We submitted Cherie's application for Inc.'s Female Founders 500 knowing the numbers would be hard to believe. Profitable in 8 months. Over 30 government agencies signed across 8 states. A union president endorsing an AI tool. None of that is normal in govtech.

"Government workers serve millions of people and they're doing it on software from 2005. We started Holly because we believed they deserved better tools, not just whatever's left over in the budget. Being recognized by Inc. feels like a sign that people outside of government are starting to care about that too."

- Cherie Chung, Co-CEO of Holly

She Went and Talked to 100 Government HR Directors

Most people in tech assume government doesn't want new tools. Cherie didn't buy it. She spent months interviewing HR directors across the country, not pitching, just listening. What she kept hearing: teams drowning in classification and compensation work, understaffed, stuck on processes that hadn't changed in decades. They weren't resisting change. They were waiting for someone to show up with something that actually worked.

That's what shaped Holly's whole approach. Instead of the usual long pilot programs, Holly demos using a jurisdiction's own public data. You see your jobs, your salaries, your problems, solved right there. It cut the typical 6-to-12-month government sales cycle down to 3 to 6 months.

The Numbers

Holly is the first AI-native govtech startup focused on government classification and compensation. Here's where things stand:

• 30+ government agencies signed across 8 states, from towns of 2,000 people to counties serving over 3 million residents
• Profitable within 8 months of the first contract
• 40% multi-year contracts averaging 3 years, including clients who skipped pilot phases entirely
• System of record at Holly's two largest county clients by Q1 2026, with 50+ users on mandated platform usage
• Fewer than 3 engineers for most of the year. Same-day bug fixes, weekly feature releases.

Contra Costa County skipped a pilot entirely and signed a 3-year commitment. You don't get that from a pitch deck. You get it from a product that works.

What It Looks Like in Practice

At San Bernardino County, Holly helped an 8-person HR team review over 600 employee questionnaires across 120+ IT classifications in months. That kind of project wasn't even possible before at that scale. They found 30% plagiarism in the submissions and cut overlapping titles by 14%.

That's with fewer than 3 engineers building the product for most of the year. Same-day bug fixes, new features weekly. The whole company runs on proving that a small team with the right tools can do work that used to require an army of consultants.

She Knew When to Say No

Cherie wouldn't overbuild for a single deal, which is the thing that kills most early-stage enterprise companies. She prototyped features herself using AI tools to test whether there was real demand before putting engineering time behind anything. Then, when it mattered, she ran a focused 2-month sprint to ship the features that got Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties to commit to ongoing team-wide usage.

She and co-founder Brendan Hellweg raised $2.2 million and built a 6-person team that ships like a company five times its size. The whole operation runs lean, and on purpose.

What's Next

Holly's expanding into new states, building out a second module for labor relations, and gearing up for a bigger raise. The company serves agencies representing millions of residents across California, Washington, Arizona, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Nevada, and more.

Cherie's been saying the same thing since day one: treating government workers as an underserved population is good business. Inc. seems to agree.

About the Inc. Female Founders 500

Inc.'s annual Female Founders list recognizes top women entrepreneurs in the U.S. The 2026 class collectively generated about $12.3 billion in 2025 revenue and $12.2 billion in funding. Founders are assessed on revenue growth, funding, innovation, social impact, and brand momentum. Past honorees include Billie Jean King, Sallie Krawcheck, Serena Williams, and Emma Grede.

Several honorees will be featured in Inc.'s Spring print issue, on newsstands March 17, 2026. Full list at inc.com/female-founders/2026.

About Holly

Holly is the first AI-native govtech company focused on government classification and compensation. The platform uses explainable AI and continuously refreshed salary data to help governments manage their workforce. From small towns to counties with millions of residents, Holly is changing how government HR gets done.

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