What Open Social does

Open Social B.V. is a Dutch private limited company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Amsterdam that builds a Community Collaboration Platform for large global institutions, international organizations, NGOs, and industry associations. The platform is positioned as the 'world's only sovereign' community software, built in Europe with exclusively Dutch investors and certified to ISO 27001, offering GDPR-compliant hosting with no US Cloud Act exposure. Its customer base spans the United Nations (UNDP, World Bank Group, ECDC), the European Commission, global movements (WAGGGS, Scouts, World YWCA), environmental NGOs (Greenpeace, IUCN), industry associations (IATA), and mission-driven enterprises (LEGO Foundation, Oxfam, MSD).

The platform is structured as six interconnected products: Community Management System (the core CMS), Cloud Platform (sovereign hosting with Cloudflare integration), Gaia AI (privacy-first AI assistant for moderation, summarization, and search), Engagement Studio (personalized communication workflows), Connection Hub (integrations with Salesforce, Power BI, SSO, and Calendars), and Lumina Insights (analytics with governance-ready reporting). Underlying technology is built on the Drupal open-source framework, which the company has contributed to since 2008, with an open-core distribution available on Drupal.org. The architecture uses Apache Kafka for event-driven real-time processing, GraphQL and Groups APIs for integration, and Collabora Online for document collaboration. In 2025 the company introduced Vision Agents as autonomous moderation assistants.

Open Social operates an enterprise SaaS model with quote-based, multi-year contracts plus professional services for implementation and onboarding. The company sells primarily through a consultative direct field sales motion ('Request a Demo'), with secondary distribution through its open-core Drupal.org listing and implementation partners such as Dropsolid. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, though the company offers a discounted 'cost platform' to organizations displaced by geopolitical shifts in international cooperation.

Name

Open Social

Legal name

Open Social B.V.

Website

https://getopensocial.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Open Social B.V. is a Dutch company that provides a sovereign, Drupal-based Community Collaboration Platform to UN agencies, NGOs, EU institutions, and global movements, offering community management, AI-assisted moderation, analytics, and integrations under a European data-sovereignty model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Collaboration Platform

NAICS

Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Interest-Based Communities & Forums (BPAMABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Hosting & Membership Platforms (MPACAJAF), Enterprise Social & Intranet Platforms (BPAMAMAJ)

Keywords

• Community collaboration platform
• Community management software
• Membership engagement platform
• Online community platform
• Digital sovereignty software

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription: Subscription-based SaaS model providing access to the Community Collaboration Platform with varying tiers of features and support. Open Social offers an open-core model with a feature-limited version available as open source on Drupal.org, while advanced features and add-ons are provided through subscription.
2. Professional Services: Implementation, onboarding, and ongoing consulting services provided alongside the platform to help organizations deploy, customize, and optimize their community platforms.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Open Social provides a sovereign Community Collaboration Platform sold as a B2B SaaS subscription to large global institutions, international organizations, NGOs, and public sector bodies. The platform consists of six interconnected products — Community Management System, Cloud Platform, Gaia AI, Engagement Studio, Connection Hub, and Lumina Insights — augmented by add-ons such as a Document Collaboration Suite, a Customer Data Platform, and Identity Access Management. It is built on Drupal open-source and operates under an open-core model with a free version on Drupal.org and advanced features available via subscription.

Product overview

Open Social offers a Community Collaboration Platform consisting of 6 interconnected products: Community Management System (core platform for building and managing communities), Cloud Platform (infrastructure), Gaia AI (AI assistant for moderation, summarization and search), Engagement Studio (engagement automation), Connection Hub (integrations with CRMs and external tools), and Lumina Insights (analytics and intelligence). The platform is built on an open-core model with core software available as open-source on Drupal.org and advanced features through subscription. Additional offerings include Document Collaboration Suite (real-time document editing via Collabora Online integration), Customer Data Platform, and Identity Access Management. Designed in Europe with focus on data sovereignty and digital autonomy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Community Management System: Enterprise-grade platform for building, managing, and scaling communities with governance, security, and flexible customization.
• Cloud Platform
• Gaia AI
• Engagement Studio
• Connection Hub
• Lumina Insights

