What FOSSASIA does

FOSSASIA is a Singapore-headquartered nonprofit open technology organization founded in 2009 by Hong Phuc Dang and Mario Behling. It develops open source software, open hardware, and open knowledge assets through a globally distributed community of contributors, primarily based in Asia. Core products include SUSI.AI (an open source conversational AI assistant supporting chat and voice interaction via pattern matching and inference), Pocket Science Lab or PSLab (an open hardware USB device providing oscilloscope, multimeter, logic analyzer, and related measurement functions paired with Android and Python desktop apps), Eventyay (a full-stack open source event management and ticketing platform with Android apps for attendees and organizers), and a portfolio of secondary projects including loklak (social search), Susper (decentralized search), Badgeyay (badge generation), Meilix (customizable Linux kiosk build), Phimp.me (Android imaging app), and Neurolab.

The organization's business model is diversified across event ticket sales (annual FOSSASIA Summit plus regional OpenTechSummits), open hardware sales of PSLab through its own storefront and authorized resellers in Singapore, the EU, USA, and Japan, corporate sponsorships from enterprises such as Daimler, Google Cloud, Microsoft, and J.P. Morgan, individual and organizational memberships, and donations to a community fund. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: developers and contributors are acquired primarily through open source coding programs (Google Code-In, Codeheat, Google Summer of Code), the annual FOSSASIA Summit (recognized as Asia's premier open technology conference, drawing thousands of participants), regional OpenTechSummits across Asia, and partnerships with international organizations such as UNESCO on science hackathons. The organization also incubates mature projects into independent FOSS companies to support ecosystem sustainability.

FOSSASIA operates without external venture capital or private equity funding and reports no disclosed revenue. Its customer base spans open source developers and students as primary contributor segments, educators and science enthusiasts using PSLab, event organizers using Eventyay, and corporate sponsors seeking developer community engagement. Distribution is via GitHub/GitLab for software, Google Play Store and F-Droid for Android apps, and physical resellers for hardware.

Name

FOSSASIA

Legal name

FOSSASIA

Website

https://fossasia.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

FOSSASIA is a Singapore-based nonprofit open technology organization founded in 2009 that develops open source software and hardware, including PSLab, SUSI.AI, and Eventyay, serving a global developer and student community across Asia via coding programs and the annual FOSSASIA Summit.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Source Software and Hardware Development

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

iBPMS (Intelligent BPM Suites) & Process Automation Suites (HDAEAHAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Prompt Engineering, Orchestration & LLMOps Tooling (HDAAACAD)

Keywords

• Open source software
• Open hardware devices
• Open technology events
• Event management platform
• Developer community programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Singapore

HQ country

Singapore

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Event Ticket Sales: FOSSASIA generates revenue through ticket sales for the annual FOSSASIA Summit and other OpenTechSummit events. Ticket tiers exist for general admission, contributor discounts (90%, 80%, 70% off), and social event add-ons.
2. Open Hardware Sales: PSLab boards are sold through the FOSSASIA store (fossasia.com) and authorized resellers in Singapore, the European Union, USA, and Japan. This is a primary revenue stream supporting the open science mission.
3. Sponsorships: Corporate sponsors (e.g., Daimler/Mercedes-Benz, Google Cloud, Microsoft, J.P. Morgan) sponsor FOSSASIA events and programs, providing financial support in exchange for visibility at summits, recruitment access to skilled developers, and association with the open source community.
4. Membership Dues: FOSSASIA offers individual and organizational memberships. Members can vote for the FOSSASIA advisory board, participate in project incubation decisions, and receive visibility benefits in the global tech community.
5. Donations and Community Fund: The organization accepts donations to a community fund that supports contributors attending conferences, infrastructure costs, and prototype hardware components. Donors gain visibility as good citizens of the open source community.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

FOSSASIA is an open technology organization that develops open source software applications and open hardware together with a global community. Its core offerings span the SUSI.AI conversational AI platform, the Pocket Science Lab (PSLab) open hardware science instrument, the Eventyay open source event management and ticketing platform, and a portfolio of additional projects (loklak, Susper, Badgeyay, Meilix, Phimp.me, Badge Magic) distributed via GitHub, Google Play, and F-Droid. The organization also operates the annual FOSSASIA Summit and regional OpenTechSummits, and runs coding/mentorship programs such as Codeheat, Google Code-In, the Developer Internship Program, and the Advanced Developer Program.

