Cadasta Foundation
Cadasta Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that builds the cloud-based Cadasta Platform on Esri ArcGIS to help communities, NGOs, and governments in 50+ countries document and secure land and resource rights.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Cadasta Foundation does
Cadasta Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit founded in 2015 that develops technology and training to document, store, and share land and resource rights for communities, NGOs, and governments in the developing world. Its flagship product, the Cadasta Platform, is a cloud-based GIS system built on Esri ArcGIS Online infrastructure and integrates with mobile data collection tools including Survey123, ArcGIS Collector, ODK Collect, and GeoODK, providing offline-capable workflows, role-based project spaces, real-time dashboards, and Story Maps for advocacy output. The organization emphasizes data sovereignty aligned with UNDRIP, FPIC, CARE Principles, and GDPR, and works in more than 50 countries through partnerships with Indigenous communities, civil society organizations, ministries of land, and multilaterals. As of mid-2026 it operates as a member of the Corus International family of organizations.
The business model is grant-funded: Cadasta provides the platform, training, and technical support to qualifying partners at no cost under multi-year contracts, with revenue drawn primarily from international donors, philanthropic foundations, and bilateral agencies including the World Bank, USAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IFAD, and Oxfam. Post-project sustainability support packages (recurring accounts, storage credits, and technical hours) and paid advisory services — including co-designing data collection instruments and building monitoring dashboards for governments — represent an emerging supplemental revenue stream. The organization is governed as a Delaware-incorporated nonprofit, has a Charity Navigator 4-star/100% score, and has received Esri's Special Achievement in GIS Award (2021) and Sustainable Development Award (2022).
Cadasta Foundation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cadasta Foundation
- Legal name
- Cadasta Foundation
- Website
- https://cadasta.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Cadasta Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that builds the cloud-based Cadasta Platform on Esri ArcGIS to help communities, NGOs, and governments in 50+ countries document and secure land and resource rights.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cadasta Foundation industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Land Rights Documentation Software
- NAICS
- Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (541370), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Land Administration & Cadastral Services (Public Land Records, Parcel Management) (BPAIANAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Mapping & Basemap Platforms (Tiles/SDKs) (BPAMANAB), Donor Coordination, Monitoring & Evaluation (MEL) Programs (BPADABAN)
Keywords
Where Cadasta Foundation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Cadasta Foundation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Grants and Donations: As a nonprofit organization, Cadasta Foundation operates primarily through grants from international donors, philanthropic foundations, and individual donations. Revenue supports technology development, training programs, and partnership services to advance land rights documentation globally.
- Professional Services: Cadasta provides advisory services, training, and technical support to partners. Services include co-designing data collection tools, building monitoring dashboards, and supporting governments to digitize land registries.
- Partner Support Packages: After project completion, Cadasta offers continued platform access through support packages including accounts, credits, storage, and technical assistance hours for sustainable ongoing use.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Multi-year contract | Free access for community and government partners |
| Subscription | Annual | Post-project sustainability packages |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels9 records
Cadasta Foundation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cadasta Foundation provides a cloud-based GIS platform and associated advisory and training services that enable communities, NGOs, and governments to document, map, store, manage, and share land and resource rights information. The offering combines offline-ready mobile data collection tools, real-time dashboards, Story Maps, and a data sovereignty framework aligned with UNDRIP, FPIC, CARE Principles, and GDPR, delivered alongside professional services and post-project support packages.
Product overview
Cadasta Foundation offers a unified platform for land and resource rights documentation, centered on the Cadasta Platform (formerly Cadasta 2.0) built on Esri ArcGIS Online infrastructure. The platform integrates mobile data collection tools (Cadasta Surveys, Survey123, ArcGIS Collector, ODK, GeoODK) with cloud-based GIS storage, management, and visualization capabilities including Story Maps. Real-time dashboards and advisory services support partners throughout the documentation lifecycle. The suite enables communities and governments to collect, store, and share land tenure data while maintaining community data sovereignty.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Cadasta Platform Cloud-based GIS platform built on Esri ArcGIS Online that enables communities, NGOs, and governments to document, store, manage, and share land and resource rights information. Provides offline-ready GIS tools, real-time dashboards, partner-specific project spaces, and role-based permissions.
- Advisory Services Consulting services for partners covering co-design of data collection tools, building real-time monitoring dashboards, digitizing land registries, customizing solutions, and providing technical support from project initiation through policy integration.
- Cadasta Training and Support Center Online resource center providing free knowledge resources, training materials, instructional guides, and support request functionality for global partners using the Cadasta Platform.
- Post-Project Support Packages Subscription-based post-project packages providing continued platform access including accounts, credits, storage, and technical assistance hours for sustainable ongoing use after project completion, with two years of continued access provided at no cost following project end.
Quantifiable outcome
- 7.2 million people benefited from land documentation
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Cadasta Foundation
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Cadasta Foundation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
Feature6 records
Cadasta Foundation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- Corus InternationalcoreCorus International is the parent organization of Cadasta Foundation. The partnership leverages geospatial technology and community mapping to address global poverty, improving development outcomes and resilience in communities across multiple sectors and regions.
- EsricoreTechnology partnership providing the ArcGIS Online platform infrastructure for Cadasta's land documentation tools. Esri partnership enables enhanced mobile data collection, web applications, cartography tools, and integration with government land systems.
- KESAN (Karen Environment and Social Action Network)flagshipPartnership to document and register Karen Community ancestral lands under the Kawthoolei Land Policy. Over 100,000 family plots have been registered, securing rights and protecting forests amid political and environmental threats.
- Julian Cho SocietycorePartnership to document Maya customary lands in southern Belize and strengthen governance following a landmark court ruling recognizing Indigenous land rights.
- Espaço FeministacorePartnership with feminist organization in Brazil's Bonito region to document and secure land rights for communities, with emphasis on women's land ownership and empowerment.
- Uganda Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban DevelopmentflagshipPartnership to design and implement Land Community Data Model for documenting customary land rights at sub-country level. Nearly 10,000 Community Certificates of Ownership submitted with over half approved, with 25,000 CCOs targeted for Busoga Region by 2027.
- PRADANcorePartnership providing tribal communities in Odisha, India with technology and tools to map, document, and secure forest land for Individual Forest Rights (IFR) and Community Forest Rights (CFR).
- Liberia Land AuthoritycorePartnership to launch Community Land Intervention Monitoring and Management Tools (CLIMT) for managing civil society organization activity, donor coordination, transparency, and land intervention recording.
- UNIPAcoreIndigenous community organization partner working on land rights documentation in their region.
- Habitat for HumanitycoreGlobal housing organization partner collaborating on land rights and housing security initiatives.
- Tenure FacilitycoreInternational organization focused on securing community land rights, partnering with Cadasta on land documentation projects.
- LandesacoreLand rights organization partner working to secure land rights for the world's poor, especially women.
- FUNDAPAZcoreArgentine organization advancing small-scale farmer rights and community access to land and natural resources in Northern Argentina's Chaco region.
- RRI (Rights and Resources Initiative)coreGlobal coalition advancing forest tenure and land rights for Indigenous and local communities.
- Waatavaran FoundationcoreIndian organization partnered with Cadasta to protect land rights of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Western India, with focus on Forest Rights Act implementation.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Cadasta Foundation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Landesa: Landesa is a global land rights organization that works with governments to develop pro-poor land policies and laws, secure land rights for the rural poor, and strengthen women's land rights. It is a direct peer to Cadasta, with both listed as Cadasta partners and operating in overlapping geographies with similar customary land formalization mandates.
- Tenure Facility: Tenure Facility is an international organization focused on securing community land and forest rights, providing grants and technical support to Indigenous and community-led organizations. It is a direct peer to Cadasta, sharing a donor base and partnering on overlapping projects (e.g., forest tenure documentation in Africa and Southeast Asia).
- Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI): RRI is a global coalition of organizations advancing forest tenure rights and land rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. It is a direct peer to Cadasta, with overlapping thematic focus on customary land documentation, donor coordination, and policy advocacy in forest-rich countries.
- Namati: Namati is a global organization dedicated to legal empowerment, including community land and resource rights paralegal programs across Africa and Asia. It is a direct peer to Cadasta in the land rights ecosystem, combining grassroots paralegal networks with technology-enabled documentation in overlapping geographies.
- Global Land Alliance: Global Land Alliance (formerly Land Alliance) is an international NGO that works on responsible land governance, including land tenure security, women's land rights, and customary land documentation. It is a direct peer to Cadasta, operating in overlapping countries with a similar donor-driven, evidence-based approach.
Broad incumbents
- Habitat for Humanity International: Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit focused on housing and land tenure security for low-income families. It is listed as a Cadasta partner and operates at significantly larger scale across overlapping land tenure themes, making it a broad incumbent peer in the housing-and-land-rights space.
- Esri: Esri is the dominant global GIS software provider and Cadasta's core technology partner (ArcGIS Online infrastructure, Survey123, ArcGIS Collector). While not a direct competitor, Esri is a broad incumbent peer in the land administration GIS space — Cadasta is essentially an application layer on top of Esri's platform.
- Mapbox: Mapbox is a commercial mapping and location platform providing basemaps, SDKs, and GIS tooling used in development and land-related applications. It is a broad incumbent peer in the underlying mapping platform layer that Cadasta builds on, with potential overlap in serving NGOs and government land documentation use cases.
- Trimble: Trimble is a global provider of geospatial technology, including GNSS receivers (Trimble Catalyst, used by Cadasta in field data collection) and cadastral surveying solutions for government land administration. It is a broad incumbent peer in the land surveying and GIS technology category Cadasta operates in.
Emerging players
- OpenStreetMap Foundation: OpenStreetMap is a collaborative, open-source mapping platform widely used by humanitarian and land rights organizations for community mapping. It is an emerging peer in the participatory, community-driven mapping space that overlaps with Cadasta's grassroots mapping methodology, especially in low-connectivity environments.
Market position
Strengths1 record
Weaknesses1 record
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cadasta Foundation social profiles
Digital presenceCadasta Foundation compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Cadasta Foundation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cadasta Foundation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Cadasta Foundation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cadasta Foundation 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 Cadasta Foundation
What does Cadasta Foundation do?
Cadasta Foundation provides a cloud-based GIS platform and associated advisory and training services that enable communities, NGOs, and governments to document, map, store, manage, and share land and resource rights information. The offering combines offline-ready mobile data collection tools, real-time dashboards, Story Maps, and a data sovereignty framework aligned with UNDRIP, FPIC, CARE Principles, and GDPR, delivered alongside professional services and post-project support packages.
Is Cadasta Foundation a public or private company?
Cadasta Foundation is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Cadasta Foundation founded?
Cadasta Foundation was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Cadasta Foundation based?
Cadasta Foundation is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cadasta Foundation make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Grants and Donations are the primary driver. The others are professional Services and partner Support Packages.
Who are Cadasta Foundation's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Landesa, Tenure Facility, Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), Namati and Global Land Alliance. Broad incumbents are Habitat for Humanity International, Esri, Mapbox and Trimble. OpenStreetMap Foundation is listed as an emerging player.
Does Cadasta Foundation have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cadasta Foundation.
What industry is Cadasta Foundation in?
Cadasta Foundation's product category is Land Rights Documentation Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAIANAH, Land Administration & Cadastral Services (Public Land Records, Parcel Management), with a secondary code of BPAMANAB, Mapping & Basemap Platforms (Tiles/SDKs). Its NAICS code is 541370 and its SIC code is 7372.