InSight Crime

What InSight Crime does

InSight Crime is a private nonprofit think tank and media organization that investigates, analyzes, and reports on organized crime across Latin America and the Caribbean. Founded in 2009 by journalists Steven Dudley and Jeremy McDermott, the organization operates from offices in Washington, DC and Medellín, Colombia, with a staff of approximately 50 investigators positioned across the Americas and Europe. It serves a professional audience of over 21,000 journalists, academics, government officials, and civil society leaders, delivering in-depth investigations, regular news analysis, country-level analysis, and a continuously updated criminal profiles database with infographics and maps.

Its core technological asset is a proprietary, human-curated database of criminal organizations, personalities, and country profiles, built from daily monitoring of hundreds of news outlets, academic journals, and governmental and NGO reports. This database underpins the organization's main products: investigations, news analysis, criminal profiles, country profiles, and specialized observatories for Colombia and Venezuela. Supplementary offerings include audio/podcast content (including the InSight Crime Podcast), annual conferences and workshops, and bespoke risk-analysis and diagnostics consulting. The organization holds core partnerships with American University's Center for Latin American and Latino Studies (CLALS) — where co-director Dudley is a senior research fellow — and Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, which hosts the Colombian Organized Crime Observatory. InSight Crime is a member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN).

InSight Crime operates as a community-led, donation-funded organization. Single donations start at $15 and recurring donations start at $50, with exclusive benefits offered to recurring donors. Institutional support is referenced (e.g., Sweden's development agency SIDA, academic partners), and the organization monetizes limited bespoke consulting services to partners. Content is distributed primarily through insightcrime.org, email newsletters, social media (English and Spanish), and events, with a small consulting/services layer providing additional revenue.

Name

InSight Crime

Legal name

InSight Crime

Website

https://insightcrime.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

InSight Crime is a nonprofit think tank and media organization investigating organized crime across Latin America and the Caribbean. Founded in 2009, it serves over 21,000 journalists, academics, government officials, and civil society leaders with investigative journalism, criminal profiling, and country-level analysis, funded primarily by donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Organized Crime Research and Investigative Journalism

NAICS

Other Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (922190), Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (51929)

SIC

Services-Detective, Guard & Armored Car Services (7381), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital/Online Investigations & OSINT (Non-cyber) (BPAKAEAF)

Keywords

• Organized crime research
• Investigative journalism
• Criminal intelligence analysis
• Citizen security research
• Crime news reporting

Headquarters

HQ city

Medellín

HQ country

Colombia

HQ region

Latin America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Primary revenue model based on donations from individuals and institutions. Website mentions recurring donations from $50 or single donations from $15, with exclusive benefits provided to donors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

InSight Crime is a nonprofit think tank and media organization that produces in-depth investigative journalism, news analysis, and a comprehensive criminal profiles database on organized crime across the Americas. It conducts field research, publishes country and criminal profiles with maps and infographics, runs specialized observatories (Colombia and Venezuela), and provides bespoke risk analysis and diagnostics to institutional partners. The organization is funded primarily through individual and institutional donations, grants, and consulting engagements.

Product overview

InSight Crime is a think tank and media organization that operates as a single unified platform offering investigative journalism, analysis, and specialized databases on organized crime in the Americas. The core offerings include Investigations (in-depth investigative reports), News Analysis (regular coverage), and a Criminal Profiles Database (detailed profiles of organizations and countries). Supplementary offerings include Audio/Podcast Content, specialized Observatories (Venezuela and Colombia), Conferences and Workshops, Bespoke Risk Analysis and Diagnostics services, and a Newsletter subscription. The organization functions primarily as a nonprofit media outlet rather than a commercial technology product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Investigations In-depth investigative journalism reports into organized crime networks, covering drug trafficking, gang dynamics, corruption, and criminal enterprises across the Americas, published as long-form features on insightcrime.org.
• News Analysis Regular news reporting and analysis of organized crime developments, including real-time coverage of criminal group activities, arrests, seizures, and policy changes across the Americas.
• Criminal Profiles Database Comprehensive database of profiles of criminal organizations and personalities from across the Americas, packaged with infographics and detailed maps, continuously updated from daily monitoring of news, academic, and government sources.
• Country Profiles Detailed profiles of countries in the Americas with analysis of criminal dynamics, security forces, and regional crime patterns, published as a standalone product within the InSight Crime platform.
• Bespoke Risk Analysis and Diagnostics Custom-tailored risk analysis, diagnostics, and consulting services provided to partners seeking specialized organized crime intelligence, leveraging InSight Crime's investigators and proprietary database.
• Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory Specialized observatory focused specifically on organized crime dynamics in Venezuela, with its own subdomain (observatory-venezuela.insightcrime.org), providing deep-dive coverage of Venezuelan criminal networks.
• Colombia Organized Crime Observatory Specialized observatory focused on organized crime in Colombia, hosted at Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá as a research partnership, providing deep local research capacity on Colombian criminal dynamics.
• Audio/Podcast Content Audio content including the InSight Crime Podcast featuring analysis and interviews on organized crime topics, distributed as a standalone multimedia product across the platform.
• Newsletter Weekly newsletter digest providing subscribers with the latest organized crime news and analysis, with recurring donor subscriptions starting from $50 per month unlocking exclusive benefits.

