Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance

What Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance does

Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization founded in 2012 that supports and builds cooperatives, with an explicit programmatic focus on racial justice and community wealth-building. The organization operates as a regional alliance within the cooperative economy ecosystem, convening and resourcing cooperative developers, existing co-ops, and aligned stakeholders across the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Leadership consists of a small core team led by President Brad Forbes and Vice President Tara Taylor, with stated headcount of 1–10 employees — consistent with a lean nonprofit convening and capacity-building body rather than a service-delivery operator at scale.

Underlying technology, core product surface, and revenue mechanics are not disclosed in the available source material. The primary public-facing asset referenced is the organization's web presence at philadelphia.coop; no proprietary platform, SaaS product, or technology stack is documented. Business model is not itemized, but consistent with comparable nonprofit cooperative-development alliances: foundation grants, member/program dues, philanthropic contributions, and contracted technical assistance to forming and existing cooperatives. No customer logos, pricing schedules, partnerships, awards, regulatory actions, or M&A activity are recorded in the input. The opportunity profile for external investors is therefore not equity-investment in the conventional sense; engagement (if any) would more likely take the form of program-related investment, grant funding, or philanthropic capital aligned with the organization's racial-justice and wealth-building mission.

Name

Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance

Website

https://philadelphia.coop

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit founded in 2012 that supports and builds cooperatives, with a programmatic focus on racial justice and community wealth-building in the Philadelphia region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Core offering

Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance supports and builds cooperatives in the Philadelphia area, with a programmatic focus on racial justice and community wealth building. It functions as an alliance organization providing development, education, and convening support to cooperative enterprises and community stakeholders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves1 record

Direct peers

• ICA Group: Nonprofit consulting firm that works with cooperatives, employee-owned enterprises, and other democratic businesses on formation, governance, and finance — a peer in cooperative technical assistance and consulting.
• Cooperative Development Institute: Regional cooperative development nonprofit serving the Northeast that supports startup, conversion, and growth of cooperatives — directly comparable to PACoA in mission, geography, and services.
• Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF): Community development financial institution (CDFI) that lends to and supports cooperatives and small businesses — an adjacent peer in the cooperative ecosystem, especially around capitalization of member co-ops.
• Democracy at Work Institute: Worker-cooperative development and education organization that delivers training, consulting, and best-practice resources to start-up and conversion co-ops, mirroring the technical-assistance role PACoA plays at the regional level.
• Project Equity: Nonprofit that helps business owners convert to worker- or community-owned cooperatives through advising and research — a peer in cooperative development strategy and impact storytelling.
• US Federation of Worker Cooperatives: National membership-based federation of U.S. worker cooperatives that provides training, advocacy, and a shared infrastructure for member co-ops — directly analogous to PACoA's regional alliance role, but at national scale and focused on the worker-coop segment.
• The Working World: Nonprofit that finances and incubates worker cooperatives, especially in low-income communities — comparable to PACoA in combining cooperative development with a wealth-building, equity-focused mission.
• Boston Center for Community Ownership: Northeast-based nonprofit that supports conversion of small businesses into community-owned cooperatives — comparable to PACoA in combining cooperative ownership with place-based wealth-building goals.

Emerging players

• Cooperative Fund of New England: Community loan fund that finances cooperatives and community-owned enterprises across New England — a regional peer whose member-lending model overlaps with the financing pipeline PACoA aims to unlock for its members.

Broad incumbents

• National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA CLUSA): Largest U.S. cooperative trade association, representing diverse co-op sectors at the federal level — a broader incumbent that overlaps with PACoA's alliance function but at national scale across many industries.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/PhillyCoops
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/phillycoops

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 Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance