Bluesquare
Bluesquare is a Belgian data technology company serving Ministries of Health and global development organizations across 30+ countries. It builds open-source health platforms (IASO, OpenHEXA), provides managed DHIS2 hosting, and delivers data integration and analytics for public health programs.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersBrussels, Belgium
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Bluesquare does
Bluesquare SA is a Belgian data technology company founded in 2012 that builds and operates open-source health information platforms for Ministries of Health and global development organizations across more than 30 countries, with operational presence in 18 countries and offices in Brussels, Bujumbura, Kinshasa, and Dakar. The company's portfolio centers on two proprietary products: IASO, a geo-powered data collection and microplanning platform for field health interventions, and OpenHEXA, an open-source collaborative data integration and analysis platform for public health that includes a natural-language AI assistant for pipeline creation. Bluesquare complements these products with managed hosting and expertise for third-party open-source platforms — primarily DHIS2 (the dominant global health information system), Apache Superset for visualization, and the DHIS2 Suite (Hesabu, DataViz, D2D, Feedback Loop) — plus a set of domain-specific data products (Microplan, Sub-National Tailoring, Epimaps, GAPS, Health Services Accessibility) targeting immunization campaigns, malaria programs, and maternal health.
The underlying technology stack combines geospatial data collection with structured health data modeling and AI-driven analytics applied to survey data, GPS coordinates, and aggregated health facility records. Customers include UN agencies (UNICEF, WFP, WHO), bilateral development agencies (Enabel, GIZ), major philanthropies (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gavi), international NGOs (PATH, JSI, Palladium, Clinton Health Access Initiative), the World Bank, and Ministries of Health. Bluesquare is a formal DHIS2 Technical Partner and maintains a domain-specific practice organization covering One Health Surveillance, Malaria, RMNCAH, Immunization, Neglected Tropical Diseases, Precision Public Health, Health Financing, and Supply Chain.
Bluesquare's commercial model combines recurring SaaS subscriptions for hosted environments (IASO, OpenHEXA, DHIS2, Apache Superset) with on-premise deployment subscriptions, managed DHIS2 hosting, and tiered Service Packs of prepaid expert time (15, 35, 80, and 150 hours) for configuration, integration, training, and technical assistance. Pricing is quote-based rather than publicly disclosed, with monthly or annual billing cadences and SLA targets of 99% uptime and 0.5–2 business-day response times. The company sells primarily through direct enterprise engagement with ministries and institutional partners, supplemented by technical partnerships and conference presence (notably the DHIS2 Annual Conference). The company employs nearly 100 people across technical, operational, and country-management roles, with no disclosed external venture capital or private equity ownership and founder-led governance under CEO Nicolas de Borman.
Bluesquare firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Bluesquare
- Legal name
- Blue Square SA
- Website
- https://bluesquarehub.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Bluesquare is a Belgian data technology company serving Ministries of Health and global development organizations across 30+ countries. It builds open-source health platforms (IASO, OpenHEXA), provides managed DHIS2 hosting, and delivers data integration and analytics for public health programs.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Bluesquare industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Health Information Systems Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital Health, Health Information Systems & Data Programs (BPADAIAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Data, Surveillance & Digital Public Goods Partnerships for Global Health (HLAJAOAN)
Keywords
Where Bluesquare is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Brussels
- HQ country
- Belgium
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices4 records
Markets served
Bluesquare business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscriptions: Monthly or annual paid subscriptions granting access to Bluesquare-managed hosted environments for IASO, OpenHEXA, DHIS2 hosting, and Apache Superset. Subscriptions renew automatically unless otherwise specified.
- On-Premise Hosting: Installation and maintenance of Bluesquare solutions on customer-owned infrastructure, including DHIS2, IASO, OpenHEXA, Apache Superset, and the DHIS2 Suite (Hesabu, DataViz, D2D, Feedback Loop).
- Service Packs: Prepaid packages of expert time for configuration, integration, training, hosting maintenance, and other professional services across Bluesquare products. Available in tiers: 15, 35, 80, and 150 hours.
