OSET Institute

What OSET Institute does

OSET Institute (legal name: Open Source Election Technology Institute, Inc.) is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) California public benefit corporation, founded in 2006/2007 and headquartered in Palo Alto with a secondary office in Portland. The organization's mission is to rebuild public confidence in elections by developing verifiable, accurate, secure, and transparent election administration technology as a public asset — explicitly positioned as the only non-profit digital public works project in the election technology domain. Its core product is ElectOS, a complete open-source election administration technology framework covering cloud-based election administration applications, a software layer for modified off-the-shelf hardware-based voting systems producing durable paper ballots of record, and specialized modules spanning voter registration, ballot design and generation, distribution, tabulation, reporting (via the VoteStream analytics subsystem), ranked-choice voting, risk-limiting audits, accessible ballot-marking tools for voters with disabilities, trusted boot and hardware integrity attestation, and robotic signature transfer.

The business model is non-commercial: OSET generates revenue through tax-deductible donations, annual grants, in-kind contributions (developer resources, hardware, and software), and stock transfers, with 100% of contributed funds directed at building and certifying ElectOS. All software is distributed free of charge — under the OSET Public License (OSET-PL) for government election jurisdictions and under GPL.v3 for research, development, and other non-government uses. The go-to-market motion is community-led through the TrustTheVote Project membership initiative, supplemented by adoption through government procurement processes (directly or via commercial systems integrators) and standards engagement with NIST and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Revenue is not publicly disclosed.

OSET serves three primary segments: U.S. state, county, and local election officials (with 200+ officials across 28 states contributing design input); commercial voting system vendors seeking open standards and open data to build certified finished systems; and democratic institutions abroad (Canada, EU, Africa, India, Latin America, Far East), with 40% of inbound inquiries originating internationally. Notable operational relationships include Rock The Vote (third-party voter registration technology supplier), Galois (DARPA SSITH security engineering partner), NBCUniversal's Vote Watch (media subject-matter expertise), and a network of university research collaborations. Leadership consists of co-founders Gregory Miller (Chair & COO) and E. John Sebes (CTO), supported by an interim CFO, a Chief Legal Officer, a Chief IP Counsel, a Chief Design Officer, and a Board of Advisors that includes a former NSA Deputy Director, a former U.S. CTO, and a former Oregon Secretary of State.

Name

OSET Institute

Legal name

Open Source Election Technology Institute, Inc.

Website

https://osetinstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

OSET Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that builds open-source election administration technology, including its flagship ElectOS framework, to serve U.S. and international election jurisdictions, commercial voting system vendors, and democratic institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Election Technology Software

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Electoral Support & Election Observation (BPADAGAA)

Keywords

• Open source election technology
• Voting system software
• Election administration platform
• Election cybersecurity advisory
• Nonprofit technology research

Headquarters

HQ city

Palo Alto

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: As a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit, OSET Institute generates revenue primarily through tax-deductible donations and contributions from individuals, families, philanthropies, and corporations. 100% of contributed funds go toward developing the public voting system called ElectOS and submitting that technology for state and federal certification.
2. Annual Grants: Annual grants of funding to complete ElectOS software development and ongoing code curation.
3. In-kind Contributions: In-kind contributions of developer resources, hardware and software necessary to build and bench ElectOS.
4. Stock Transfers: Gifts of stock transfers to help fund Institute operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

OSET Institute builds and distributes ElectOS, a complete open-source election administration technology framework covering voter registration, ballot design and generation, distribution, vote tabulation, and reporting, plus a software layer for modified off-the-shelf hardware voting systems producing durable paper ballots of record. The Institute also provides cybersecurity advisory and technology policy advisory services, and operates the TrustTheVote Project membership community to advance publicly-owned election technology.

Product overview

The OSET Institute operates a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on ElectOS™, an election administration technology framework. The flagship TrustTheVote® Project encompasses the ElectOS™ People’s Voting System along with multiple specialized modules including 3rd party voter registration technology, ballot-marking tools for the disability community, ranked-choice voting tabulation software, risk-limiting audit software, voter services portal software, trusted boot technologies, and robotic signature-transfer technology. Supporting services include Cybersecurity Advisory and Technology Policy advisory. The organization also contributes to NIST's VVSG 2.0 development and provides election security expertise to government agencies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ElectOS An open-source election administration technology framework including cloud-based election administration apps and services, and a software layer for modified off-the-shelf hardware-based voting systems producing a durable paper ballot of record. Designed with input from 200+ election officials in 28 U.S. states.
• TrustTheVote Project A public-facing membership-based initiative and digital public works project to develop and steward the People's Voting System for any jurisdiction to adopt, adapt, and deploy, with a community of volunteer contributors in coding, testing, QA, research, design, and outreach.
• Cybersecurity Advisory Service Consulting and advisory service for commercial vendors of cybersecurity apps and services and election administrators from state secretary offices to city, county, and township registrars.
• Technology Policy Advisory Policy advisory service providing education to Congressional committees and national security agencies on election technology, contributing to NIST's development of the VVSG 2.0, and supporting the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's certification development.

