Shadow Inc.
| File:Shadow Inc. Logo.svg | |
| Formerly | Shadow Inc. Groundbase |
|---|---|
| Founded | December 2016 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | |
Key people |
|
| Parent | Civitech PBC |
| Website | bluelink.org |
BlueLink comprises a collection of campaign management mobile apps aimed at registering, coordinating, and activating liberal voters. Initially launched as Shadow, the software was created by Shadow Inc., later acquired by Acronym, and subsequently purchased by Civitech PBC. The organization attracted widespread attention after its IowaReporterApp malfunctioned during the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses.
History
Established in December 2016 under the name Groundbase by Gerard Niemira and Krista Davis—both veterans of Hillary Clinton's 2016 digital outreach team—the company specialized in technology solutions for progressive political campaigns.
In January 2019, Acronym, a liberal political nonprofit where Niemira held the roles of COO and CTO, took ownership of the firm. Operating as a for-profit subsidiary solely funded by Acronym, Shadow Inc. was described by CEO Tara McGowan as a "political technology company."
The incorporation of Shadow Inc. took place in Colorado in September 2019. After the Iowa caucus app debacle, the firm underwent rebranding to BlueLink in May 2020.
Locations
The business is officially registered in Colorado, with its headquarters situated in Denver and branch offices located in New York and Seattle. Shadow and its parent company Acronym maintain shared addresses in Denver, Colorado, as well as Washington, DC.
Management
Following Acronym’s acquisition of the nearly insolvent Groundbase, Gerard Niemira—who served as CEO and CTO of Acronym—assumed the role of Shadow’s CEO in May 2019. Niemira’s background includes product management for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, experience at kiva.org, and an internship under Representative Eliot Engel.
James "Jimmy" Hickey acts as COO; his prior experience includes engineering management for Clinton's 2016 campaign and positions at Sprinklr and Bloomberg Philanthropies. Krista Davis holds the titles of CTO and Chief Architect; her career path includes work on Clinton’s 2016 campaign and an eight-year tenure at Google.
Irene Tollinger currently serves as CEO following Niemira’s departure.
Products
Shadow Inc. created software utilized by several Democratic presidential contenders along with mobile software applications deployed during the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses and 2020 Nevada Democratic caucuses.
Lightrail
Lightrail stands as Shadow’s primary product, designed to enable data synchronization and communication between various campaign data platforms.[1] In November 2019, the Democratic National Committee announced a pilot agreement granting access to Lightrail for all state party organizations and national candidates. Insiders within the party characterize it as "common in Democratic politics."
IowaReporterApp
The Iowa Democratic Party engaged Shadow Inc. with a contract valued at $63,183 to create the IowaReporterApp. Prior to the 2020 Iowa caucus, the Democratic Party kept both the app and its developer confidential, despite the public being aware that an app would be utilized. Shadow issued an updated version (1.1) just two days before the caucus event.
During the caucuses, a significant bug caused the application to malfunction. Shadow's CEO, Gerardo Niemira, admitted that earlier technology used by Democratic campaigns was a "tangled morass" and a "shitshow." The company faced backlash for its immature development and deployment strategies: iOS users accessed the app through Apple's beta distribution platform TestFlight, whereas Android users relied on a third-party service called TestFairy. Reports highlighted inconsistent performance across different devices.
After the application's failure, cybersecurity professionals described it as "hastily thrown together." The non-profit organization ProPublica commissioned a security evaluation that concluded the app was "insecure" and susceptible to hacking attempts. Nevertheless, the Democratic National Committee expressed confidence that security measures were being addressed "extremely seriously."
Critics pointed out the app's unprofessional construction; Kasra Rahjerdi, an expert in app development, compared it to beginner-level tutorials. A research team from Stanford University, which included former Facebook Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos, identified troubling features such as hard-coded API keys within the code. The app was developed using React Native, employed Auth0 for authentication, and utilized Google Cloud Functions for data transmission.
Nevada caucus app
The Nevada Democratic Party contracted Shadow for $58,000 to develop their caucus reporting application but ultimately decided against its use, choosing instead to track results with Google Forms on iPads.
Campaign and corporate affiliations
Shadow Inc. provided software solutions to several Democratic presidential campaigns, including those of Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and Kirsten Gillibrand. The Buttigieg 2020 presidential campaign paid $42,500 in July 2019 for "software rights and subscriptions" connected to a text messaging service. Similarly, the Biden 2020 presidential campaign spent $1,225 on a comparable service, while the Gillibrand 2020 presidential campaign disbursed $37,400 for software services and fundraising consulting.
Additionally, both the Texas Democratic Party and Wisconsin Democratic Party engaged Shadow for undisclosed projects. Shadow has also partnered with Democratic-aligned organizations such as Lockwood Strategy and FWIW Media.
Shadow’s parent organization, Acronym, has attracted substantial investments from hedge fund managers Seth Klarman and Donald Sussman, venture capitalist Michael Moritz, as well as film industry executives Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg.
External links
- bluelink.org (official website redirect)
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedwsj._TheS