- DHIS2 Hosting: Secure cloud hosting and maintenance services for DHIS2 instances, including technical support and SLA.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Subscription-based SaaS and hosting services |
| Subscription | Annual | On-premise deployment and support |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Service Packs (15, 35, 80, 150 hours) |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Bluesquare product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Bluesquare develops and sells proprietary open-source health data software — IASO for geo-powered field data collection and microplanning, and OpenHEXA for collaborative data integration and analysis — and operates managed cloud and on-premise hosting for DHIS2 and Apache Superset health information platforms. The company sells subscriptions, on-premise deployments, and prepaid Service Packs of expert services to governments, international development organizations, and NGOs working in global health.
Product overview
Bluesquare is a data technology company offering a portfolio of proprietary software products, hosted third-party platforms, and professional services focused on global health and development. The core proprietary products are IASO (geo-powered data collection and microplanning) and OpenHEXA (open-source collaborative data integration and analysis platform). Bluesquare also provides managed hosting and expertise for third-party open-source platforms including DHIS2 (health information system), Apache Superset (data visualization), and related tools. The offering is structured as a platform-plus-services model: customers can subscribe to Bluesquare-hosted SaaS environments, purchase on-premise deployments, or engage professional services through Service Packs. Data products such as Microplan, Sub-National Tailoring (SNT), Epimaps, GAPS, and Health Services Accessibility are built atop these platforms to address specific public health use cases (microplanning, campaign digitalization, accessibility analysis). The company also provides complementary services including system analysis and design, data collection tool development, data integration, data modeling and AI, data visualization, hosting and data warehousing, software development, training, and technical assistance.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- IASO Geo-powered data collection and microplanning platform for field health interventions; enables organizations to collect structured survey data with GPS coordinates, manage geospatial boundaries, and perform microplanning for health campaigns.
- OpenHEXA Open-source, collaborative data integration and analysis platform for public health; enables data pipeline creation (including AI-assisted pipeline generation), data harmonization across sources, and analytical workflows for health programmes.
- DHIS2 Hosting & Expertise Secure cloud hosting and maintenance services for DHIS2 (District Health Information Software 2) instances, including deployment, configuration, integration, and technical support with SLA.
- Apache Superset Hosting & Expertise Hosting and expertise for Apache Superset, an open-source data visualization and business intelligence platform, providing interactive dashboards and data exploration for health data analysis.
- Service Packs Prepaid packages of expert time for configuration, integration, training, hosting maintenance, and other professional services across Bluesquare products; available in 15, 35, 80, and 150 hour tiers with expedited Urgent Workload timelines.
- On-Premise Hosting Installation and maintenance of Bluesquare solutions (DHIS2, IASO, OpenHEXA, Apache Superset) on customer-owned infrastructure, including planning, server hardening, application deployment, security assessment, backup configuration, data migration, DR planning, monthly automated health checks, and optional S3 off-site cloud backup.
- Bluesquare Console Centralized management interface that provides a unified entry point for accessing and managing Bluesquare products and subscriptions.
- Microplan Data product for health campaign microplanning that enables organizations to define target populations, allocate resources, and plan delivery strategies for immunization campaigns, malaria interventions, and other health programmes using geographic and demographic data.
- Sub-National Tailoring (SNT) Data product that enables targeted health interventions by tailoring programme strategies to specific geographic areas based on epidemiological data, coverage gaps, and socioeconomic factors.
- Epimaps Data product providing epidemiological mapping capabilities for visualizing disease patterns, outbreak distributions, and health intervention coverage across geographic regions.
- GAPS Data product focused on identifying and analysing coverage gaps in health programmes; helps organizations visualize underserved areas and prioritize interventions.
- Health Services Accessibility Data product that maps and analyses geographic access to health facilities, enabling assessment of service reach and identification of underserved populations.
Quantifiable outcome
- Real-time data intelligence for disease outbreak response (e.g., Ebola Bundibugyo response with PHEIC declaration)
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Bluesquare
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Bluesquare technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability5 records
Feature4 records
Bluesquare partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- DHIS2coreBluesquare is a Technical Partner of DHIS2, participating in the Tech Partner Bazaar at the DHIS2 Annual Conference. They provide hosting, maintenance, and integration services for DHIS2 instances, including the DHIS2 Suite (Hesabu, DataViz, D2D, Feedback Loop). The partnership involves lightning talks on OpenHEXA and active collaboration in the DHIS2 ecosystem.
