Travis Moore, a former legislative director for a Senior House Democrat, started TechCongress in spring 2013 after feeling uncomfortable about a bill that would grant tech companies limited liability for sharing cybersecurity threat data with the government. Moore found a friend at a Big Tech company who was willing to help him. He then came up with the idea of creating a fellowship that places computer scientists, engineers, cybersecurity experts, and others with technical backgrounds as policy advisors in the US Senate and House of Representatives. The fellowship, funded by $12,000 in savings, unemployment benefits, and a crowdfunding campaign, has now placed more than 120 fellows in offices across the Capitol Hill. The Knight Foundation announced in November 2018 that it would make a million-dollar donation to TechCongress.