Napster co-founder and former Facebook President Sean Parker has resurfaced -- as the CEO of a startup that hopes to prompt more Americans to take part in local politics and government.
Veteran Venture Capitalist Ron Conway and Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff are also investing in the venture, called Brigade, according to Jano Cabrera, worldwide EVP at PR firm Burson-Marsteller. The news was originally reported in Politico.
Parker is investing more than $9 million in Brigade and will be chairman and CEO of the company. Adam Conner, Facebook's first Washington D.C. lobbyist, will be Brigade's VP of politics. Yahoo engineer John Thrall will be the company's VP of engineering, and former LinkedIn SVP David Henke will sit on Brigade's board.
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Cabrera told Politico that Brigade hopes to increase political involvement beyond the federal level, and into state and local races. Brigade will vie with another civic engagement startup MindMixer. ElectNext, another competitor, has closed up shop.