Altum

What Altum does

Altum, Inc. is a privately-held SaaS company headquartered in Reston, Virginia that provides cloud-based grants management and analytics software to research funding organizations worldwide. Founded in 1997 as Custom Software Service, LLC and renamed Altum in 2000 (Latin for 'to nourish' and 'to grow'), the company built an early presence through web-based scientific coding systems for the NIH and consolidated its position through acquisitions of Easygrants (2006), Proposal Central (2007), and PhilanTrack (2014). Its flagship platform, ProposalCentral, is a multi-tenant cloud SaaS system that connects research funders, researchers, and institutions across the full grant lifecycle, from application intake, automated workflow assignment, and peer review through award disbursement and post-award outcome tracking. The product suite has been expanded with Altum Insights (network visualization and search across the research lifecycle), Altum Analytics (Qlik-powered reporting dashboards with benchmarking), and Altum Intelligence (an AI-powered research assistant launched September 2025 with chatbot, tone analysis, and overlap detection capabilities).

The platform is deeply integrated with the open-science infrastructure stack: it was the first ORCID-certified platform for funders (2020), was among only four US Crossref sponsoring organizations (joined November 2020), and natively supports Crossref Grant DOIs, ROR, and DataCite persistent identifiers. By 2025, ProposalCentral connected 1M+ researchers and 50,000+ institutions across six continents, processed 1.3M+ research applications, and facilitated $38B+ in funded grants through 280+ funder customers. Long-tenured customer logos include the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Susan G. Komen Foundation, ALS Association, Alzheimer's Association, Parkinson's Foundation, PhRMA Foundation, Trinity College Dublin, and the Welch Foundation.

Altum operates an enterprise direct-sales motion with no public pricing, quote-based annual subscriptions, and a complementary self-serve PLG motion via free researcher accounts. Revenue is generated primarily through subscription licensing of ProposalCentral (standard and Plus tiers), with complementary professional services for onboarding, data migration, training, and ERP integration, and additional subscription revenue from Insights, Analytics, and Intelligence add-ons. The company also runs an annual Funder Forum conference in Reston, VA and is a founding member of the NISO Peer Review Taxonomy Working Group.

Name

Altum

Legal name

Altum, Inc.

Website

https://altum.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Altum offers cloud-based SaaS grants management and analytics software for research funders, connecting 280+ funding organizations with 1M+ researchers and 50,000+ institutions globally via its ProposalCentral platform with ORCID, Crossref, and AI integrations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Grants Management Software

NAICS

Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Electronic Data Capture (EDC) Platforms (HLACAOAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Learning Data Infrastructure & Interoperability (LRS, xAPI/LTI/OneRoster, Data Pipelines) (EDAFAFAJ)

Keywords

• Grants management software
• Research funding platform
• Grant lifecycle management
• Research analytics software
• Cloud grants administration

Headquarters

HQ city

Reston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. ProposalCentral Subscriptions: Altum generates revenue primarily through annual subscription licensing of its cloud-based grants management platform. Subscriptions are sold to research funders (foundations, nonprofits, government agencies) at an organizational level. Support and training are included in the subscription. ProposalCentral Plus premium tier provides additional capabilities at a higher price point.
2. Professional Services & Onboarding: Altum provides onboarding, data migration, training, and custom integration services included with or complementary to subscriptions. Services include program set-up, historical grant data migration, virtual team training, and custom back-office ERP integrations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Altum provides a cloud-based SaaS platform, led by its flagship ProposalCentral product, that streamlines the entire research grant lifecycle — from application intake and peer review to award management, outcome tracking, and impact reporting. The suite serves research funders (foundations, nonprofits, government agencies), researchers, and research institutions with configurable workflows, automated assignments, and native integrations with ORCID, Crossref, ROR, and DataCite, complemented by Altum Insights (search and visualization), Altum Analytics (reporting dashboards), and Altum Intelligence (AI-powered assistant).

Product overview

Altum offers a unified cloud-based platform for research grant management, centered on the ProposalCentral suite with integrated analytics and AI-powered modules. The core product is ProposalCentral, which serves three user segments: Funders (managing grant programs), Researchers (applying for funding), and Institutions (managing applications). ProposalCentral is offered in standard and Plus (premium) tiers. Adjacent modules include Altum Insights (search/discovery with network visualization), Altum Analytics (reporting dashboards), and Altum Intelligence (AI-powered assistant). The product integrates natively with ORCID, Crossref, ROR, and DataCite for persistent identifier support. The platform connects hundreds of funding organizations with over 1 million researchers across 50,000+ institutions, facilitating $35+ billion in funded grants. The product is designed for open science, supporting grant DOI registration and outcome tracking through Crossref integration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ProposalCentral: Cloud-based grants management platform for research funders, researchers, and institutions.
• Altum Insights
• Altum Analytics
• Altum Intelligence

Products and services

• ProposalCentral Altum's flagship cloud-based grants management platform that streamlines the entire grants process from application to award, connecting funders, researchers, and institutions on a unified suite with configurable workflows, automated assignments, payment scheduling, and built-in error checking.
• Altum Insights Deep text search and visualization tool that reveals connections and impact of grants and awardees across the entire research lifecycle through interactive network visualization, with AI-powered trend analysis and sub-second queries on millions of data points.
• Altum Analytics Cloud-hosted reporting and data analytics platform with predefined dashboards for program financials, grantee career impact, operational performance, institutions and IP, and diversity, with benchmarking against peer organizations.
• Altum Intelligence AI-powered research assistant integrated into the Altum Suite that combines conversational AI with curated ProposalCentral data; includes AI Chatbot for system guidance, Tone Meter for analyzing reviewer comment quality, and Overlap Check for detecting duplicate proposals.

