After a tribal representative’s long sigh of relief in response to the new software platform using artificial intelligence to find funding opportunities, Bazile Panek knows he has done some good.
“This will do great things for Indian Country,” said Panek, tribal liaison for the company creating the startup AI platform called Syncurrent.
As a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe, Panek saw immediately that there is a need for services and investment in the reservation he was born and raised in, far northern Wisconsin.
Syncurrent leverages AI to fast-track a current effort of scouring through hundreds to thousands of targeted websites for the particular grant, loan, or other funding opportunity from federal, state, and philanthropic sources that a particular project needs and the info needed for an application.
What used to take hours or days manually can now take a matter of minutes using Syncurrent.
“I hear from so many people who spend more time trying to find grants than actually doing their jobs,” Panek said.
Recently, Syncurrent was evaluated by officials for the White Earth Ojibwe Nation in Minnesota.
“The platform’s simplicity has allowed us to identify and collaborate on critical funding to meet our community’s needs,” said Eugene Sommers, an official for the tribe.
Each year tribal, local, and state governments find themselves eligible for more than a trillion dollars in funding opportunities by the federal government, but navigating that application process can level a mighty daunting experience, especially for smaller and less manpower-strong offices.
Syncurrent is the brainchild of Dhruv Patel, a technology expert, and Matthew Jaquez.
Whilst its basic plan is free for governments, the premium one costs $49 per month per department.
Panek is a long time collaborator of Patel’s and forced the latter to consider the needs of tribal nations early in the development of Syncurrent.
Recently, the company partnered with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the nonprofit Native CDFI Network to provide Syncurrent premium free to all tribal nations for 10 years.
“The support of Tribal Nations is and will always be a primary focus for Syncurrent,” Patel said. “Our work is moving a community, which for countless years has been pushed to the back of the line for assistance, all the way to the front.”
While Congress voted to allocate $32.6 billion in funding towards the benefit of tribal communities in the year 2024, many might not have received these funds, according to GAO.
For example, between 2017 and 2021, the USDA invested $6.6 billion for rural development, of which a measly $138 million went to tribal communities.
The department’s report made red tape and paperwork in securing and applying for funding a primary culprit.
“Tribal Nations have suffered long-standing systemic barriers accessing capital and securing their fair portion of federal, state, and philanthropic dollars,” concluded Native CDFI Network CEO Pete Upton in a statement. “Syncurrent’s artificial intelligence technology would allow tribal governments to identify and capture capital much faster, more efficiently, and much more effectively, enabling them to build vibrant, healthy, and prosperous communities.” Tribal governments currently have free access to Syncurrent at Syncurrent.com.
