	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Area served	United States
Owner	Prytany (parent firm)
Created by	Adam Bonica, David Cameron's former advisor Steve Hilton, Gisel Kordestani, Paul Hilder
Key people	Bart Myers (CEO, 2025– )
Industry	Crowdfunding; political technology
Products	Campaign creation tools; grassroots fundraising; digital organizing platform
Services	Online political fundraising, lawmaker messaging, community discussion spaces, AI-assisted media distribution, ConnectBlue network
URL	https://crowdblue.com/
Commercial	Yes
Registration	Required for donations and campaign creation
Launched	2014
Current status	Active (rebranded as CrowdBlue in 2025)

History

The platform was founded to help reduce barriers to political entry by offering data-driven candidate discovery and tools to raise money from grassroots donors. Originally, Crowdpac positioned itself as a nonpartisan platform for political engagement.^[3] Crowdpac grew rapidly in its early years, raising nearly $16 million between 2014 and 2018, with almost 3,000 candidates using the platform. According to reporting from The Hill, 46% of these candidates were women, 29% were millennials, and 20% were veterans, reflecting Crowdpac’s appeal among diverse and emerging political voices.^[2]

In 2018, the platform suspended all Republican candidate accounts, citing the strong connection between GOP candidates and then-President Donald Trump. According to then-acting CEO Jesse Thomas, the temporary suspension occurred because “Trumpism is so heavily linked with the modern national Republican Party, and because very few federal leaders in the Republican Party have meaningfully rejected Trumpism.”^[2]

Following internal challenges and funding difficulties, Crowdpac shut down in May 2019. Later that year, the company was acquired by Prytany, a civic technology firm and relaunched ahead of the 2020 election cycle. The relaunch lowered its platform fee from 8% to 3% and reemphasized support for young, diverse, and progressive candidates, with political veteran Royal Kastens appointed as CEO. After the acquisition, Crowdpac relaunched with a clear focus on supporting Democratic and progressive candidates, becoming a platform for campaign creation and political fundraising aligned with left-of-center causes.^[3]

In 2025, Crowdpac announced Bart Myers, founder of Countable, as its new CEO.[9] The company also unveiled a new advisory board and closed a successful $4 million funding round to support platform expansion.^[4][9] That same year, Crowdpac rebranded as CrowdBlue, reflecting its evolving mission to serve as the digital home for Democrats. The relaunch introduced new capabilities, including lawmaker messaging, community-driven content, and an ad-supported partner network called ConnectBlue. The move was described by Campaigns & Elections as “a next-generation platform for Democratic organizing and fundraising.”^[5]

Rebranding

Before the rebranding, Crowdpac supported thousands of campaigns across local, state, and federal levels. Its tools facilitated grassroots participation in political fundraising, including high-profile issue-focused campaigns. With its rebranding to CrowdBlue, the platform expanded from a crowdfunding site into a digital organizing tool for Democratic and left-leaning independent campaigns.^[6]

The updated system integrates campaign creation, fundraising, advocacy tools, and supporter engagement features in one interface. New capabilities include AI-assisted media distribution, direct messaging to lawmakers with public accountability pages, community groups, moderated discussion spaces, and real-time political news. CrowdBlue also introduced ConnectBlue, an ad-supported partner network for campaign amplification. The platform is available on web, iOS, and Android.

CrowdBlue serves as a centralized digital environment for Democratic-aligned political engagement. It enables prospective candidates to assess campaign viability, gather early pledges, and build initial supporter networks. The relaunch aims to strengthen grassroots mobilization heading into the 2025–2026 election cycle, with a focus on privacy standards, content moderation, and responsible use of AI.^[7]

Funding and Operations

As of October 2025, CrowdBlue has raised $18.8 million in total fundings and had 4 total rounds of funding so far. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and operates as a Series A political technology firm. CrowdBlue supports causes such as civil rights, LGBTQ+ rights, economic fairness, and broader progressive priorities.^[8]