What Plataformatec does

Plataformatec was a São Paulo-based custom software development and Agile consultancy founded in 2009, operating for 11 years until its acqui-hire by Nubank in January 2020. The firm delivered embedded cross-functional teams (typically one project manager and two to six developers) to enterprise clients in Brazil, the United States, and Europe, with a consulting practice centered on Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Elixir, and Agile transformation. Its revenue model was professional services engagements structured around iterative, metrics-driven software delivery, including Agile ceremonies, Monte Carlo-based estimation, and software strategy alignment.

The firm's most consequential technical contribution was the creation of the Elixir programming language by co-founder José Valim as an internal R&D project, officially released in 2011. Plataformatec also created and maintained a portfolio of widely adopted open source libraries under its GitHub organization, including Devise (authentication), Simple Form, ShowFor, Responders, Inherited Resources, and Mail Form. These assets functioned both as standalone community contributions and as demand-generation for consulting engagements.

The company's go-to-market was sales-led but unconventional: rather than traditional marketing spend, demand was generated through open source contributions, a bilingual technical blog (107 English posts, 33 Portuguese), four published books, and conference speaking at events such as RubyConf and Agile Brazil. No external institutional funding or venture capital backing is disclosed. Following the Nubank acqui-hire, several partners launched independent ventures: Dashbit (Elixir production consulting, founded by José Valim), SourceLevel (engineering analytics, founded by George Guimarães), and Elixir Radar (Elixir ecosystem newsletter, turned into a company by Hugo Baraúna).

Name

Plataformatec

Legal name

Plataformatec

Website

https://plataformatec.com.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Plataformatec was a São Paulo-based custom software and Agile consultancy (2009-2020) serving enterprise clients in Brazil, the USA, and Europe with embedded Ruby/Rails/Elixir teams and widely adopted open source libraries including Devise and the Elixir programming language.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Custom Software Development Consulting

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Offshore Development Center (ODC) / Dedicated Team Services (BPAEAMAL)

Keywords

• Custom software development
• Ruby on rails consulting
• Elixir development services
• Agile transformation consulting
• Open source software

Headquarters

HQ city

São Paulo

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Software Development Consulting: Consultancy engagements for custom software development using Agile, Ruby, Rails, Elixir and strategic business analysis methods. Engagements delivered to clients in Brazil, USA and Europe across 11 years of operation. Teams organized with project managers and developers delivering iterative, incremental software.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Plataformatec was a Brazilian custom software development consultancy that delivered Agile-based Ruby, Ruby on Rails, and Elixir projects to enterprise clients in Brazil, USA, and Europe. Engagements were structured as embedded cross-functional teams (1 project manager plus 2-6 developers) providing iterative software development, Agile transformation, and strategic software project consulting. The firm also created and maintained widely-used open source projects including Devise, Simple Form, ShowFor, Responders, and the Elixir programming language.

Product overview

Plataformatec was a software development and consultancy company specialized in Elixir, Ruby, and Agile methodologies. The company created and maintained a portfolio of open source projects, most notably Devise (authentication library), Simple Form (form builder), and the Elixir programming language. Other notable open source projects included Responders, ShowFor, Inherited Resources, and Mail Form. In January 2020, after 11 years of operation, Plataformatec was acqui-hired by Nubank. Some partners subsequently created new companies including Dashbit (Elixir-focused), SourceLevel (engineering analytics), and Elixir Radar (Elixir ecosystem newsletter).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom Software Development Consulting Custom software development and Agile consulting engagements delivered to enterprise clients using Ruby, Ruby on Rails, Elixir, and Agile methodologies. Projects were staffed with embedded cross-functional teams consisting of a project manager and 2-6 developers, providing iterative incremental delivery, Agile transformation, software architecture strategy, and metrics-driven predictable delivery across Brazil, USA, and Europe.
• Devise Flexible authentication solution for Rails applications with multiple modules (Database Authenticatable, Confirmable, Recoverable, Validatable, Rememberable, Trackable, Lockable, etc.), built on Warden and packaged as a Rails Engine; widely adopted by the Rails community.
• Elixir Programming Language Dynamic, functional, concurrent programming language designed for building scalable and maintainable applications, built on the Erlang VM (BEAM); originally developed as a Research & Development project inside Plataformatec and now used by companies worldwide.
• Simple Form Rails form builder gem that provides flexible, extensible form input generation with HTML 5 support, Bootstrap integration, and a customizable Wrapper API for rapid form development.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• DashbitminorOthersJosé Valim founded Dashbit to help startups and enterprises adopt and run Elixir in production. Elixir projects were transferred to Dashbit after the Nubank acquisition.
• SourceLevelminorOthersGeorge Guimarães created SourceLevel to bring observability into software engineering management. George was a Plataformatec co-founder.
• Elixir RadarminorOthersHugo Baraúna turned Elixir Radar into a new company to continue helping the Elixir ecosystem grow.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Netguru: European software consultancy offering embedded product teams across web, mobile, and cloud. Comparable in dedicated-team delivery model and enterprise client targeting, though broader in stack than Plataformatec.
• Lambda3: Brazilian technology consultancy with software engineering and Agile practices serving enterprise clients. Comparable as a domestic Brazilian consulting peer overlapping in delivery model and target market.
• Hashrocket: Chicago-based Ruby on Rails and Elixir consultancy historically known for pair-programming and apprenticeship-style delivery. Comparable to Plataformatec in niche Rails expertise and small, senior-heavy team structure.
• Thoughtbot: US-headquartered Ruby on Rails and Elixir software consultancy with a similar embedded-team delivery model and a strong open source footprint. Closely comparable to Plataformatec in stack, methodology, and go-to-market.
• 8th Light: Software craftsmanship consultancy delivering custom application development with senior engineers and Agile practices. Comparable in methodology, team-embedding model, and emphasis on senior technical talent.
• DockYard: US-based digital product consultancy specializing in Ember, Rails, and Elixir with embedded engineering teams. One of the most direct peers given the shared Elixir/Rails focus and consultancy-first business model.
• Codeminer42: Brazilian software consultancy with strong Ruby on Rails and Elixir practices serving clients in Brazil and abroad. The closest Latin American peer given shared geography, stack, and consulting delivery model.
• Icalia Labs: Latin American software consultancy delivering custom development and Agile coaching to US and European clients. Comparable in regional positioning, embedded delivery model, and Agile-first methodology.

Broad incumbents

• Pivotal Labs: Pioneer of the modern embedded Agile software consultancy model; now part of VMware/Tanzu. Broader incumbent in the same category, with wider stack and enterprise reach than Plataformatec.
• BairesDev: Large Latin American software development firm offering dedicated teams across many stacks. Comparable as a regional incumbent in dedicated-team software services, though significantly broader in scale and stack than Plataformatec.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/plataformatec
• GitHubgithub.com/plataformatec
• Facebookfacebook.com/plataformatec.com.br
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/plataformatec

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Plataformatec