The process that many small governments (municipalities, counties and Tribal Nations) have to go through to find funding could be described by a variety of words – none of which are synonyms of efficient, simple, or enjoyable. The process can more accurately be described as confusing and slow, often taking multiple people months to source and qualify for the right funding. When founders Dhruv C. Patel and Matthew Jaquez learned that this was a problem many governments faced daily, they knew it was time to start working on a new technology that would change government funding forever.
Meet the Founders
Behind Syncurrent are two founders: Dhruv C. Patel and Matthew Jaquez, an unlikely duo from Chicago, Illinois. Dhruv grew up as a first-generation American with Indian immigrant parents. In school, Dhruv felt like somewhat of an outcast, feeling “too brown for the white kids and too white for the brown kids”. His family struggled financially, but his father was entrepreneurial in his own right, overcoming challenges from the 2008 recession, and eventually starting over, working his way up to becoming a regional manager at Yum Brands who oversees the business operations in the Midwest. Dhruv’s mother also wanted to pursue entrepreneurship, but was too busy taking care of the family to focus on a dream of her own. Watching his parents’ struggles and successes shaped Dhruv’s resilience and drive early on, leading him unknowingly down his own path of entrepreneurship.
Dhruv and Matthew first met in a computer science class at Jacobs High School in 2016. Dhruv perceived Matthew as the shy type who shows up to class, pays attention, and gets good grades. Little did he know, Matthew had a secret passion for Mixed Martial Arts and was competing throughout the Midwest during this time. Even though the two were very different, they were friends at school, exchanging contact information, but never hanging out outside the classroom.
After graduating from high school, Dhruv moved to Marquette, Michigan, to pursue a degree in physics at Northern Michigan University (NMU) but became bored with academia and switched to a self-designed major in organizational science. During his time at NMU, Dhruv met Joe Thiel, CEO of Innovate Marquette, who inspired Dhruv to start his first entrepreneurial venture, Hive. Not long after launching Hive, Dhruv realized that running a business on your own takes time, a lot more time than one person can manage. After taking a look through his contacts to see whose shoulder he could tap on, the name Matthew Jaquez stood out. Dhruv reached out to Matthew, pitched him the idea, and convinced him to relocate to the Upper Peninsula. The two ran Hive for a number of years, helping companies streamline business operations.
Connecting with Innovate Marquette: Timing is Everything
Dhruv’s initial connection with Innovate Marquette happened during an entrepreneurship class at NMU, where he was working as a teaching assistant. During one of the classes, the professor informed him that a guest speaker was joining them for the day, so like many of the other students, Dhruv sat and waited for the speaker to arrive. In walks Joe Thiel, who had just recently taken the position as CEO at Innovate Marquette. Joe told the class about his background as an entrepreneur and how he had now taken this job to help entrepreneurs find success here in Marquette. Dhruv realized he needed to fully pursue entrepreneurship, the same way Joe had. Since then, the two have become inseparable, with Joe even serving as an advisor to Dhruv and the Syncurrent team.
Through Innovate Marquette, Dhruv was able to build a network of partners, investors, and advisors. Innovate Marquette positioned Syncurrent in front of key stakeholders and provided a solid foundation for Dhruv and his team to grow the business.
Becoming Syncurrent
Originally, Dhruv and Matthew set off to create the aforementioned business operations platform, Hive. However, after realizing the high demand for funding in local governments, they pivoted to create Streamline, yes, Streamline, but soon after starting, they realized a name change was necessary for their success. One night in the old Innovate Marquette office on Presque Isle Avenue, Dhruv, Matthew, and Joe started workshopping a name. The group determined that the name should have something to do with time. Not long after throwing out words like serendipitous and chronological, Dhruv whispered “Syncurrent”, the energy in the room went electric. The trio realized Syncurrent was the new word worthy enough to title the adventures ahead. Syncurrent built its own artificial intelligence (AI) to match local governments with relevant grants, contracts, and loan funding. Syncurrent was technically founded in 2021, but throughout 2024, Dhruv and Matthew have pivoted the startup several times, ultimately landing where it is today. A platform that is a funding tool for small governments.
