What P2P Foundation does

P2P Foundation (legally Stichting Peer to Peer Alternatives) is a Netherlands-registered non-profit foundation with ANBI status, founded in 2005 by Michel Bauwens and James Burke and headquartered in Amsterdam. It operates an open knowledge commons dedicated to researching, documenting, and advocating for peer-to-peer (P2P) and Commons-based approaches to social, economic, cultural, and political change. Its core assets are the P2P Foundation Wiki (described as the world's largest database on P2P and Commons initiatives, with over 23,000 content pages), a daily blog, the Commons Transition policy platform and web magazine (launched 2015), the Commons Transition Primer (illustrated educational content), Commons Transition Stories, and the P2PF Library of downloadable reports, all original content licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. The Foundation operates as an 'organized network' rather than a traditional hierarchy, structured since September 2017 around four streams (Vision, Advocacy, Research, Infrastructure), with an advisory board that includes Douglas Rushkoff, David Bollier, Primavera de Filippi, Hilary Wainwright, Janelle Orsi, and Alnoor Ladha.

The Foundation does not sell products or charge for access; its operating model is grant- and donation-funded. Disclosed recurring annual grants are €66,000 from Foundation Charles Léopold Mayer (since 2014) and €120,000 from Holochain (since November 2018), supplemented by project-specific grants from foundations such as Heinrich Böll Foundation and Transnational Institute, government consultation work (City of Ghent Commons Transition Plan, SmartBE), and individual donations accepted via Faircoin, Bitcoin, and PayPal. Its customer base is segmented into four primary audiences: civil society organizations, governments and municipalities, researchers and academics, and individual commoners, served through a community-led, content-driven go-to-market with no traditional sales motion.

As of the data cut, the Foundation is reported active, employs roughly 10 full-time professionals (including the six-person staff at partner research network P2P Lab), and operates with regional presence in France, Greece, and the Netherlands and broader representation across Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, South America, and North America. Integration with the European Commons Assembly (joined 2018) alongside Commons Network, European Alternatives, and Remix the Commons positions it as an integral partner in European commons policy infrastructure rather than a standalone publication.

Name

P2P Foundation

Legal name

Stichting Peer to Peer Alternatives

Website

https://p2pfoundation.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

P2P Foundation is a Netherlands-registered non-profit that maintains the world's largest open wiki on peer-to-peer and Commons initiatives, publishing daily analysis, policy proposals, and illustrated educational materials for civil society organizations, governments, researchers, and commons-oriented communities worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commons Advocacy and Research

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

akta.pro primary industry

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)

Keywords

• Peer-to-peer research
• Commons advocacy
• Knowledge commons
• Commons transition policy
• Collaborative economy research

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Annual Grant - Foundation Charles Léopold Mayer: Beginning in 2014, Foundation Charles Léopold Mayer (FPH) has provided an annual allotment of 66,000€, shared among the core streams (Vision, Advocacy, Research, Infrastructure).
2. Annual Grant - Holochain: Since November 2018, Holochain has provided an additional 120,000 € in annual funding, shared among the streams.
3. Project-Specific Funding: Funding for specific projects such as research reports and dedicated websites including Value in the Commons Economy report and Commons Transition Primer, provided by foundations like Heinrich Böll Foundation and Transnational Institute.
4. Individual Donations: Accepts donations via Faircoin, Bitcoin, and PayPal from their rapidly expanding global network to support ongoing theory, policy, research, and advocacy work.
5. Government Consultation Projects: Directly supported by local or national government projects such as the Commons Transition project for Ghent, Belgium, and consultation projects like SmartBE.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The P2P Foundation researches, documents, and advocates for peer-to-peer and commons-based approaches to societal change through an open knowledge commons. Its core offerings include the P2P Foundation Wiki (the world's largest database on P2P and Commons initiatives with over 23,000 pages), a daily blog, the Commons Transition policy platform, the Commons Transition Primer illustrated educational materials, downloadable research reports, and consultation services for governments and organizations developing commons-oriented transition plans.

