What Zebralog does

Zebralog GmbH is a Bonn-based (relocated from Berlin in 2025) German consulting agency founded in 2003 that designs and delivers citizen participation processes for public-sector clients. Operating with approximately 20 team members across three formal departments — Mobility & Transport Infrastructure, Urban & Regional Development, and Democracy & Digital — the firm combines methodological consulting, process moderation, and a proprietary digital participation platform called Dialogzentrale. The platform bundles five purpose-built modules (Kartendialog, Ideensammlung, Frage-Antwort-Modul, Variantendiskussion, Meinungs-Monitor) into a single architecture for collecting, structuring, and analyzing citizen input across both analog and digital channels.

The company's revenue is generated through three streams: project-based professional services (consulting, moderation, evaluation) sold to German municipalities, federal ministries, and agencies; platform licensing and hosting of the Dialogzentrale for organizations running participation processes; and participation in publicly funded research consortia (BMBF grants such as XR-Part and BigTrans). Customer engagement is direct and project-driven, with no resellers or intermediaries; relationships are concentrated in the German public sector, spanning cities such as Hamburg, Frankfurt, Bonn, Aachen, Kiel, Stuttgart, and agencies including BMBF and BASE. In November 2025, Zebralog entered a strategic partnership with tetraeder.com to develop AI-enhanced participation capabilities, signaling an intent to evolve from a pure consulting model toward a software-plus-services hybrid.

Name

Zebralog

Legal name

Zebralog GmbH

Website

https://zebralog.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Zebralog GmbH is a Bonn-based German consultancy that designs citizen participation processes and operates the Dialogzentrale digital participation platform, serving German municipalities, federal agencies, and research institutions across urban development, mobility, and democracy projects.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Participation Consulting

NAICS

Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development (92512), Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development (925120)

SIC

Services-Management Services (8741), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Government & Public Sector Congress & Summit Planning (THAHACAC)

Keywords

• Citizen participation consulting
• Public sector engagement
• Digital participation platform
• Urban development consulting
• Mobility planning services

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

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. Consulting and Moderation Services: Core consulting services for participation process design, moderation, and evaluation. Project-based engagements with public sector clients including cities, municipalities, and ministries. Services include stakeholder participation, citizen dialogues, workshops, and strategic consulting for participation guidelines and standards.
2. Digital Platform Licensing: The Dialogzentrale platform is offered as a software solution for participation management. Platform licensing and hosting services for municipalities and organizations implementing participation processes.
3. Research Project Collaboration: Participation in publicly funded research projects (BMBF-funded) such as XR-Part and BigTrans, contributing methodological expertise and participation design.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Zebralog designs, moderates, and evaluates citizen participation processes for German public administrations across urban planning, mobility, and democratic engagement. Engagements combine analog formats (workshops, citizen councils, info markets) with their proprietary Dialogzentrale digital platform, producing decision-ready outputs that feed into political and administrative decisions.

Product overview

Zebralog operates a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on 'Die Dialogzentrale' (The Dialog Headquarters), a digital participation platform. The Dialogzentrale serves as the strategic core that bundles participation formats, data, and analysis into a unified system. It comprises five distinct modules: Kartendialog (Map Dialog) for spatial representation of contributions, Ideensammlung (Idea Collection) for open idea gathering and ranking, Frage-Antwort-Modul (Question-Answer Module) for participatory information delivery, Variantendiskussion (Variant Discussion) for structured comparison of planning variants, and Meinungs-Monitor (Opinion Monitor) for closed-question surveys with visual feedback. The platform is complemented by the Citizen Dialog Kit for standalone digital feedback collection. Zebralog also develops specialized modules for projects like un:box cologne and conducts research projects such as XR-Part for extended reality participation spaces.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Dialogzentrale: Digital participation platform that bundles participation formats, data and analyses in one place. Features modules including Kartendialog (map dialogue), Ideensammlung (idea collection), Frage-Antwort-Modul (Q&A module), Variantendiskussion (variant discussion), and Meinungs-Monitor (opinion monitor).

Products and services

• Die Dialogzentrale A proprietary digital participation platform that bundles multiple participation formats (map dialogue, idea collection, Q&A, variant discussion, opinion monitoring), data, and analyses into a single system that accompanies clients through every stage of the participation process from initial feedback to political decision-making. Targeted at municipalities and organizations running structured citizen engagement projects.
• Citizen Dialog Kit A standalone digital participation tool that bundles online surveys and feedback collection, tested at in-person events as an autonomous monitor where visitors can participate and submit feedback. Distinct from the Dialogzentrale platform because it operates as a self-contained, deployable unit at offline events.
• Participation Process Consulting and Moderation Strategic consulting, process design, moderation, and evaluation services for citizen participation in urban development, mobility, and democracy projects. Engagements cover stakeholder participation, citizen dialogues, workshops, planspiele, and strategic consulting on participation guidelines and standards. Targeted at German public administrations (cities, municipalities, ministries), federal agencies, companies, and NGOs.
• Participation Research and Methodology Co-Development Methodological contributions to publicly funded research projects (e.g., BMBF-funded XR-Part and BigTrans) covering participation-process design, evaluation, and integration of research findings into real participation practice. Delivered in consortia with universities and applied research institutes.