- Institute of Tropical Medicine AntwerpminorBluesquare participated in the Urban Birth Collective Forum at ITM Antwerp, presenting RMNCAH work alongside maternal health experts, urban planners, social scientists, and policymakers to discuss urban health systems.
- Urban Birth CollectiveminorBluesquare team members Sihem Attalah and Yann Forget presented work on mapping geographic access to maternal health services in Benin and Senegal, modeling women's vulnerability profiles, and tracking key RMNCAH indicators at national, regional, and district levels in Côte d'Ivoire and Niger.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Bluesquare competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Palladium International: Palladium is a large international development consultancy and existing Bluesquare partner that delivers health system strengthening and M&E programs at scale, including digital health components competing for similar ministerial work.
- IQVIA: IQVIA operates global health data, analytics, and real-world evidence platforms used by donors and ministries; while at a much larger scale, it competes for high-value digital health analytics work that Bluesquare also targets.
- John Snow, Inc. (JSI): JSI is a global public health consulting firm operating across immunization, supply chain, and health information systems - frequently a prime contractor or sub on the same donor-funded health data programs Bluesquare supports.
- Esri: Esri's ArcGIS platform is the dominant GIS layer underneath many ministry-of-health microplanning and georegistry workflows, competing with Bluesquare's IASO georegistry and Health Services Accessibility offerings.
Emerging players
- Thoughtworks: Thoughtworks is a global technology consultancy with a dedicated social impact practice that builds custom digital health and development software for INGOs and governments, increasingly overlapping with Bluesquare's custom work.
Others
- Open Data Kit (ODK): ODK is an open-source data collection ecosystem widely used by NGOs and ministries alongside DHIS2, representing an adjacent open-source technology stack that potential customers may choose instead of Bluesquare's IASO.
Direct peers
- BAO Systems: BAO Systems is a fellow DHIS2 Technical Partner and one of the closest direct competitors to Bluesquare, offering DHIS2 implementation, hosting, and integration services to ministries of health and NGOs globally.
- Ona: Ona (formerly Onadata) builds open-source data collection and management tooling (ODK ecosystem successors) used by global development organizations, overlapping with Bluesquare's IASO geo-data collection positioning.
- Dimagi: Dimagi builds CommCare, a leading open-source mHealth data collection platform used by NGOs and ministries of health across LMICs - targeting the same frontline health data collection use case as Bluesquare's IASO.
- Akros Global Health: Akros is a global health implementation firm with deep DHIS2 expertise and country presence in Southern Africa, frequently bidding on the same ministry-of-health and donor RFPs as Bluesquare.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Bluesquare social profiles
Digital presenceBluesquare financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Bluesquare leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Bluesquare funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Bluesquare M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Bluesquare
What does Bluesquare do?
Bluesquare develops and sells proprietary open-source health data software — IASO for geo-powered field data collection and microplanning, and OpenHEXA for collaborative data integration and analysis — and operates managed cloud and on-premise hosting for DHIS2 and Apache Superset health information platforms. The company sells subscriptions, on-premise deployments, and prepaid Service Packs of expert services to governments, international development organizations, and NGOs working in global health.
Is Bluesquare a public or private company?
Bluesquare is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Bluesquare founded?
Bluesquare was founded in 2012. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Bluesquare based?
Bluesquare is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, in the Europe region.
How does Bluesquare make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. SaaS Subscriptions are the primary driver. The others are on-Premise Hosting, service Packs and DHIS2 Hosting.
Who are Bluesquare's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Palladium International, IQVIA, John Snow, Inc. (JSI) and Esri. Thoughtworks is listed as an emerging player. Open Data Kit (ODK) is listed as an others. Direct peers are BAO Systems, Ona, Dimagi and Akros Global Health.
Does Bluesquare have an API?
No public API is recorded for Bluesquare.
What industry is Bluesquare in?
Bluesquare's product category is Health Information Systems Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPADAIAJ, Digital Health, Health Information Systems & Data Programs, with a secondary code of HLAJAOAN, Data, Surveillance & Digital Public Goods Partnerships for Global Health. Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7371.