What Open Knowledge Brasil does

Open Knowledge Brasil (OKBR), also known legally as Rede pelo Conhecimento Livre, is a Brazilian nonprofit civil society organization (OSC) founded in 2013 as the official Brazilian chapter of the Open Knowledge Foundation. The organization promotes free knowledge, government transparency, and open data across four operational axes: Advocacy and Research, Civic Innovation (Inovação Cidadã), Escola de Dados (data literacy training), and Parcerias e Serviços (paid consulting and services). Its core technology is built on open-source civic infrastructure, including the Querido Diário platform — automated web scraping robots using natural language processing to aggregate and structure official municipal gazettes from Brazilian cities — and Operação Serenata de Amor's Rosie AI, which applies anomaly detection to parliamentary expense reimbursements (CEAP). Supporting products include Gastos Abertos (budget transparency), Parlametria (legislative monitoring), Diários do Clima (climate policy tracking), ODI Cidades (open data evaluation across 26 capitals), and the Prêmio Cláudio Weber Abramo data journalism award.

The organization operates a hybrid revenue model combining institutional grants from foundations (Open Society Foundations, Hivos, Fundação Lemann, Google News Initiative, Instituto Betty e Jacob Lafer), individual donations and crowdfunding via Catarse, Apoia.se, and direct PIX/bank transfers, and fee-based professional services to government agencies (TCU, BNDES, Prefeitura de São Paulo, World Bank) and media organizations (Folha de S.Paulo, O Estado de S. Paulo). Distribution relies on a 100+ person Embaixadoras (Ambassadors) network, the annual Coda.Br data journalism conference, the Escola de Dados training programs, and active community engagement via Discord, GitHub, and forum channels. The customer base spans civil society coalitions, federal and municipal government agencies, journalists and newsrooms, educational institutions, and citizens. Core team is estimated at 10-15 members plus a 7-person Governance Council, with strategic infrastructure partnerships (including a 2026 partnership with IME-USP for hosting) replacing foreign hyperscaler dependencies.

Name

Open Knowledge Brasil

Legal name

Open Knowledge Brasil

Website

https://ok.org.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Open Knowledge Brasil is a Brazilian nonprofit and the Brazilian chapter of the Open Knowledge Foundation, operating since 2013 to promote open data, government transparency, and data literacy through civic-technology platforms (Querido Diário, Operação Serenata de Amor), paid consulting to government and media clients, and a nationwide community, ambassador, and coalition network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Technology and Open Data Services

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519), Educational Support Services (611710), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Communications, Transparency & Open Government (BPAIAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Transparency Portals & Open Data Reporting (EDADAIAN), MOOC & Open Course Platforms (EDAFAIAA)

Keywords

• Open data advocacy
• Civic technology platforms
• Government transparency consulting
• Data journalism training
• Civic innovation programs

Headquarters

HQ city

São Paulo

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Crowdfunding campaigns and direct donations from individuals supporting specific projects like Querido Diário and Serenata de Amor. Campaigns on platforms like Catarse and Apoia.se.
2. Professional Services: Fee-based consulting, training, and custom services for government agencies and organizations. Includes research and evaluation, open data implementation, data science projects, technology development, and capacity building. Revenue supports organizational sustainability.
3. Institutional Funding: Grants and funding from foundations and international organizations including Open Knowledge Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Hivos, Google News Initiative, and others for specific projects and initiatives.
4. Bank Transfers and PIX: Direct bank transfers and PIX donations through institutional banking (Itaú Unibanco) using CNPJ 19.131.243/0001-97

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Open Knowledge Brasil is a nonprofit civil society organization that promotes open data, government transparency, and free knowledge through civic technology development, data journalism training, policy advocacy, and paid consulting services. Its flagship offerings are the Querido Diário platform (which aggregates Brazilian municipal official gazettes via automated scraping and NLP) and Operação Serenata de Amor (AI-powered auditing of parliamentary spending), alongside the Escola de Dados data literacy program serving more than 30,000 participants since 2013.

