Led · Seed · May 2021

Uptrust provides a text- and app-based platform that delivers calendars, appointments, rules, and court information to people returning to society, often integrated with public defenders. The company was formed in 2015 and launched its first product in 2016 after years of trials. Uptrust charges governments a fee to use the service while aiming to limit costs for end users who often lack funds. It has expanded rapidly to 150 sites in 28 states, up from 30 sites 18 months earlier, and the team has grown to about 15 people centered in San Francisco and along the Eastern Seaboard. Longer-term plans include connecting users to services they need on re-entry, such as health care, banking/finance, and housing. The company has raised external capital to support growth, including a recent seed round and an earlier $1.3M round reported last year. Uptrust builds a CRM-like messaging service that connects public defenders, social workers and agencies with people who have interacted with the criminal justice system to reduce missed court dates and compliance failures. Since launching in 2017, the company says it has cut failure-to-appear penalties by more than 50% in the roughly 50 state and county governments where it operates, representing up to $5 billion in potential savings for municipalities. Uptrust is paid by local governments and does not charge end users; its leadership has emphasized it will never charge the people it serves. With new funding the company plans product development including a mobile app that can message multiple public agencies and surface local services such as reduced transportation and expungement clinics. Uptrust aims to reach another 100 jurisdictions and serve one million defendants by the end of 2020. The founders position the product as a platform to serve the more than 60 million people with a criminal record and to reduce wasteful pretrial incarceration costs.