URISA's GISCorps
URISA's GISCorps is a non-profit founded in 2003 that mobilizes volunteer GIS professionals to provide pro-bono geospatial support to under-resourced organizations and communities worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersDes Plaines, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What URISA's GISCorps does
URISA's GISCorps is a non-profit organization founded in 2003 and headquartered in Des Plaines, Illinois, that mobilizes volunteer GIS (Geographic Information Systems) professionals to provide pro-bono geospatial support to under-resourced organizations and communities. Operating with a small team of 1-10 employees under the broader URISA (Urban and Regional Information Systems Association) umbrella, the program acts as an intermediary that matches skilled GIS volunteers with humanitarian, community-development, and disaster-response projects where paid geospatial capacity is otherwise unavailable.
The organization does not operate a commercial product or paid service; its "revenue model" is volunteer labor deployed against mission-driven requests rather than a priced offering. Because of this, there is no disclosed pricing, no disclosed revenue, no funding-round history, no parent-company structure beyond the URISA affiliation, and no proprietary technology stack documented in the source material. The public-facing website (giscorps.org) was not retrievable in a substantive form during data collection, so details on active projects, beneficiary roster, technology platforms used (e.g., Esri ArcGIS, open-source QGIS), or volunteer headcount are not available in this data set.
Strategic posture is therefore best characterized as a mission-driven volunteer clearinghouse rather than a growth-stage venture. The single documented leader is founder Shoreh Elhami. For PE/VC/M&A framing, the entity is not an investable commercial target; it is a program vehicle whose strategic value lies in brand association with URISA and its pipeline of credentialed GIS volunteers, not in revenue capture or scalable technology.
URISA's GISCorps firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- URISA's GISCorps
- Website
- https://giscorps.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- URISA's GISCorps is a non-profit founded in 2003 that mobilizes volunteer GIS professionals to provide pro-bono geospatial support to under-resourced organizations and communities worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
URISA's GISCorps industry classification
Industry- Product category
- GIS Volunteer Services
- NAICS
- Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (541370), Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (54137)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- GIS & Spatial Data Management Platforms (BPAMANAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Geospatial Data Management & Enterprise GIS (Geodatabases, Web GIS, Spatial Analytics) (EUAHAKAC), Disaster Response & Search and Rescue (SAR) (BPADADAA)
Keywords
Where URISA's GISCorps is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Des Plaines
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
URISA's GISCorps business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
URISA's GISCorps product offering
Product offeringCore offering
URISA's GISCorps is a volunteer-based initiative that provides Geographic Information Systems (GIS) support to organizations and communities in need. The program mobilizes skilled GIS professionals to deliver pro bono geospatial services for humanitarian, environmental, and community development projects worldwide.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Volunteer GIS Support Program
URISA's GISCorps technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
URISA's GISCorps partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves1 record
URISA's GISCorps competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- MapAction: MapAction is a non-profit that deploys volunteer GIS experts to support humanitarian relief operations and disaster response worldwide. It is the closest direct peer to GISCorps in mission, volunteer-driven model, and humanitarian GIS support scope.
- Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT): HOT coordinates a global volunteer community to create open geospatial data for humanitarian response and sustainable development. It directly overlaps with GISCorps in mobilizing volunteer mappers to support communities and NGOs in need.
Broad incumbents
- Esri: Esri is the dominant commercial GIS software provider whose ArcGIS platform underpins much of the volunteer GIS community, including URISA-affiliated practitioners. It is the broad incumbent whose tooling ecosystem GISCorps' volunteers rely on.
- Mapbox: Mapbox is a major commercial mapping and location platform used widely across humanitarian, civic, and development applications. It is an incumbent platform provider whose tools are increasingly used by volunteer and NGO mapping communities.
- Maxar Technologies: Maxar provides high-resolution satellite imagery and geospatial intelligence widely used in disaster response and humanitarian mapping. It supplies upstream earth-observation data that organizations like GISCorps leverage for community support work.
- Trimble: Trimble provides a broad portfolio of geospatial, surveying, and mapping hardware and software used across infrastructure, environment, and public-sector applications. It is a broad incumbent in the wider geospatial ecosystem that GISCorps operates within.
Emerging players
- Development Seed: Development Seed applies geospatial technology to international development and humanitarian challenges, building data infrastructure and analysis pipelines for NGOs and governments. It overlaps with GISCorps in the humanitarian and development GIS domain but operates as a commercial consultancy.
- Carto: Carto provides a cloud-native geospatial analytics platform used by organizations for spatial analysis and visualization, including in humanitarian and development contexts. It overlaps with the broader GIS tooling stack that GISCorps volunteers operate within.
- Planet Labs: Planet Labs operates a high-cadence earth observation satellite constellation whose imagery is routinely used by humanitarian and development GIS teams. It is an emerging data provider feeding the same geospatial workflows that GISCorps supports.
Others
- QGIS Project: QGIS is the leading open-source desktop GIS project, widely adopted by volunteer and humanitarian mapping communities. It is an enabling ecosystem participant whose tooling GISCorps' volunteer community commonly relies on.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat2 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights4 records
Customer concentration
URISA's GISCorps social profiles
Digital presenceURISA's GISCorps financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
URISA's GISCorps leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
URISA's GISCorps funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
URISA's GISCorps 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 URISA's GISCorps
What does URISA's GISCorps do?
URISA's GISCorps is a volunteer-based initiative that provides Geographic Information Systems (GIS) support to organizations and communities in need. The program mobilizes skilled GIS professionals to deliver pro bono geospatial services for humanitarian, environmental, and community development projects worldwide.
When was URISA's GISCorps founded?
URISA's GISCorps was founded in 2003. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is URISA's GISCorps based?
URISA's GISCorps is headquartered in Des Plaines, United States, in the North America region.
Who are URISA's GISCorps's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are MapAction and Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT). Broad incumbents are Esri, Mapbox, Maxar Technologies and Trimble. Emerging players are Development Seed, Carto and Planet Labs. QGIS Project is listed as an others.
Does URISA's GISCorps have an API?
No public API is recorded for URISA's GISCorps.
What industry is URISA's GISCorps in?
URISA's GISCorps's product category is GIS Volunteer Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMANAK, GIS & Spatial Data Management Platforms, with a secondary code of EUAHAKAC, Geospatial Data Management & Enterprise GIS (Geodatabases, Web GIS, Spatial Analytics). Its NAICS code is 541370 and its SIC code is 8600.