For many, there is a barrier to entry for becoming involved in or understanding politics. Damola Ogundipe has a goal to change that.

Ogundipe is the CEO and co-founder of Civic Eagle. Civic Eagle is a start-up software company focused on using “technology to promote better democratic outcomes for people and their communities.” The staff at Civic Eagle know that the legislative process is confusing, and want to help fix that.

“I want to create a company that builds products that fix democracies — products that address transparency, corruption, lack of civic engagement and distrust in the news and media surrounding politics,” Ogundipe said.

Born in Nigeria, Ogundipe moved to Minnesota with his family when he was six. He then attended the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, where he played football. In 2011, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. Since graduating, easy been busy in both tech entrepreneurial adventures, including running a sneaker ritual company and a company that converts shipping containers to music studios.

Ogundipe and his team have experienced their share of setbacks in regards to funding and having to pivot the company’s focus. Today, however, their software scrapes data from every legislative database in the country, processes and analyzes the data, and provides a daily report to the company’s clients. The work of Civic Eagle is already leading to more collaboration between policy professionals and other organizations.

“We’re nonpartisan, but believe democracy only exists when everybody exercises their right to vote and is informed on the issues,” Ogundipe said in an interview with the University of Minnesota Alumni Magazine. “In the end, we want to be a company doing net good for the world.”

Banner image from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal