Movimento 5 Stelle

What Movimento 5 Stelle does

Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S) is an Italian political party and registered association (Associazione MoVimento 5 Stelle) founded in 2009 by Beppe Grillo and Gianroberto Casaleggio. It serves Italian citizens as voters, members, and activists, with membership open to Italian nationals and EU/permesso di soggiorno holders aged 16 and above, and elected officials operating at regional, provincial, and municipal tiers of government. The movement is led by President Giuseppe Conte, who was first elected on August 6, 2021 and re-elected on October 26, 2025.

The party operates a digital participation ecosystem built on commodity web infrastructure — a WordPress website fronted by CloudFlare CDN with Complianz cookie consent, Elementor content tooling, and YouTube for video — extended through several dedicated platforms: the Portale member portal (portale.movimento5stelle.eu), the SkyVote online voting platform for internal consultations, the Scuola di Formazione for political education, and participatory programs including NOVA for deliberative democracy, Network Giovani for under-36 engagement, UNITE for gender and civil rights, and the Comitato Nazionale Progetti for citizen-submitted legislative proposals. These tools support grassroots territorial groups across Italy, structured committees under the June 2025 statute, and a member-elected Consiglio Nazionale plus oversight bodies (Comitato di Garanzia and Collegio dei Probiviri).

M5S operates as a non-profit political association with no disclosed revenue figure. Its funding model is freemium at the member level — joining and participation are free — while monetization runs through the Italian 2×1000 tax designation mechanism (code E54 on tax returns), voluntary donations, and a merchandise shop (portale.movimento5stelle.eu/shop). Public funding flows to the association, parliamentary groups in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, electoral committees, and territorial committees, with financial transparency maintained through published rendiconti (financial reports) for each entity.

Name

Movimento 5 Stelle

Legal name

Associazione MoVimento 5 Stelle

Website

https://movimento5stelle.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Movimento 5 Stelle is an Italian political association founded in 2009 that serves citizens through a digital participation ecosystem of member portal, online voting, deliberative assemblies, and youth networks, funded primarily via the 2×1000 tax designation and donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Political Party Services

NAICS

Political Organizations (81394), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Political Organizations (813940)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Democracy, Voting Rights & Civic Participation Advocacy (BPAGAFAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Civic Participation & Leadership Development (Voting, Advocacy, Community Leadership) (EDAAADAL), Youth Leadership, Civic Education & Service-Learning Nonprofits (BPAGADAI)

Keywords

• Political party services
• Direct democracy platform
• Online voting systems
• Civic participation tools
• Political advocacy services

Headquarters

HQ city

Rome

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. 2×1000 Political Funding (Tax Designation): Italian citizens can designate 2×1000 of their income tax to the party by writing code E54 in their tax return. This costs taxpayers nothing as it is a portion of taxes already paid.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Movimento 5 Stelle (Five Star Movement) is an Italian political association that organizes its members through digital platforms for participation, voting and policy deliberation. It offers a member portal, an online voting platform (Skyvote), a training school (Scuola di Formazione), participatory assembly programs (NOVA), a youth network (Network Giovani), a gender policies initiative (UNITE) and a national projects committee (Comitato Nazionale Progetti). Members join for free and the movement funds its activities through voluntary contributions and the 2×1000 tax designation mechanism.

Product overview

Movimento 5 Stelle operates a digital participation ecosystem consisting of the member portal (Portale), the Skyvote voting platform for internal elections, the Scuola di Formazione for political education, and participatory programs including NOVA for deliberative democracy, the Network Giovani for youth engagement, UNITE for gender equality initiatives, and the Comitato Nazionale Progetti for citizen legislative proposals. These digital tools enable direct member participation in party governance, consultations, and policy development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NOVA: Participatory democracy process and assembly initiative for policy development and member engagement
• UNITE
• Network Giovani
• Scuola di Formazione

Products and services

• Portale Movimento 5 Stelle Member portal enabling citizen registration, participation in party activities, internal voting, access to territorial groups and party resources. Used by Movimento 5 Stelle members and registered supporters.
• Skyvote Online voting platform used for internal party elections, consultations and decision-making processes among registered members, including presidential elections, regional elections and statutory votes. Members vote via email-delivered links.
• Scuola di Formazione Training school offering political education courses for party members and citizens on topics of governance, institutions and political participation.
• NOVA Participatory democracy program involving deliberative processes, community consultations and collaborative policy development with citizens through Open Space Technology events.
• Network Giovani Youth network program for members under 36 years old promoting political participation, youth representation and engagement in party activities through regional representatives.
• UNITE Gender equality and civil rights initiative promoting women's political participation and discussing family law reform, prostitution and male vulnerability topics, culminating in an annual gathering in Rome.
• Comitato Nazionale Progetti National projects committee enabling territorial groups and civil society to submit legislative proposals and political initiatives for party consideration and review.

Quantifiable outcome

• The NOVA 2024 participatory assembly collected over 22,000 contributions and produced 145 actor notebooks
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• La France Insoumise: French left-wing populist movement led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, with similar anti-establishment, citizen-participation positioning. Operates with comparable digital mobilization, member-driven candidate selection, and grassroots local groups — directly comparable to M5S's Skyvote and NOVA participation model, but in the French market.
• Podemos: Spanish anti-establishment movement and party founded in 2014 — the closest European analog to M5S in terms of origin (grassroots digital movement), values (anti-corruption, direct participation), and organizational approach (member voting, online platforms). Comparable on movement-to-party trajectory but operates in a different national market.
• SYRIZA: Greek left-wing coalition and party that rose as an anti-austerity movement and reached government — a useful European analog for M5S in terms of movement origins, internal democratic structures, and electoral trajectory. Operates in the Greek market rather than Italian, but comparable on movement-party dynamics.

Direct peers

• Lega: Italian right-wing/anti-establishment party that competes with M5S for the same voters, particularly in northern and southern populist segments. Both parties originated as movements challenging the traditional party system and maintain formal association structures with parliamentary groups.
• Partito Democratico: Italy's main center-left party, the primary direct competitor to M5S in the same electoral space. Both are membership-based associations running in Italian national and regional elections with similar association structures, parliamentary groups, and publicly disclosed rendiconti.
• Italia Viva: Italian center party and direct electoral competitor. Both are registered Italian associations with similar structures (statute, parliamentary groups, territorial presence) competing for the moderate Italian voter in regional and national elections.
• Azione: Italian centrist/liberal party that competes with M5S in the same electoral space and shares the format of a registered political association with formal statute and parliamentary representation. Particularly relevant given M5S's positioning on transparency and reform themes.
• Forza Italia: Historic Italian center-right party and direct competitor in Italian elections. Both parties are membership-based associations with formal statutory structures, parliamentary groups in Camera and Senato, and compete in the same regional and national electoral contests.
• Fratelli d'Italia: Italy's leading center-right party and M5S's main competitor in national elections. Both are registered Italian associations with parliamentary representation, comparable organizational structures, and competing for the same Italian voter base in regional and national contests.

Others

• Pirate Party International: Federation of national Pirate Parties focused on digital rights, transparency, and direct online democracy. The most thematically aligned with M5S on digital participation infrastructure (liquid democracy, online voting, deliberative platforms like M5S's Skyvote), though it operates as a transnational network of small national chapters rather than a major national party.

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Mov5Stelle
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/M5SParlamento
• Facebookfacebook.com/movimento5stelle
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/movimento5stelle
• Instagraminstagram.com/movimento5stelle

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries5 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 Movimento 5 Stelle