Product overview

Open Knowledge Brasil operates as a multi-product civic technology organization with a portfolio of interconnected tools organized under four strategic axes: Advocacy e Pesquisa (advocacy and research), Inovação Cidadã (civic innovation), Escola de Dados (data literacy), and Parcerias e Serviços (partnerships and services). The core products include Querido Diário — the flagship open data platform that aggregates and publishes Brazilian municipal official gazettes in open format using automated scraping and NLP — and Operação Serenata de Amor, a collaborative AI-powered fiscal auditing project. Supporting products include Gastos Abertos for budget transparency, Parlametria for legislative monitoring, and Diários do Clima for environmental policy tracking. Escola de Dados is a standalone educational sub-brand offering training, community events, and the annual Coda.Br conference. The ODI Cidades index provides civic evaluations of open data quality across Brazilian cities. Parcerias e Serviços offers paid consulting, development, and training services to governments and organizations. The products share a common infrastructure of open data, open-source code, and community engagement to promote government transparency and civic participation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Escola de Dados: A global network committed to advancing the use of data to solve real problems for more conscious, sustainable, and just societies. Provides data literacy training to individuals and organizations.
• Querido Diário
• Operação Serenata de Amor

Products and services

• Querido Diário Free software platform that aggregates and publishes Brazilian municipal official gazettes (diários oficiais) in open format, using automated scraping robots and natural language processing to continuously access, process, and categorize data for civil society access and monitoring via web interface and public API.
• Operação Serenata de Amor Collaborative open project using AI (Rosie) to audit parliamentary expense reimbursements (CEAP), flagging suspicious spending for social control and reporting to the Chamber of Deputies. Analyzed over 3 million reimbursements and identified more than 17,700 suspected irregularities.
• Escola de Dados Training program offering in-person and online courses, tutorials, research, and community events to help organizations, journalists, and citizens use data to solve real problems. Since 2013, more than 30,000 people have participated in activities, events, and courses organized by the program.
• Índice de Dados Abertos para Cidades (ODI Cidades) Civic evaluation of the availability and quality of government open data, applying internationally recognized standards and best practices to identify bottlenecks in areas of public interest and guide open data policies at the municipal level.
• Gastos Abertos Platform connecting citizens with public budget and spending information, offering step-by-step guidance for local leaders to monitor and control public expenditures, management contracts, and bidding processes.
• Diários do Clima Platform built on Querido Diário that aggregates environmental policy data to help researchers, journalists, and activists monitor climate-related government acts published in Brazilian municipal gazettes.
• Querido Diário: Tecnologias na Educação Transparency tool that uses Querido Diário's intelligence to identify and track public acts related to technology adoption, contracts, norms, and decisions in Brazilian municipal education systems.
• Parlametria Set of tools and reports that translate and make sense of Brazilian legislative data so that civil society can monitor and influence debates in the National Congress, developed in open technologies.
• Queremos Saber Platform that submits Lei de Acesso à Informação (FOIA) requests on behalf of citizens, protecting their privacy by not revealing the identity of the requester to government bodies.
• Transparência Covid-19 Evaluation platform monitoring the availability and quality of Covid-19 pandemic information published by union, states, and capitals, assessing content, granularity, and format dimensions of public health transparency.
• SORRIA #EstamosVigiando Investigation into surveillance technologies deployed during Covid-19 in Latin America, covering data collection, human rights, and transparency in government technology procurement for pandemic response.
• Parcerias e Serviços Paid services unit offering research and evaluation, open data consulting, data science, open technology development, and customized training to governments and organizations committed to transparency, integrity, and open innovation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 30,000 people trained in data literacy activities since 2013
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 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