Product overview

The P2P Foundation operates a platform-plus-ecosystem model centered on open knowledge commons for peer-to-peer and Commons research, advocacy, and documentation. The core portfolio includes the P2P Foundation Wiki (the world's largest P2P/Commons database), the P2P Foundation Blog (daily news and analysis), the Commons Transition site (policy platform and web magazine), the Commons Transition Primer (illustrated educational materials), Commons Transition Stories (long-form features and interviews), and the P2PF Library (downloadable research reports). Regional spin-offs in France, Greece, and the Netherlands extend the platform to local languages. All original content is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• P2P Foundation Wiki The world's largest database on P2P and Commons initiatives, with over 23,000 content pages and thousands of registered users, updated daily and freely accessible to researchers, activists, policymakers, and commoners worldwide.
• P2P Foundation Blog Daily updates from Commons and P2P initiatives worldwide with multiple authors, featuring curated material, original output, and extensive video and audio resources for the P2P/Commons community.
• Commons Transition Platform Policy proposals platform combined with a web magazine featuring curated stories and interviews, presenting the P2P Foundation's perspective on commons-oriented transition for commoners worldwide.
• Commons Transition Primer Specially commissioned illustrated and infographic content organized into short Q&A articles, in-depth long articles, downloadable PDFs, and multimedia resources that make P2P Foundation ideas on the Commons and P2P accessible to commoners worldwide.
• Commons Transition Stories Highlights original long-narrative features, exclusive interviews, and special reports by members of the P2P Foundation and extended networks for commoners worldwide.
• P2PF Library An open library of diverse downloadable reports including works such as 'P2P Accounting for Planetary Survival', 'Commons Transition Primer', 'Changing Societies Through Urban Commons Transitions', and 'Synthetic Overview of the Collaborative Economy', available for free download.

Quantifiable outcome

• 23,000+ content pages documenting P2P and Commons initiatives globally
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core, minor and supporting.

• European Commons Assembly (ECA)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018P2P Foundation is an integral partner in the emerging policy-oriented association, working alongside Commons Network, European Alternatives, and Remix the Commons to develop long-term sustainability and information management strategies.
• P2P LabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch network led by P2P Lab (based in Greece) that empirically explores and expands theoretical work on commons-oriented peer production, governance and property. Receives funding from Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (IUT 19-13 and B52 grants), Interreg V-B Balkan-Mediterranean programme, and Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliances programme.
• Commons NetworkflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister organization and key partner in European Commons Assembly, collaborating on commons-oriented policy and advocacy work.
• Remix the CommonsflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister organization and key partner in European Commons Assembly collaboration.
• Commons Strategies GroupflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative organization co-founded by Michel Bauwens, Silke Helfrich, and David Bollier that has organized major global conferences on the commons and economics.
• ShareableminorOthersRecommended as essential element of broader P2P/Commons related knowledge commons ecosystem.
• European AlternativesflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in European Commons Assembly collaboration for policy-oriented work.
• City of Ghent, BelgiumflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal government partner for Commons Transition project, with Michel Bauwens finalizing a Commons Transition Plan for the city.
• SmartBEsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsultation project supporting the Vision stream through direct government engagement.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Commons Strategies Group: Co-founded by Michel Bauwens, David Bollier, and Silke Helfrich, the Commons Strategies Group is a closely affiliated peer that organizes major global conferences on the commons and economics, and shares a substantial portion of the P2P Foundation's leadership and intellectual output.
• Commons Network: A Netherlands-based sister organization and co-partner in the European Commons Assembly, focused on commons-oriented policy and advocacy; operates with overlapping mission, geography, and partner network.
• Remix the Commons: A sister organization in the European Commons Assembly collaboration, focused on commons culture, education, and creative re-use; shares the same movement infrastructure and commons-oriented mission as P2P Foundation.
• P2P Lab: Greece-based research network that is P2P Foundation's core empirical research partner; produces peer-reviewed academic work on commons-oriented peer production, governance, and property using its own grant funding (Estonian MoE, Interreg, Erasmus+).
• European Alternatives: Co-partner in the European Commons Assembly, working on citizen-led democracy, rights, and cultural transformation at the European level; overlaps on commons-oriented policy advocacy and transnational network-building.
• Shareable: US-based nonprofit publishing and network organization covering sharing economy, commons, and cooperative solutions; explicitly recommended in the P2P Foundation data as an essential element of the broader P2P/Commons knowledge ecosystem, and serves overlapping audiences.
• Schumacher Center for a New Economics: A non-profit research and education organization focused on alternative economics, local economies, and commons-based models; shares an intellectual lineage with P2P Foundation's work on cooperative and commons-oriented economics.
• Commons Transition Coalition: Operates the Commons Transition website launched in 2015 as a core P2P Foundation product; a closely aligned platform for policy proposals, commons stories, and municipal transition planning — effectively a sub-brand in the same ecosystem.

Emerging players

• Open Knowledge Foundation: Global nonprofit promoting open knowledge, open data, and open government; operates an adjacent mission with overlapping advocacy, open-licensing, and community-led content production models.

Broad incumbents

• Creative Commons: The dominant global organization promoting open licensing (including CC BY-SA 4.0 used by P2P Foundation for all its content); operates at significantly larger scale with broader scope, and is a structural enabler of the P2P Foundation's knowledge commons model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/P2P_Foundation
• Facebookfacebook.com/P2PFoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/p2p-foundation

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 P2P Foundation