Quantifiable outcome

• $38 billion+ in grants funded through the platform
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers33 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability8 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• QlikcoreTechnology or Integration · 15 April 2026Altum Analytics is powered by Qlik, enabling advanced analytics and reporting for research funders. This partnership was recognized with Altum winning the Global Impact Award at Qlik Connect 2026. The partnership enables Altum to deliver sub-second query response times and visualization across every device, supporting over 250 research funding organizations.
• CrossrefcoreTechnology or Integration · 23 November 2020Altum joined Crossref as a sponsoring partner in November 2020, enabling funding organizations to connect grants and grantees with published outputs via Grant DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers). This integration allows funders to track the reach and return of their grant-making efforts. Altum is one of only four Crossref sponsoring organizations in the United States. The Crossref Grant Linking System integration was fully built into ProposalCentral by 2021.
• ORCIDcoreTechnology or Integration · 3 June 2020Altum's ProposalCentral became the first ORCID-certified platform for funders in June 2020. ORCID integration allows researchers to sign in via ORCID ID, automatically syncs award records back to researcher profiles, and enables funders to track awardee career progression. In 2017, Altum was selected as the Health Research Alliance ORCID Consortium Technical Lead, providing outreach and technical support per ORCID's Collect and Connect guidelines. 80% of applicants on ProposalCentral use an ORCID ID.
• DataCitesupportingTechnology or IntegrationAltum integrates with DataCite as part of its open science infrastructure, supporting persistent identifiers for research data alongside ORCID and Crossref integrations.
• ROR (Research Organizations Registry)supportingTechnology or IntegrationAltum's ProposalCentral includes native integration with ROR, enabling accurate identification of research institutions and supporting open infrastructure for research funding.
• OniXsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerOniX and Altum announced a partnership to accelerate research, combining their respective capabilities to deliver enhanced solutions for research funding organizations.
• EnagosupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAltum announced a collaboration with Enago to support research grant applications, helping researchers improve the quality and competitiveness of their funding proposals.
• NISO (National Information Standards Organization)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAltum is a founding member of the NISO Peer Review Taxonomy Working Group, which is developing a formal ANSI/NISO standard for peer review taxonomy (version 3.0). Altum participates alongside STM and other industry leaders to formalize standards for communicating peer review processes.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Fluxx: Fluxx is a cloud-based grants management platform built for foundations and nonprofits. It is the most direct competitor to Altum's ProposalCentral, serving similar foundation and nonprofit customers with workflow automation, application management, and reporting. Fluxx emphasizes configurability and integrates with CRM and ERP systems much like Altum.
• Foundant Technologies: Foundant provides grants management software for community foundations, scholarship providers, and nonprofits. It directly competes with Altum in the nonprofit and community foundation segment with similar application lifecycle management and reporting capabilities.
• SmartSimple: SmartSimple is a cloud-based grants management platform serving government agencies, foundations, and corporations. It directly competes with Altum's ProposalCentral and Easygrants offering workflow automation, review management, and award tracking for grant-making organizations.
• Submittable: Submittable is an application management platform used by funders, publishers, and organizations to manage submissions and awards. It serves many of the same nonprofit foundation and corporate social responsibility customers as Altum, with workflow management and review tools for grants and scholarships.
• Good Grants: Good Grants is a grants management platform designed for funders managing application, review, and award processes. It competes with Altum in the foundation and corporate giving segments with similar workflow automation and applicant experience focus.
• GivingData: GivingData provides grants management software specifically for family foundations and private foundations. It competes with Altum in the foundation segment with workflow, payment, and reporting capabilities for grant-making operations.
• WizeHive: WizeHive is an application management platform supporting scholarships, grants, and awards programs. It directly competes with Altum's ProposalCentral serving educational institutions, foundations, and associations with customizable application workflows.
• OpenWater: OpenWater is an application and review platform used for awards, scholarships, and grants management. It competes with Altum serving associations, foundations, and government agencies managing submission and judging workflows.

Broad incumbents

• SurveyMonkey Apply: SurveyMonkey Apply (formerly FluidReview) is part of the larger SurveyMonkey Momentive suite. It competes with Altum in the application and review management space with broader enterprise survey and feedback capabilities, serving grants, awards, and admissions programs.
• Benevity: Benevity is a corporate social responsibility and grants management platform serving large enterprises for employee giving, volunteer, and grant-making programs. It competes with Altum in the corporate grant-making segment with broader CSR, employee engagement, and nonprofit management capabilities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/altum-inc.
• Xx.com/altuminc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A1 record

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Altum