AI capability8 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Centro de Competência em Software Livre (CCSL) - IME-USPcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 June 2026Partnership for hosting Querido Diário infrastructure. CCSL provides computing resources (servers, processing, and storage) without financial compensation to enable operation of Querido Diário and other free knowledge initiatives maintained by OKBR. Partnership has indefinite duration and source code remains under OKBR ownership under open source licenses.
• Open Knowledge FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOKBR is the official Brazilian chapter of Open Knowledge Foundation, present in more than 40 countries. Represents Open Knowledge in Brazil since 2013 following agreement with the foundation.
• Coalizão Direitos na Rede (CDR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOKBR participates in CDR, a coalition of 50+ civil society organizations defending digital rights and open internet. OKBR is active in working groups on Personal Data Protection and Privacy, and Surveillance.
• Fórum de Direito de Acesso a Informações PúblicascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of civil society entities, media organizations, and researchers dedicated to social control of Freedom of Information Law implementation in Brazil.
• Rede Brasileira de Governo AbertocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork bringing together governmental and civil society organizations to contribute to strengthening democracy and open government agenda at federal, state, and municipal levels in Brazil.
• Rede pela Transparência e Participação SocialcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of civil society entities defending topics related to Open Government principles, particularly participation rights and access to information.
• Pacto pela DemocraciacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlural, non-partisan network of organizations focused on defending democratic values and institutions through gatherings, positioning, and collaborative actions.
• Abraji - Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo InvestigativocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for data journalism forum and Coda.Br conference, combining OKBR's data expertise with Abraji's journalism network.
• Plataforma de Ciência de Dados aplicada à Saúde (PCDaS/Icict/Fiocruz)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner for QD-Universidades program and COVID-19 transparency initiatives, combining data science expertise with public health research.
• Centro pela Justiça e o Direito Internacional (CEJIL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead organization for SORRIA #EstamosVigiando project on surveillance technologies during COVID-19. OKBR responsible for data collection in Brazil.
• Derechos DigitalesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLatin American human rights organization partnering on SORRIA project for monitoring surveillance technologies.
• Diários do Clima CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of 6 organizations (Agência Eco Nordeste, OKBR, Agência Envolverde, InfoAmazonia, ((o))eco, Projeto #Colabora) for monitoring climate policy through official gazettes.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Sunlight Foundation: US nonprofit focused on government transparency, open data, and political accountability. Highly comparable mission and product portfolio (open legislative/financial data tools, civic-tech training, policy advocacy).
• mySociety: UK civic-tech charity that builds tools like WhatDoTheyKnow and TheyWorkForYou (FOIA + legislative monitoring). Direct comparable to OKBR's Queremos Saber (FOIA) and Parlametria (legislative) projects; shares nonprofit + grant + services mix.
• Open Knowledge Foundation: Parent/affiliate global network of Open Knowledge chapters. Directly comparable mission around open data, government transparency, and civic tech across 40+ countries; OKBR operates as the Brazilian chapter with shared brand and standards (e.g., CKAN).
• Code for America: US nonprofit using civic technology and open data to improve government services. Highly comparable model combining policy advocacy, civic-tech tool development, and government partnerships with comparable funding mix (foundations + contracts).
• Transparência Hacker Brasil: Brazilian civic-tech collective focused on transparency, open data, and FOIA-style accountability. Closely comparable as a domestic peer operating in the same transparency/hack-for-good space; former executive Haydée Svab was a member.

Regional players

• Civio (Spain): Spanish foundation using data journalism and civic tech to monitor public spending and government accountability. Closely comparable product model (Querido Diário / Gastos Abertos analogues) but operates in Spain/LatAm context rather than Brazil directly.

Others

• Centro de Competência em Software Livre (CCSL) - IME-USP: Academic free-software competence center at University of São Paulo that hosts Querido Diário infrastructure as of July 2026. Enabling partner rather than competitor — shared commitment to sovereign, open-source infrastructure for civic tech.
• Abraji (Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo): Brazilian investigative journalism association partnering with OKBR on the data journalism forum and Prêmio Cláudio Weber Abramo. Strong overlap in target audience (Brazilian journalists) but focuses on journalism rather than civic tech directly.

Broad incumbents

• Mozilla Foundation: Global nonprofit advocating open internet, data privacy, and digital rights. Broader scope than OKBR but adjacent mission (Coalizão Direitos na Rede member overlapping on digital rights/privacy working groups), with comparable foundation-funded advocacy model.

Emerging players

• Brazil.io: Brazilian open-data platform offering downloadable public datasets (COVID, elections, etc.). Partial overlap with OKBR's open-data mission; smaller, more developer-focused than OKBR's broad civic-tech + training portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/okfn-brasil
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCj3cxh6y1toc4sS3xWJtKxA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/open-knowledge-brasil?originalSubdomain=br
• Instagraminstagram.com/openknowledgebrasil
• Xx.com/okfnbr
• Facebookfacebook.com/OpenKnowledgeBrasil

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Open Knowledge Brasil