Software in the Public Interest

What Software in the Public Interest does

Software in the Public Interest (SPI) is a New York-incorporated 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation founded on June 16, 1997 that serves as a fiscal sponsor for free and open source software and hardware projects. Rather than building or selling software products, SPI provides administrative infrastructure — donation processing and fund holding, expense payments, asset custody (tangible equipment above $300 plus intangible assets including domains, trademarks, and licenses), contract signing, and external legal and accounting support — so that associated projects can operate without forming their own legal entities. As of early 2026, SPI supports 47 associated projects including Debian, LibreOffice, PostgreSQL, FFmpeg, systemd, Arch Linux, Gentoo Linux, OpenSSL Foundation, OpenZFS, and OpenEmbedded, and maintains a membership base of 151 contributing members with voting rights and 1,666 non-contributing members.

SPI's underlying technology footprint is deliberately minimal: the corporate website is managed through an ikiwiki+git content management system hosted on GitLab, and operational platforms include a web-based membership management system at members.spi-inc.org and Mailman-based mailing list infrastructure at lists.spi-inc.org. SPI does not own, govern, or control its associated projects; projects retain full independence and may exit at any time with assets transferred to another 501(c)(3) organization such as the Apache Software Foundation, Software Freedom Conservancy, or Free Software Foundation.

The organization's revenue mechanics are donation-driven rather than fee-based. There is no cost to become or remain an associated project, and no membership dues are required. SPI retains a 5% overhead contribution from donations directed to specific projects, and accepts un-earmarked donations to its general fund from individuals and institutional donors including Google and the craigslist Charitable Fund. Domain name costs for many projects are offset by an in-kind sponsorship from Gandi. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors of 8–12 members including four officers (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer), with directors drawn from at least seven countries spanning Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Name

Software in the Public Interest

Legal name

Software in the Public Interest, Inc.

Website

https://spi-inc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and contributions: SPI accepts donations from individuals and organizations. When donations are directed to specific associated projects, SPI holds the funds on behalf of those projects. A 5% contribution is deducted from donations to cover SPI overhead costs.
2. Fiscal sponsorship services: SPI provides fiscal sponsorship services to associated projects, handling administrative tasks including accepting donations, holding funds, paying expenses, managing contracts, and providing legal and accounting assistance. There is no cost to become or remain an associated project.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Software in the Public Interest is a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor that provides non-technical administrative services to free and open source software and hardware projects. It accepts and holds donations on behalf of associated projects, pays project expenses, holds tangible and intangible assets, signs contracts, and provides legal and accounting support so projects do not need to operate their own legal entity. It also operates web-based membership and mailing list infrastructure to support community governance and project communications.

Product overview

Software in the Public Interest (SPI) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor organization that provides administrative infrastructure for free and open source software and hardware projects. Rather than offering a traditional product portfolio, SPI provides a suite of fiscal sponsorship services including donation and fund holding, project expense payment processing, asset protection (both tangible equipment and intangible assets like domains and trademarks), contract signing services, and legal/accounting support. The organization operates web-based platforms for membership management and mailing list services. Currently, SPI supports 47 associated projects including Debian, LibreOffice, PostgreSQL, FFmpeg, and Gentoo Linux.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fiscal Sponsorship Services

Named customers17 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GandicoreTechnology or IntegrationGandi sponsors domain names for SPI and many SPI associated projects. They cover the costs of domain renewals for qualifying open-source projects meeting certain criteria (active setup, SSL enabled, not brand protection domains).
• Apache Software FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as an example of a compatible 501(c)(3) organization to which assets may be transferred. Not a formal partnership but a reference organization.
• Software Freedom ConservancyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as an example of a compatible 501(c)(3) organization to which assets may be transferred. Not a formal partnership but a reference organization.
• Free Software FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as an example of a compatible 501(c)(3) organization to which assets may be transferred. Not a formal partnership but a reference organization.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Software Freedom Conservancy: 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor for free and open source projects; competes directly with SPI for project affiliations and donations, serving overlapping communities like copyleft enforcement and FOSS infrastructure projects.
• Apache Software Foundation: Provides legal umbrella and fiscal sponsorship for a portfolio of open source projects; competes with SPI for project-hosted affiliations and is explicitly referenced as a compatible alternate fiscal home for SPI projects.
• Free Software Foundation: 501(c)(3) non-profit supporting free software and listed by SPI as an alternate fiscal home for departing projects; overlaps directly in FOSS fiscal sponsorship and advocacy.
• NumFOCUS: Fiscal sponsor for scientific open source projects (NumPy, pandas, Jupyter); directly comparable as a 501(c)(3) FOSS fiscal sponsor competing for affiliated projects and donor dollars.
• Open Collective: Tech-enabled fiscal host platform for open source communities, providing donation management and expense payments; functionally competes with SPI's donation, fund-holding, and expense-payment services.
• Python Software Foundation: 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor responsible for Python language governance and grants; directly comparable as a project-anchored open source fiscal sponsor.
• Eclipse Foundation: Provides legal and fiscal umbrella for open source projects (Eclipse IDE, Jakarta EE, Adoptium); competes with SPI for project affiliations and corporate sponsorship.

Broad incumbents

• Linux Foundation: Largest open source fiscal sponsor and ecosystem host (Linux kernel, Kubernetes, CNCF); broader incumbent that competes for the same corporate open source funding dollars and large-project affiliations as SPI.
• Open Source Initiative: Non-profit advocacy and standards body for open source; operates in adjacent space rather than fiscal sponsorship but overlaps in donor mindshare and open source community governance.
• Mozilla Foundation: Non-profit steward of Firefox and broader open source public-interest projects; comparable 501(c)(3) community-impact organisation with fiscal sponsorship capabilities and overlapping donor bases.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/spi_inc
• GitHubgitlab.com/spi-inc/website

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 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 Software in the Public Interest