What Coko does

Coko Foundation was a San Francisco-based not-for-profit organization, founded in 2015 by Adam Hyde with seed funding from his Shuttleworth Foundation Fellowship, that built open-source, HTML-first publishing infrastructure for the scholarly, research, and educational publishing ecosystems. Its core technology stack — built on Node.js, React, and GraphQL — was anchored by the PubSweet/CokoServer component-based framework and included the Kotahi journal publishing platform, Ketty (formerly Editoria) book production platform, Paged.js browser-based typesetting engine, XSweet/INK document conversion tools, and the Wax web-based word processor. The architecture's central thesis was that HTML-first, single-source publishing enabled synchronous, concurrent collaboration in a way traditional XML workflows could not, allowing books to move from draft to publication in five days or less.

Coko operated a partner-driven, community-led GTM rather than a commercial sales motion: it co-developed platforms with organizations such as EBI, eLife, Hindawi (later acquired by Wiley, with Phenom now serving as the backend of Wiley's REX platform), the California Digital Library, HHMI, Caltech, DataCite, and the Louvre, and shipped products as 100% open-source with no proprietary dependencies. Funding came primarily from foundation grants — Shuttleworth, Mellon, Gordon & Betty Moore, Alfred P. Sloan, and Laura & John Arnold — rather than commercial revenue. Headcount scaled in an accordion-like pattern, peaking at approximately 40 people during 2020-2023 when AI capabilities (AI Designer, RAG knowledge base, AI Assistant) were also layered into the platforms.

In 2024-2025, the Coko Foundation announced it is sunsetting operations, with founder Adam Hyde moving on to other projects and all products (Ketty, Kotahi, Paged.js, XSweet) being transitioned to independent not-for-profit stewardship while remaining permanently open source. Kotahi is becoming a standalone 501(c)(3) foundation, and Ketty is progressing on a similar path.

Name

Coko

Legal name

Coko Foundation

Website

https://coko.foundation

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Coko Foundation built open-source HTML-first publishing technologies — including the Kotahi journal platform, Ketty book production tool, and Paged.js typesetting engine — for scholarly, research, and educational publishers and is sunsetting, with products transitioning to independent not-for-profit stewardship.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open-source scholarly publishing software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

OER Authoring, Remixing & Publishing Tools/Platforms (EDAGAJAM)

Keywords

• Open-source publishing software
• Scholarly publishing platforms
• Journal publishing tools
• Book production software
• Document typesetting engines

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation/Grant Funding: Coko operated as a not-for-profit foundation funded primarily through grants from foundations including Shuttleworth Foundation (seed funding via Fellowship), Mellon Foundation, Sloan Foundation, and others. Products are transitioning to independent not-for-profit stewardship.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Coko Foundation develops and maintains a suite of open-source, HTML-first publishing technologies for academic journals, books, and document conversion. Its offering spans a component-based framework (PubSweet/CokoServer), full publishing platforms (Kotahi for journals, Ketty/Editoria for books), a browser-based typesetting engine (Paged.js), a document conversion engine (XSweet/INK), and a web word processor (Wax), with AI design and RAG-based assistance features integrated into the platforms. Products are delivered as open-source software under not-for-profit stewardship rather than as commercial licenses.

Product overview

Coko Foundation developed a suite of open-source publishing technologies including Kotahi (journal publishing), Ketty/Editoria (book production), Paged.js (web-based typesetting), XSweeet (document conversion), and PubSweet/CokoServer (framework for building publishing platforms). The portfolio also includes Wax (word processor), Micropubs, Assessment Builder, and the DataCite Citation Corpus Platform. All products are built on HTML-first, open-source principles with a component-based architecture enabling collaborative, concurrent workflows. The foundation is currently sunsetting, with products moving to new not-for-profit stewards.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ketty: Book production platform (formerly Editoria, rebuilt and renamed)
• Kotahi
• Paged.js
• XSweet
• Editoria
• PubSweet
• CokoServer
• Wax