Quantifiable outcome

• Trusted by over 21,000 professionals including journalists, academics, civil society leaders, and government officials

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• American University's Center for Latin American and Latino Studies (CLALS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCLALS has sponsored joint research initiatives with InSight Crime. Steven Dudley serves as a senior research fellow at CLALS. The partnership provides academic credibility and supports collaborative research on organized crime in Latin America.
• Universidad del Rosario (Bogotá)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHome to InSight Crime's Colombian Organized Crime Observatory. This partnership enables deep local research capacity and academic collaboration on organized crime dynamics in Colombia.
• Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN)minorOthersInSight Crime is a member of GIJN, connecting with the global network of investigative journalism organizations.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Inter-American Dialogue: US-based think tank producing policy analysis on Latin America, including citizen security and rule-of-law topics. Comparable LAC focus, policy-recommendations output, and donor-supported think-tank model serving government and policy-maker audiences.
• NACLA (North American Congress on Latin America): Nonprofit research and journalism organization covering Latin America politics, including organized crime. Comparable regional research-and-reporting model and audience of academics, journalists, and civil-society readers; explicitly cited as a prior employer of an InSight Crime editor.
• Bellingcat: Open-source investigative outlet using OSINT techniques for conflict, crime, and corruption investigations. Comparable in being a donor-supported investigative organization; complementary in OSINT methodology versus InSight Crime's on-the-ground field reporting.
• Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC): Nonprofit research organization producing field-based analysis, observatories, and policy recommendations on organized crime worldwide. Closely comparable to InSight Crime in mission (research + advocacy), observatory model, and donor-funded think-tank operating model.
• Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP): Global investigative-journalism network focused on organized crime and corruption, with cross-border reporting, award-winning investigations, and a donor-funded model. Direct peer in mission, funding structure, and donor-supported investigative reporting on transnational crime.

Emerging players

• Pulitzer Center: Nonprofit journalism organization that funds and publishes investigative reporting on global issues including organized crime. Comparable donor-funded media model that supports investigative journalists producing long-form reporting on transnational crime topics.
• Forbidden Stories: Nonprofit collaborative journalism organization that continues the work of threatened reporters. Comparable donor-funded editorial mission and global investigative-journalism positioning, with overlap on topics like cartel and corruption reporting.
• C4ADS (Center for Advanced Defense Studies): Nonprofit that produces data-driven analysis on illicit networks, conflict, and security. Comparable in producing field-plus-data research products on organized crime and trafficking, with overlapping funder pools (development and security agencies).

Broad incumbents

• International Crisis Group: Large global think tank producing field-based analysis and policy recommendations on conflict, including organized crime drivers. Serves overlapping government and policy audiences but at much broader geographic and thematic scale than InSight Crime's LAC specialization.
• Transparency International: Global NGO producing corruption-related research, indices, and advocacy. Operates on donations and grants and serves a similar government/civil-society audience, though its scope is corruption rather than organized crime per se.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/insightcrime
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@InSightCrime
• Facebookfacebook.com/InSightCrime
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/insight-crime
• Instagraminstagram.com/insightcrime

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 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 InSight Crime