Product overview

FOSSASIA is an open technology organization developing a comprehensive portfolio of open source software, hardware, and educational programs. The core products include SUSI.AI (conversational AI with voice/text capabilities), Pocket Science Lab (open hardware pocket lab), Eventyay (event management platform), and various developer tools (Badgeyay, loklak, Susper, Labyrinth). The organization operates multiple flagship services including the annual FOSSASIA Summit, regional OpenTechSummits, and coding programs like Codeheat. PSLab is commercialized as a purchasable hardware product. All products follow open source principles with community-driven development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SUSI.AI: Open Source conversational AI personal assistant
• PSLab
• Eventyay
• Eventyay
• PSLab
• Badgeyay
• Loklak
• Susper
• Meilix
• Labyrinth
• SUSI.AI Skill CMS

Products and services

• SUSI.AI Open source conversational AI personal assistant that combines pattern matching, inference engine, and knowledge retrieval to enable intelligent chat and voice interaction, with skills management via a public API and Android client.
• Pocket Science Lab (PSLab) Open hardware USB-powered pocket science lab that turns a phone or PC into measurement instruments including oscilloscope, multimeter, logic analyzer, frequency counter, power source, and data logger, with support for I2C-compatible sensors.
• Eventyay Open source event management and ticketing platform providing event organization, scheduling, attendee management, and ticketing capabilities as an alternative to commercial event platforms, distributed via eventyay.com.
• loklak Open source server application for social search and data collection that aggregates messages from sources including Twitter, provides an Elasticsearch-based search index, and supports peer-to-peer index sharing.
• Susper Open source decentralized search engine that uses the peer-to-peer YaCy system and Apache Solr to crawl and index search results.
• Badgeyay Open source badge generator with web UI that produces printable PDF badges, featuring a Flask REST-API backend and an EmberJS frontend.
• Meilix Linux Customizable Linux build for internet kiosks generated via a web app (Meilix Generator) that creates branded or event-specific Linux ISO images with pre-installed apps and features.
• Phimp.me Open source Android imaging application that combines photo capture, editing, and sharing features in a single unified app.
• Badge Magic Open source Android application for controlling LED name badges, enabling text scrolling, graphics, and animations on LED badges.
• Labyrinth Open source editable software project demonstrating creative direction for interactive digital projects, distributed via GitHub.
• Yaydoc Open source documentation generation tool for auto-generating and publishing documentation from code repositories.
• Neurolab Open source project related to neural network and neuroscience applications.
• Scrum Helper Open source development tool that assists teams with scrum methodology and project management processes.
• Knitting Lab Open source project providing knitting-related tools and resources.
• Query Server Open source server application for processing and serving queries from various data sources.
• FOSSASIA Summit Annual open technology conference held across Asian cities (2018 Singapore: 3,301 attendees across 53 nationalities with 235 sessions; 2026 Bangkok), featuring talks, exhibitions, workshops, and hackathons across multiple tracks.
• Codeheat Coding Contest Annual coding contest (September to February) encouraging developers to contribute to FOSSASIA projects, with prizes and a trip to the FOSSASIA Summit for winners; over 650 developers participated in the 2017/18 cycle.
• OpenTechSummit Regional Events Regional technology summit events held across China, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Indonesia, sustaining FOSSASIA's presence throughout the year alongside the flagship Summit.
• Jugaadfest Hands-on hackathon events in India that bring together developers and FOSS contributors for learning and collaboration.
• Developer Internship Program Internship program for university students, freelancers, and professionals, typically offered over summer with ongoing applications accepted.
• High School Student Program Coding program for high school students toward the end of the year, often run in cooperation with Google Code-In.
• Advanced Developer Program Program for developers who have previously completed intensive FOSSASIA programs, providing advanced contribution and leadership opportunities.
• Membership Program Individual and organizational membership offering advisory board voting rights, participation in project incubation decisions, and visibility benefits in the global open source tech community.

Quantifiable outcome

• FOSSASIA Summit 2018: 3,301 attendees over 4 days, 203 speakers, 99 volunteers, 53 nationalities, 235 sessions — one of the largest open tech events in Asia
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability9 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