Quantifiable outcome

• Designed with input from 200+ election officials in 28 U.S. states
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature11 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GaloiscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 March 2019DARPA SSITH Program selected Galois, a premier computer science company and security engineering partner of OSET Institute, to develop a public prototype voting system to demonstrate advancements in hardware and system security.
• Rock The VotecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2007OSET Institute is the supplier of 3rd party voter registration technology to Rock The Vote, which in turn provides the software to a wide range of other 3rd party voter outreach organizations including both major political parties. This work incorporates apps and services like canvassing and absentee ballot request services.
• NBCUniversal Vote WatchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSubject matter expertise partnership with NBCUniversal Vote Watch and other media platforms. OSET Institute provides election security advisory expertise and on-air subject matter experts for news coverage. Also leveraged in technology policy work.
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOSET Institute contributes to NIST development of the 2nd version of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG 2.0). Continuous feedback loop engaged with open standards making efforts with NIST.
• U.S. Election Assistance CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOSET Institute contributes to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission's on-going efforts to develop new design guidelines and next generation federal certification processes. Engaged in open standards making and certification development.
• University Research PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborations with university research projects related to critical infrastructure and democracy administration at institutions including U.C. Berkeley, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, NYU, Georgia Institute of Technology, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Stanford, USC, and others.
• AnedotminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerThird-party payment processor used by OSET Institute for managing credit card processing for donations. Processor is not permitted to store, retain, or use the information provided except for sole purpose of credit or debit card processing.
• Cybersecurity Firms and Academic Research OrganizationsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with several cybersecurity firms and academic research organizations to deliver and fortify election cybersecurity subject matter expertise. Also collaborates with firms like McAfee, Accenture Labs, Mitre, DXC Technology.
• Transatlantic Commission on Election IntegrityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOSET Institute builds network with global democracy advocates including members of the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity, an organization launched by the Alliance of Democracies at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Election Systems & Software (ES&S): The largest U.S. voting machine vendor, providing election administration hardware and software to a majority of U.S. jurisdictions. ES&S is the dominant incumbent against whose proprietary model OSET positions ElectOS as an open-source alternative.
• Microsoft ElectionGuard: Microsoft's open-source SDK for end-to-end verifiable elections. Represents a well-funded, broad-tech-company approach to verifiable election technology that competes for category mindshare and adoption against OSET's non-profit positioning.
• Dominion Voting Systems: Large incumbent vendor of election administration hardware and software across U.S. states and Canadian provinces. Represents the kind of proprietary, full-stack incumbent OSET's open-source platform is designed to displace or compete with.
• Hart InterCivic: Major U.S. election technology vendor with deep state-level contracts. Notable overlap with OSET: Edward P. Perez, OSET's Board Member and Policy Advisor, is the former Director of Product Management at Hart InterCivic, illustrating the talent and relationship cross-currents between the two.

Emerging players

• VotingWorks: Open-source voting and election auditing software non-profit building tools like Arlo (risk-limiting audits) and ballot marking. Direct overlap with OSET on the open-source, public-benefit approach to election technology infrastructure.
• Free & Fair: Open-source election technology company focused on innovative e2e-verifiable voting systems. Dr. Stephanie Singer, OSET's advisor, has ties to Free & Fair, and the two share the niche of cryptographically verifiable election platforms.

Direct peers

• Rock The Vote: Non-partisan voter engagement non-profit and OSET's named customer. OSET supplies 3rd party voter registration technology that Rock The Vote distributes to a wide range of voter outreach organizations including both major political parties.
• Galois: Computer science research firm and OSET's named security engineering partner. Galois was selected by DARPA's SSITH program to develop a public prototype voting system to demonstrate hardware and system security advancements, directly overlapping OSET's trusted boot and hardware integrity attestation work.

Others

• Democracy Labs: Non-profit founded by Deepak Puri (also on OSET's Board of Advisors) that builds open-source civic technology including election tools. Shares the open-source democratic infrastructure mission and overlapping leadership.
• Verified Voting Foundation: Election integrity non-profit focused on policy and verifiable election technology advocacy. Shares OSET's mission to increase trust in elections; Dr. Barbara Simons (former IBM), a Verified Voting founder, also serves on OSET's Board of Advisors.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/oset
• GitHubgithub.com/TrustTheVote-Project
• Facebookfacebook.com/osetfoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/open-source-digital-voting-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 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 OSET Institute