Lyrasis
Lyrasis is a global nonprofit founded in 1936 that serves libraries, archives, museums, and research organizations with open-source software platforms, managed hosting, digital content tools, consulting, and professional development services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1936
- HeadquartersAtlanta, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Lyrasis does
Lyrasis is a global nonprofit organization founded in 1936 (through predecessor entities) and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, that serves libraries, archives, museums, and research organizations. Its core portfolio consists of open-source, community-supported software platforms that the organization hosts as their organizational home — notably ArchivesSpace (archives information management), CollectionSpace (museum collections management), DSpace (digital repositories), Fedora (digital preservation), and VIVO (research discovery). Beyond software stewardship, Lyrasis operates the DataCite US Community and the ORCID US Community, supporting research identifier infrastructure. Acquired capabilities include BiblioBoard and The Palace Project (eBook and digital content platforms) and DuraCloud Preserve (managed digital preservation), gained through the 2019 acquisition of DuraSpace and the 2021 acquisition of BiblioLabs.
The business operates on a tiered membership model with recurring membership dues as the primary revenue stream, supplemented by fee-based hosting services for the open-source platforms, professional consulting engagements (digitization, preservation, disaster planning, space planning, grant coaching), and Lyrasis Learning subscriptions for online professional development. The organization runs a fully remote workforce with cloud-based infrastructure, distributes globally without geographic restrictions, and is governed by a Board of Directors with annual external CPA audits. Lyrasis maintains unrestricted assets and does not rely on external grants or restricted funding, providing financial independence unusual for a nonprofit of its kind. Leadership is led by CEO John Wilkin, and the organization continues to invest in community programming, including the Catalyst Fund grant program and open-access initiatives such as the Diamond Mapping Grant and OACIP.
Lyrasis firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lyrasis
- Legal name
- Lyrasis
- Website
- https://lyrasis.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1936
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Lyrasis is a global nonprofit founded in 1936 that serves libraries, archives, museums, and research organizations with open-source software platforms, managed hosting, digital content tools, consulting, and professional development services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lyrasis industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Library and Cultural Heritage Technology Services
- NAICS
- Libraries and Archives (51921), Software Publishers (5132), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital Archives, Libraries & Institutional Access Platforms (MPAJAMAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Learning Experience Platforms (LXP) & Learning Portals (EDAFAAAB), Data Governance Platforms (Policies, Stewardship, Workflows) (HDAEADAB)
Keywords
Where Lyrasis is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Atlanta
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Lyrasis business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Membership Dues: Tiered membership model providing access to programs, services, and community benefits for libraries, archives, museums and research organizations
- Hosting Services: Fee-based hosting services for open source platforms including ArchivesSpace, CollectionSpace, DSpaceDirect, and DuraCloud Preserve
- Professional Services and Consulting: Consulting services including digitization planning, disaster planning, environmental assessment, preservation, space planning, and grant coaching
- Lyrasis Learning: Professional development and training programs for library, archive and museum professionals
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Lyrasis product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lyrasis serves as a global nonprofit membership organization that delivers open source software platforms, cloud-based hosting, professional consulting, and training programs to libraries, archives, museums and research organizations. Its core offerings center on community-supported technologies for archives information management, collections management, digital repositories, long-term digital preservation, and research discovery, alongside fee-based hosting and advisory services.
Product overview
Lyrasis is a global nonprofit that serves as both a technology provider and community organization for libraries, archives, museums and research organizations. The portfolio consists primarily of open-source community-supported software programs including: ArchivesSpace (archives information management), CollectionSpace (collections management), DSpace (digital repositories), Fedora (digital preservation), and VIVO (research discovery). Lyrasis also offers ebook and digital content platforms including BiblioBoard, The Palace Project, and the Indie Author Project. Additional offerings include hosting services, consulting, professional development (Lyrasis Learning), and grant programs (Catalyst Fund). The organization supports scholarly communication initiatives and ORCID and DataCite communities. The company was formed from predecessors dating to 1936 and acquired BiblioLabs in 2021.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- ArchivesSpace: Open source archives information management application for managing and providing access to archives, manuscripts and digital objects.
- CollectionSpace
- DSpace
- BiblioBoard
- Fedora
- DataCite US Community
- Indie Author Project
- Lyrasis Catalyst Fund
- Lyrasis Learning
- ORCID US Community
- The Palace Project
- VIVO
Products and services
- ArchivesSpace Open source archives information management application built for archives by archivists, used by cultural heritage institutions to manage and provide access to archives, manuscripts and digital objects.
- CollectionSpace Web-based, open source collections management software for cultural heritage organizations, museums and related institutions.
- DSpace Open source repository software of choice for academic, nonprofit and commercial organizations building open digital repositories.
- Fedora Flexible, standards-based, open source repository software built to support long-term digital preservation.
- VIVO Open source platform that facilitates discovery of research and scholarship across disciplines at institutions.
- BiblioBoard Library eBook and digital content platform that gives patrons the ability to create and share unique, local content by and for their community.
- The Palace Project Library discovery platform that brings together content from multiple providers in one easy-to-use app for patrons.
- Indie Author Project Program that supports the local author community through every stage of their writing process.
- Lyrasis Learning Professional development solution providing online training focused on practical knowledge and understanding in rapidly evolving technological landscapes, targeted at library, archive and museum professionals.
- Lyrasis Consulting Internationally recognized consulting services for libraries, archives and museums covering digitization, metadata planning, disaster planning, environmental assessment and preservation, preservation loan services, space planning and grant coaching.
- Lyrasis Hosting Services Hosting services for open source platforms serving libraries, archives and museums, including ArchivesSpace Hosting, CollectionSpace Hosting, DSpaceDirect Hosting, and DuraCloud Preserve.