Quantifiable outcome

• ÖPNV-Strategie Baden-Württemberg achieved broad consensus enabling doubling of public transport by 2030
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 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

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• tetraeder.comcoreTechnology or Integration · 11 November 2025Strategic partnership for AI-enhanced development of the Dialogzentrale platform. Zebralog provides methodological and communicative competence for effective participation; tetraeder.com brings technological expertise and initial AI experience in digital urban planning. Joint goal: developing AI capabilities as translator, assistant and companion in participation processes - helping to understand contributions, translate content, and make results tangible. Partnership announced November 2025 with public presentation at D³-Kongress.
• tetraeder.comcoreTechnology or IntegrationExisting strategic partnership for the Dialogzentrale platform development and operation. tetraeder.com provides deep technical know-how in developing and operating digital participation solutions, complementing Zebralog's participation process design, moderation and evaluation expertise.
• ISP (Institut für Stadtforschung) at FH ErfurtmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead coordinator for XR-Part research project. Zebralog contributes cross-media participation expertise, ensuring XR-Part system is conceptually, operationally and institutionally aligned with participation practice needs and integrated into real participation processes.
• Ifok GmbHmajorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerBietergemeinschaft (bidding consortium) partner for Forum Endlagersuche moderation and coordination services since October 2024. Zebralog leads coordination, moderation and documentation; Ifok provides additional consulting capacity.
• LoI-Partner*innen (Letter of Intent Partners)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of supporting organizations in un:box cologne Smart City project. Partners collaborate in Spurgruppe (steering group) and pilot project development.
• DIID (Düsseldorfer Institut für Internet und Demokratie)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration for Raddialoge project - parallel online participation dialogues in three NRW cities for comparative analysis of online participation effects.
• BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg (Brandenburg University of Technology)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead research institution for BigTrans project on citizen participation in renewable energy projects. Zebralog designs participatory knowledge gathering processes and advises on project communication.
• Technische Hochschule IngolstadtminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in BigTrans project contributing technical sector coupling expertise.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ifok GmbH: Ifok is a leading German consultancy for dialogue and participation processes, directly comparable to Zebralog in citizen participation, moderation, and stakeholder engagement. They are even a bidding consortium partner on the Forum Endlagersuche engagement.
• nexus Institut für Kooperationen: nexus is a Berlin-based institute specializing in participation and cooperation processes for public administration in Germany, directly competing with Zebralog on municipal and federal participation mandates.
• POLIS – Politikberatung und Stadtentwicklung: POLIS is a German consultancy active in urban development, public participation, and policy advising—closely overlapping Zebralog's urban and regional development and participation offerings.
• IKU GmbH (Institut für Kommunikation und Umweltplanung): IKU is a German consultancy focused on communication, participation and environmental planning, directly comparable to Zebralog's methodology-led participation work for municipalities.

Broad incumbents

• PD – Berater der öffentlichen Hand GmbH: PD is a large German public-sector consultancy owned by federal and state governments, offering strategy and participation advisory at a broader scale; competes with Zebralog for large federal mandates but covers a much wider mandate set.

Emerging players

• Bang the Table: Bang the Table provides an online community engagement platform for government and public sector clients. It overlaps with Dialogzentrale as a SaaS alternative for participation processes, primarily in English-speaking markets.
• Consul (Madrid participation platform): Consul is the open-source participation platform pioneered by the City of Madrid and adopted globally. It is a direct open-source alternative to Dialogzentrale for municipal digital participation.
• CitizenLab: CitizenLab is a commercial SaaS platform for citizen participation used by 300+ European municipalities and public organizations. It competes with Dialogzentrale on the platform layer, particularly for English-speaking and pan-European clients.
• Decidim (Association Decidim Free Software): Decidim is a major open-source participation platform used by hundreds of European cities and organizations. It represents a free, community-driven alternative to Zebralog's Dialogzentrale on the technology layer.

Others

• VPOD Verbundprojekt / Zebralog spinout peer firms in DACH civil tech: Adjacent ecosystem participants: open government and civic-tech ecosystem organizations (e.g., Open Government Partnership) that shape policy and standards affecting digital participation demand, indirectly influencing Zebralog's market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/zebralog

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Zebralog