Napster co-founder Sean Parker to lead civic startup

Big tech-industry players want to help get out the vote and are pouring millions into a new startup to boost American civic engagement. The company, called Brigade, is designed to combat a lack of political engagement and interest in all levels of government across America -- although the firm’s road map is unclear at this time.

Silicon Valley magnates Sean Parker, Ron Conway and Marc Benioff are among the big-name investors in the company, according to two sources familiar with the effort. The venture brings industry veterans to the forefront of disrupting what many see as a broken political system. Parker has been involved with high-profile firms like Facebook and Napster; Benioff is the CEO of SalesForce.com; and Conway is an angel investor who has backed Google, FourSquare and PayPal. Parker’s investment will total more than $9 million, according to Jano Cabrera, worldwide executive vice president at Burson-Marsteller, which is working with Brigade.