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

• Government of MalaysiaminorOthers · 1 October 2018The Government of Malaysia provided support for the UNESCO Hackathon Vietnam 2018, co-organized by FOSSASIA, focusing on climate change and sustainable development in the Mekong region.
• UNESCOcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2018FOSSASIA partnered with UNESCO to organize Open Science and Open Data Hackathons at the FOSSASIA Summit 2018 in Singapore (92 participants) and in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (204 participants in October 2018). The hackathons focused on climate change, sustainable development, and environmental challenges in Asia, with winning teams developing apps using open data and SUSI.AI. UNESCO provided support through its YouthMobile Initiative and the Government of Malaysia.
• Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz)majorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2018Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz) was a lead sponsor of the FOSSASIA Summit 2018 in Singapore. Representatives from Daimler participated in keynotes and panels on open source in the automotive industry, including Vlado Koljibabic (Head of CASE IT) and Ronald Grasman (Lead Solution Architect eDrive@VANs). Daimler presented on how FOSS enables convenient charging solutions in electric vehicles.
• Google CloudmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2018Google Cloud was a lead sponsor of the FOSSASIA Summit 2018. Kaz Sato (Staff Developer Advocate) presented on real-world machine learning with TensorFlow and Cloud ML. Google developer advocates conducted Kubernetes and ML workshops. Google Cloud provided cloud infrastructure support for the event.
• Lifelong Learning Institute (Singapore)minorOthers · 1 March 2018The Lifelong Learning Institute in Singapore served as the host venue for the FOSSASIA Summit 2018 (March 22–25), providing facilities for thousands of attendees, speakers, and exhibitors.
• Open Source Initiative (OSI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2018FOSSASIA supported the 20th Anniversary celebration of the Open Source Initiative at the FOSSASIA Summit 2018. OSI Director Italo Vignoli presented on the history and evolution of open source licenses. OSI booth was supported by FOSSASIA's #OpenTechNights program participants.
• J.P. MorganmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2018J.P. Morgan participated in the FOSSASIA Summit 2018 Blockchain track, with Ramji Venkateswaran (Global Head of Cloud Ecosystem Development & Head of Cloud Services Asia) on the AI/Cloud/Blockchain panel discussing where society is heading with emerging technologies.
• MicrosoftmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2018Microsoft participated in the FOSSASIA Summit 2018 with Dr. Graham Williams (Data Science Director, APAC) on the AI/Cloud/Blockchain panel. Microsoft conducted workshops at the event.
• NextcloudminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 March 2018Frank Karlitschek, Founder of Nextcloud, participated in the AI/Cloud/Blockchain and Conversational Web panel at FOSSASIA Summit 2018, discussing open source cloud and the societal impact of technology.
• OpnTec (Germany)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpnTec, based in Germany, co-develops the PSLab (Pocket Science Lab) open hardware and software project together with FOSSASIA. This is a core technology partnership for the PSLab product line, combining FOSSASIA's community and Asian market presence with OpnTec's technical development capabilities.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Apache Software Foundation: U.S.-based nonprofit that incubates open source projects and communities (HTTP Server, Kafka, Spark). Directly comparable to FOSSASIA as a community-driven open source foundation organizing contributor ecosystems and corporate sponsorship models.
• pretix: Open source ticketing and event management platform from Germany. Directly comparable to Eventyay as an open source event management SaaS with self-hosted and hosted options targeting conferences, meetups, and community events.
• Rasa: Open source conversational AI and chatbot framework. Directly comparable to FOSSASIA's SUSI.AI as an open source platform for building AI assistants with text and voice interaction, though Rasa is more commercially focused and enterprise-oriented.
• Open Knowledge Foundation: UK-based nonprofit promoting open knowledge, open data, and civic technology. Comparable as a smaller open source/open data nonprofit with similar mission framing around openness and community-driven tools.
• Linux Foundation: Global nonprofit consortium supporting open source projects (Linux kernel, Kubernetes, Hyperledger) via corporate membership and events. Directly comparable organizational model — membership dues, sponsor-driven funding, project incubation, and global events.
• OpenJS Foundation: Linux Foundation sub-project supporting JavaScript open source ecosystems (Node.js, jQuery). Comparable as a vendor-neutral open source foundation with corporate sponsorship, project incubation, and global contributor events.
• Mozilla Foundation: Nonprofit steward of Firefox and a portfolio of open source/AI/privacy products. Comparable as an open source nonprofit with global community contributors, multiple flagship products, and a mission-driven commercial model.

Broad incumbents

• Arduino: Open-source hardware and software ecosystem for makers, educators, and IoT. Comparable as a global open hardware platform with community-driven development, educational focus, and broad maker distribution — adjacent to FOSSASIA's PSLab.
• GitHub: Microsoft-owned open source code hosting and developer collaboration platform. Comparable as the dominant global platform where FOSSASIA hosts its repositories and acquires contributors — a critical infrastructure and channel peer for FOSSASIA's developer-led growth model.
• Eventbrite: Publicly traded event management and ticketing platform. Comparable as the commercial incumbent in the same category as FOSSASIA's Eventyay — both serve event organizers with ticketing, scheduling, and attendee management, though Eventbrite is much larger and proprietary.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fossasia
• GitHubgithub.com/fossasia
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCQprMsG-raCIMlBudm20iLQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/fossasia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/fossasia-232570

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 FOSSASIA