Products and services

• Community Collaboration Platform The core unified platform consisting of 6 interconnected products designed to support cross-organisation collaboration for global enterprises, international organizations, and mission-driven institutions. Built in Europe as a digital sovereign solution with enterprise-grade flexibility.
• Community Management System Enterprise-level community management platform for building, managing, and scaling online communities. Provides advanced permission controls, organizational hierarchies, and multi-level community structures for organizations with 1,000 to 100,000+ members.
• Cloud Platform Sovereign cloud hosting infrastructure ensuring robust performance, data protection, and compliance with European standards. Supports single-tenant hosting with ISO 27001 certification and Cloudflare-backed global performance.
• Gaia AI AI-powered assistant supporting content moderation, summarization, advanced search, and relevance scoring. Built-in assistants follow strict European standards for safety and transparency.
• Engagement Studio Engagement automation tool enabling personalized communication flows, predefined campaigns, personalized digest emails, and real-time interaction capabilities to drive participation and retention.
• Connection Hub Integration bridge connecting Open Social with existing CRMs, data warehouses, and automation tools. Turns platforms into fully connected collaboration environments with sync of membership data and engagement metrics.
• Lumina Insights Analytics and intelligence suite designed specifically for community collaboration. Provides real-time dashboards, governance-ready data, and actionable insights to measure engagement, growth, and participation patterns without exposing personal data.
• Document Collaboration Suite Sovereign document collaboration suite allowing members to co-create, edit, and organize documents directly within communities. Integrated with Collabora Online for real-time co-editing, comment threads, versioning, and secure digital signing.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40,000+ members connected across 190 countries on UNDP SparkBlue
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability8 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• CollaboracoreTechnology or IntegrationStrategic partnership with Collabora to integrate Collabora Online document editing capabilities into Open Social's Document Collaboration Suite. This integration enables real-time co-editing, comment threads, nested discussions, and secure digital signing within the Open Social platform. The collaboration supports digital sovereignty and open standards for European organizations.
• Drupal CommunitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive contributor to Drupal open-source ecosystem since 2008. Contributions include patches, documentation, themes, and modules. Core software available as open-source distribution on Drupal.org. Participates in DrupalCon events globally including New Orleans, Seattle, Amsterdam, and Minneapolis.
• CloudflaresupportingTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with Cloudflare for improved performance and security, particularly for users in Asia, Africa, and South America, while reducing carbon footprint through optimized routing.
• DropsolidsupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartnership with Dropsolid for Mautic open-source marketing automation platform integration. Dominique de Cooman, CEO of Dropsolid, presented on leveraging Mautic within the Open Digital Experience Platform at Open Social Summit.
• Apache KafkasupportingTechnology or IntegrationEvent-driven architecture utilizing Apache Kafka for real-time processing and integration, enhancing scalability and fault tolerance across the platform's expanding suite of products.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mighty Networks: Mighty Networks is a community platform combining content, courses, and community with a strong membership focus. It competes with Open Social in the membership/community space, particularly for organizations that monetize or coordinate members at scale.
• Discourse: Discourse is an open-source community discussion platform used by large organizations and open-source communities. It overlaps with Open Social's interest-based community and forum functionality and is often evaluated as an alternative by the same enterprise buyers.
• Hivebrite: Hivebrite is a community and membership platform purpose-built for organizations, associations, and NGOs. It directly competes with Open Social in the membership-based organization and community engagement space, targeting alumni networks, professional associations, and nonprofits with similar SaaS features.
• Higher Logic: Higher Logic is an enterprise community engagement platform serving associations and member-based organizations. It overlaps directly with Open Social's customer segment of associations, federations, and mission-driven enterprises needing tiered access and member engagement.
• Circle: Circle is a modern community platform offering spaces, courses, and engagement tools to creators and B2B brands. While more SMB/creator-leaning, it competes for the same community-platform budget and shares SaaS subscription model and engagement automation features with Open Social.
• Vanilla Forums: Vanilla Forums is an enterprise community forum and customer engagement platform used by brands and associations. It overlaps with Open Social's community CMS and member-engagement features for large organizations with tiered access.

Emerging players

• Thinkific: Thinkific is a platform for courses and member communities, often used by associations and mission-driven organizations for learning programs. It overlaps with Open Social's course/community features for global movements and training-focused deployments.
• Bettermode: Bettermode (formerly Tribe) is a modern community platform targeting product-led and SaaS companies. It overlaps with Open Social in branded community features, customization, and embeddable community widgets, often competing for similar mid-market and enterprise buyers.

Broad incumbents

• Salesforce Experience Cloud: Salesforce Experience Cloud (formerly Communities) is a broad enterprise platform offering branded communities, portals, and engagement tools inside the Salesforce ecosystem. It is the dominant incumbent alternative for large enterprises evaluating community platforms.
• Microsoft Viva Engage: Viva Engage (formerly Yammer) is Microsoft's enterprise social and community platform integrated into Microsoft 365. It competes for the same enterprise collaboration and community budgets but bundles into a much broader productivity suite.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCZHRmJkZ5BJRGnEZm0I5u5w
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/open-social
• Xx.com/opensocialHQ

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Open Social