- DataCite US Community National consortium and community of practice hosted by Lyrasis for nonprofit organizations assigning DataCite DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) to their local research and scholarly materials.
- ORCID US Community National consortium and community of practice for nonprofit organizations that are members of ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier), hosted by Lyrasis.
- Lyrasis Research Digital repository operated by Lyrasis for hosting research output.
Companies that use Lyrasis
Customer profileSegments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Lyrasis technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Lyrasis partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- BiblioLabscoreLYRASIS acquired BiblioLabs, a Charleston-based library technology company, transitioning it to a nonprofit model. The acquisition aims to strengthen library eBook services, community engagement tools, and local content creation capabilities for public, academic, and K-12 libraries.
- ArchivesSpace CommunitycoreLyrasis serves as the organizational home for ArchivesSpace, an open source archives information management application built by archivists for archivists.
- CollectionSpace CommunitycoreLyrasis serves as the organizational home for CollectionSpace, web-based open source collections management software for cultural heritage organizations.
- DSpace CommunitycoreLyrasis supports DSpace, the open source repository software of choice for academic, nonprofit and commercial organizations building open digital repositories.
- Fedora CommunitycoreLyrasis supports Fedora, the flexible, standards-based open source repository software built to support long-term digital preservation.
- VIVO CommunitycoreLyrasis supports VIVO, which facilitates discovery of research and scholarship across disciplines at institutions.
- DataCite US CommunitycoreLyrasis hosts the DataCite US Community, a national consortium and community of practice for nonprofit organizations assigning DataCite DOIs to their local research and scholarly materials.
- ORCID US CommunitycoreLyrasis hosts the ORCID US Community, a national consortium for nonprofit organizations that are members of ORCID (Open Researcher & Contributor Identifier).
- Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC)minorLyrasis participates in and leads the Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications, supporting underrepresented populations in the information landscape.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Lyrasis competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- OCLC: Global library cooperative providing shared cataloging, metadata, resource sharing, and library management services. Closely comparable membership-based nonprofit model serving academic and public libraries with technology infrastructure analogous to Lyrasis.
- Internet Archive: Nonprofit digital library offering preservation, archiving, and access services for cultural and research materials. Comparable mission around equitable access and large-scale digital preservation, though with a different funding and operational model.
- HathiTrust: Not-for-profit collaborative of academic and research libraries providing digital preservation and access services for digitized collections. Directly comparable nonprofit consortium model focused on long-term preservation and shared access infrastructure.
- Crossref: Not-for-profit organization operating DOI registration and metadata services for scholarly publishing. Highly analogous to Lyrasis's role hosting the DataCite US Community — a research-persistent-identifier infrastructure nonprofit.
- Index Data: Company developing open source library software (Yaz, Metaproxy, Folio) used by libraries and consortia. Comparable open source library infrastructure focus, particularly competing in the discovery and metadata layer adjacent to Lyrasis's VIVO.
- Center for Research Libraries: Consortium of academic and research libraries providing shared collections, preservation, and access services. Comparable nonprofit, membership-based model serving research libraries with shared infrastructure and preservation capabilities.
Broad incumbents
- Ex Libris (Clarivate): Major commercial vendor of library management systems (Alma), discovery (Primo), and repository (Esploro) platforms serving academic and research libraries. Competes head-to-head with Lyrasis's DSpace, Fedora, and VIVO offerings but from a proprietary, commercial-incumbent position.
- Axiell Group: Commercial vendor of library, archive, and museum software (including the former Bibliotheca and TMS products). Competes with Lyrasis's CollectionSpace, ArchivesSpace hosting, and library/archives management offerings.
Regional players
- California Digital Library: University of California-affiliated digital library providing shared services, repositories, and preservation for UC campuses. Comparable digital repository and preservation services but operating primarily within a single regional system rather than a national/global membership.
- Open Library of Humanities: Library-supported nonprofit publishing platform providing diamond open access journals. Comparable library-led nonprofit infrastructure model for scholarly communication, though operating primarily in the UK/EU rather than globally.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Lyrasis social profiles
Digital presenceLyrasis financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lyrasis leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Lyrasis subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Lyrasis funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lyrasis M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A2 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Lyrasis
What does Lyrasis do?
Lyrasis serves as a global nonprofit membership organization that delivers open source software platforms, cloud-based hosting, professional consulting, and training programs to libraries, archives, museums and research organizations. Its core offerings center on community-supported technologies for archives information management, collections management, digital repositories, long-term digital preservation, and research discovery, alongside fee-based hosting and advisory services.
Is Lyrasis a public or private company?
Lyrasis is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Lyrasis founded?
Lyrasis was founded in 1936. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Lyrasis based?
Lyrasis is headquartered in Atlanta, United States, in the North America region.
How does Lyrasis make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Membership Dues are the primary driver. The others are hosting Services, professional Services and Consulting and lyrasis Learning.
Who are Lyrasis's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are OCLC, Internet Archive, HathiTrust, Crossref, Index Data and Center for Research Libraries. Broad incumbents are Ex Libris (Clarivate) and Axiell Group. Regional players are California Digital Library and Open Library of Humanities.
Does Lyrasis have an API?
No public API is recorded for Lyrasis.
What industry is Lyrasis in?
Lyrasis's product category is Library and Cultural Heritage Technology Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAMAJ, Digital Archives, Libraries & Institutional Access Platforms, with a secondary code of EDAFAAAB, Learning Experience Platforms (LXP) & Learning Portals. Its NAICS code is 51921 and its SIC code is 8600.