Ordinal, a government technology company based in Bentonville, has raised a $1 million seed round to expand its platform that helps cities manage information more efficiently.
The funding round was led by Plains Ventures of Oklahoma City with participation from Winrock International and The Venture Center Arkansas Fund.
Ordinal’s platform serves as a research assistant designed for municipalities. City staff can search internal documents such as codes, ordinances, meeting minutes and GIS data and receive verified answers sourced directly from those records. The tool also preserves institutional knowledge through staff transitions and helps new employees onboard more quickly.
“Most government employees spend about a third of their work week retrieving information, often navigating multiple sources and even people,” said Jacob Herrington, co-founder of Ordinal. “Ordinal makes that process fast, reliable and secure. Our goal is simple: help governments and their communities work better together.”
The company was founded by Herrington, Nick Spinazze and Jacob Eubanks. Ordinal’s technology is already in use in Lowell, Benton County and Pea Ridge in Arkansas; Sallisaw, Oklahoma; Willard, Missouri; Decatur, Indiana; and La Quinta, California. In some communities, residents can also search city codes directly through municipal websites powered by the platform.
With the new investment, Ordinal plans to grow its customer base, refine its public-facing chatbot and add features to help governments streamline operations.
Ordinal is based at Onward HQ in Bentonville, where the founders first connected with Plains Ventures during an Onward FX event (formerly known as VC Immersions) hosted by the Northwest Arkansas Council.
“Ordinal’s product is intuitive and immediately valuable to governments,” said Matt Hickman, principal partner at Plains Ventures. “Equally important, the founding team has the technical expertise, vision and ambition to redefine how municipalities operate.”
The company’s growth highlights how Onward HQ and the Northwest Arkansas Council are helping local entrepreneurs build solutions that strengthen both regional and national communities.