When asked about what the mission of Syncurrent is, Dhruv laughed and stated that, unlike many companies, website visitors won’t find a typical mission or vision statement anywhere on the Syncurrent website, but he did have this to say:
“Syncurrent’s mission is simple: to take work that typically takes months or even years, and reduce it to just minutes. We’re using and building the most advanced technology, which rapidly increases the capacity of governments and gets money and resources to where they’re needed most.” – Dhruv C. Patel, Founder and CEO, Syncurrent
How Does Syncurrent Work?
Syncurrent’s AI platform is designed to help small governments quickly and easily find federal and state funding opportunities. When a government entity signs up on the platform, it enters basic information such as the name of the government and department. The platform’s AI then indexes this information against a vast set of federal and state grant databases, including Grants.gov, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Department of Treasury.
The platform uses complex filtering models to present only the most relevant opportunities to users, ensuring that by the time they are ready to apply, they are viewing grants that are a perfect fit for their needs. This process reduces what typically takes a team of people several weeks to just a few minutes, allowing governments to efficiently secure the funding they need for various projects, like schools, roads, healthcare and other essential community services.
Measuring Syncurrent's Impact
In just one year, Syncurrent’s platform has had a profound impact on local governments, particularly for underfunded tribes and municipalities that traditionally struggled with the time-consuming process of applying for grants. Syncurrent secured groundbreaking partnerships, including a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development arm. This partnership launched an AI pilot program aimed at Michigan municipalities and Tribal Nations. Originally intended to host six governments, the pilot quickly garnered overwhelming interest, leading to an expansion that included ten communities:
Another first-of-its-kind achievement came with Syncurrent’s partnership with the United States Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Network. This collaboration resulted in the company offering its Version Two platform free of charge to all 574 Federally Recognized Tribes for a decade.
Finding Early Success
In its first official year as Syncurrent, the company has achieved several significant milestones, marking a period of impressive growth and recognition. In 2024, the company expanded its team from just the two co-founders to six dynamic individuals and a team of advisors working holistically to achieve their mission.
In addition, Syncurrent saw significant media coverage, with features such as a front-page cover in USA Today’s Tech section highlighting the USDA and DOI partnerships. The company also earned a double feature in GovTech News, a leading publication for government technology.
At RES2025, the largest economic summit in Indian Country, Syncurrent unveiled two new platform features. One is an opportunity-specific chatbot, designed to guide communities through the application process. The other is a detailed, step-by-step breakdown of the required documents for funding applications, saving communities valuable time.
Syncurrent has developed a scalable platform capable of handling up to 1 million users and has grown from zero governments to 48 governments across the Nation. The company’s partnerships with the USDA and DOI have been historic firsts in AI pilot programs for both agencies.
However, these accomplishments did not come without several hurdles blocking the path to success. When it comes to advice entrepreneurs should heed when getting started, the Syncurrent team had this to say, “You will be doubted. You will experience defeat. Your ideas won’t work and you’re often going to feel stuck – the best part about all that is that it’s part of the journey. As long as you’re using the words in the “active” state of los-ing, try-ing, it means there’s still momentum and momentum can swing upwards just as quickly as it swings downwards. If it’s hard, good, it’s supposed to be hard, but things will get better, because you’re going to start thinking differently and that’s how you grow.”
Scaling Syncurrent: Better, Faster, Smarter
Syncurrent is planning to further scale its platform, adding more state-level databases and enhancing its AI to refine the grant matching process. They are also working on new features, including tools to automate grant applications and reporting, which will make it even easier for governments to access and manage funding.
The company is also in the process of raising capital to expand its team and continue its growth. With a focus on long-term sustainability, Dhruv and his team aim to continue pushing the boundaries of innovation in government technology.
The Michigan startup scene, the government-technology market, the local entrepreneurship space in the Upper Peninsula are all spaces that Dhruv believes need a sense of urgency and Syncurrent feels there was no one entity bringing the energy that is needed to stir these markets up, until now.
Connecting with Syncurrent Inc.
Syncurrent is revolutionizing the way local governments access federal funding. By leveraging AI, the company is saving time and resources for government entities while helping them secure the funding needed for critical projects. With a strong foundation of growth and innovative partnerships, Syncurrent is set to continue its upward trajectory.
For governments and organizations looking to streamline their funding processes and gain access to relevant opportunities, Syncurrent offers an intuitive, powerful platform that transforms the way funding is accessed. Visit Syncurrent.com to learn more about how you can benefit from their innovative solutions.