Products and services

• Kotahi Journal publishing platform developed by Coko for open-access scholarly publishing, currently transitioning to become a standalone non-profit 501(c)(3) foundation with invested stakeholders.
• Ketty (formerly Editoria) Book production platform originally built as Editoria in partnership with CDL and the Mellon Foundation, rebuilt as Ketty and continuing to thrive under Coko management.
• Paged.js Standards-compliant open-source pagination and typesetting engine for rendering content in the browser, enabling paged layouts from HTML/CSS, used by organizations including the Louvre for exhibition catalogues.
• XSweet (formerly INK) Document conversion engine for transforming word processing documents into HTML/XML formats suitable for publishing workflows, originally developed by Charlie Ablett and later evolved into XSweet.
• PubSweet/CokoServer Component-based, reusable open-source framework for building publishing platforms, the original cornerstone of Coko's technical architecture that enabled collaborative development with multiple partners.
• Wax Web-based word processor component built by Coko for collaborative editing within publishing workflows.
• Micropubs Publishing platform built for Caltech, still in active use.
• Biointeractive Assessment Builder Assessment building tool developed for HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute), in active use for creating interactive educational assessments.
• DataCite Citation Corpus Platform Platform built for DataCite to support citation corpus research and development, in active use.

Quantifiable outcome

• Books produced from zero to published in five days or less using HTML-first concurrent collaboration
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, notable and minor.

• EBI (European Bioinformatics Institute)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly partner in PubSweet collaboration. Formed early partnerships with Coko, EBI, eLife, and Hindawi who met regularly to design and build PubSweet together. Built EPMC+ platform which remains in active use.
• eLifecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly partner in PubSweet collaboration. Paul Shannon from eLife was deeply involved from early days, actively shaping how and what was built. Built first iteration of Libero components.
• HindawicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly partner in PubSweet collaboration. Andrew Smeall from Hindawi was early collaborator. Built Phenom platform which was later acquired by Wiley and is still in use as backend of Wiley's REX platform.
• CDL (California Digital Library)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with CDL and Mellon Foundation to build Editoria, the book production platform. Editoria has since been rebuilt as Ketty and is thriving.
• Digital SciencenotableTechnology or IntegrationBuilt a recomposable workflow platform on top of PubSweet. The platform stood out for allowing users to design workflows visually using a diagrammatic interface and compile those workflows into fully functional publishing platforms.
• HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute)notableStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Biointeractive Assessment Builder - still in active use.
• DataCitenotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for DataCite Citation Corpus platform - in active use.
• CaltechnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Micropubs platform - still in active use.
• NCBIminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartially built platform for NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information). Lost the final bid but learned a lot from the engagement.
• StencilaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMade the same technical move as Coko - departing from Substance/Texture approach when it proved flawed. Both organizations rebuilt using ProseMirror.
• Punctum BooksminorOthersListed as supporter/institution that supported Coko's mission.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Stencila: Open-source reproducible publishing platform using a ProseMirror-based word processor, explicitly cited in the data as having made the same architectural move away from Substance/Texture as Coko. Direct peer for collaborative authoring and reproducible scholarly publishing.
• Open Journal Systems (PKP): Public Knowledge Project's flagship open-source journal management and publishing software, the dominant incumbent in open-access journal platforms. Direct peer to Kotahi with the largest installed base of any open-source journal system.
• Manifold Scholarship: Open-source scholarly publishing platform from the University of Minnesota Press serving monographs and journals. Direct competitor to Kotahi for journal workflows and Ketty for book production, with shared mission of reducing publishing costs for academia.
• PubPub: Open-source community-led platform for academic and book publishing built around collaborative authoring and versioning. Direct peer to Kotahi and Ketty in the open scholarly publishing tools space, with overlapping target users (researchers, scholarly societies).
• Substance: Open-source collaborative document editor and publishing infrastructure originally developed with European funding. Direct peer to Coko's Wax/PubSweet and a former Coko collaborator that shared the Substance/Texture architectural lineage.

Broad incumbents

• Silverchair: Platform provider for society and academic publishers across journals, books, and reference works. Broad incumbent offering integrated publishing infrastructure that competes with the combined Kotahi/Ketty/Paged.js proposition.
• Wiley: Major commercial publisher that acquired Hindawi and now runs the REX platform on the Phenom codebase originally co-built with Coko. Comparable as a publishing customer and now as the operator of technology Coko helped create.
• HighWire Press: Long-standing scholarly publishing technology provider (JSTOR, NEJM, AMA) now part of MPS Limited. Broad incumbent in journal hosting and publishing platforms, with overlapping institutional customer base to Coko's platforms.
• Atypon Literatum: Commercial scholarly publishing platform provider serving major society publishers and university presses (Wiley, Sage, APA). Broad incumbent competing against Coko's publishing platforms for the same institutional customers with a much larger feature set and commercial support model.

Others

• eLife: Open-access journal publisher and a former Coko partner that built its Libero components via PubSweet. Comparable as an open-access scholarly publisher that has also invested in publishing technology and worked closely with Coko's ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cokofoundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Coko