Name

Unity Foundation

Legal name

Unity Foundation

Website

https://unityfoundation.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Technology Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

After-School, Tutoring & Academic Enrichment Nonprofits (BPAGADAC), Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

Keywords

• Open source foundations
• Community technology infrastructure
• STEAM education programs
• Civic engagement platforms
• Digital equity nonprofit

Headquarters

HQ city

St Louis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Foundation Operations and Grants: Unity Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funded through partnerships and investments. In January 2023, Object Computing and Unity Foundation pledged $2M for ongoing advancement of OpenDDS, Micronaut framework, and Grails framework through their respective nonprofit foundations.
2. Partnership Revenue: As a charitable partner of Object Computing, Inc (OCI), Unity receives support through the partnership. OCI is a technology company that has been building, supporting, and advancing open source tools for three decades.
3. Grant Funding: The Open Source Software Center at Saint Louis University was made possible by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Unity Foundation partners with SLU on these initiatives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Unity Foundation is a St. Louis-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports three open source software foundations (Grails, Micronaut, OpenDDS) and delivers open-source technology platforms—including Libre311 and the CommUNITY Infrastructure—alongside STEAM educational programs, summer camps, teacher training, and a Teen Creative Lab maker space to bridge the digital divide for under-resourced communities, especially Pre-K-12 students in the St. Louis area.

Product overview

Unity Foundation is a St. Louis-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that fosters open technology systems to enable equitable access for under-resourced communities. The organization supports three OSS product foundations—Micronaut, Grails, and OpenDDS—that are used globally by organizations including Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, and Google. Unity Foundation's portfolio of products and programs includes the CommUNITY Infrastructure ecosystem (featuring Libre311, DDS Permissions Manager, and machine learning tools), the Teen Creative Lab maker space, Open Source for Teachers and Students educational programs, and support for the SLU Open-Source Center. These offerings work together to bridge the digital divide, provide workforce development, and support Pre-K-12 students in the St. Louis area through open source technologies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Teen Creative Lab
• Open Source for Teachers and Students
• Libre311
• CommUNITY Infrastructure
• DDS Permissions Manager

Quantifiable outcome

• Open source tools used by thousands of software engineers, researchers, and end users globally
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Saint Louis University (SLU)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 January 2023Unity partnered with SLU to establish the Open Source Software Center, made possible by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant. The center provides incubation lab environment for students to engage with open source software. Undergraduate CS students work under graduate mentorship implementing designs and testing software using industry standard practices.
• Object Computing, Inc (OCI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023OCI is the parent technology company founded by Dr. Ebrahim Moshiri with 30+ years of open source expertise. OCI established the three OSS foundations (Grails, Micronaut, OpenDDS) and in January 2023 pledged $2M with Unity for ongoing advancement of these open source products. Unity was created as an extension of OCI's open source work into community service.
• St Louis County LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUnity Foundation sponsored and advised on Teen Creative Lab within Clark Family Branch - a 5,400-square-foot maker space with recording studio, green screen corner, 3D printers, design studio, gaming room, and 15 workstations. Hosts ongoing workshops and events for youth.
• Regional Data Alliance (RDA)flagshipTechnology or IntegrationPartnership on machine learning tools that harmonize data standards between national screening tools and local service providers, improving integration of data sources and enhancing delivery of community services.
• Local MotionflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrassroots advocacy organization focused on transportation equity in Columbia, MO. Collaborated on We Move tool, an open-source solution based on Open311 API enabling citizens to report and track local issues. Unity transformed this into Libre311 platform.
• Maryville UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for STEM certification courses and Playful Learning Workshops, helping PK-12 teachers unlock knowledge of open computing and integrate STEAM tools and open culture into classrooms.
• Micronaut Foundation Advisory BoardcoreTechnology or IntegrationAdvisory board includes representatives from Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, and Google - major technology leaders providing guidance on Micronaut framework development and sustainability.
• Grails FoundationcoreOthersOne of three OSS product foundations under Unity Foundation's stewardship, focused on ensuring continuity and sustainability of the Grails framework.
• OpenDDS FoundationcoreOthersOne of three OSS product foundations under Unity Foundation's stewardship, focused on ensuring continuity and sustainability of the OpenDDS middleware product.
• Micronaut FoundationcoreOthersOne of three OSS product foundations under Unity Foundation's stewardship, focused on ensuring continuity and sustainability of the Micronaut framework.
• Micronaut Foundation, LLCminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAs part of the OCI Group marketing partnership, Micronaut Foundation may send marketing communications about products and services to users who have agreed to receive marketing.
• Grails Foundation, LLCminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAs part of the OCI Group marketing partnership, Grails Foundation may send marketing communications about products and services to users who have agreed to receive marketing.
• OpenDDS Foundation, LLCminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAs part of the OCI Group marketing partnership, OpenDDS Foundation may send marketing communications about products and services to users who have agreed to receive marketing.
• Object Computing, Inc (OCI)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerOCI is Unity Foundation's charitable partner. OCI may contact users for marketing purposes about products and services of Unity, Micronaut Foundation, Grails Foundation, and OpenDDS Foundation.
• The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St LouiscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThrough Career & Workforce Readiness Unit, Unity Foundation participated in St. Louis Internship Program (SLIP) - providing intensive employability training and matching eligible students with paid summer internships. SLIP has 30+ years experience serving St. Louis youth.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Eclipse Foundation: Nonprofit foundation supporting Java/JVM ecosystem open source projects and tooling. Strongly comparable to Unity Foundation's stewardship of JVM-adjacent frameworks Micronaut and Grails and its SLU Open Source Center incubation activity.
• Apache Software Foundation: Nonprofit foundation providing governance, legal, and financial infrastructure for community-driven open source projects. Directly comparable model to Unity Foundation's OSS stewardship activities, focused on sustainability of widely used frameworks.
• Mozilla Foundation: Nonprofit that combines open source software stewardship with public-interest advocacy and digital equity missions. Comparable to Unity Foundation's hybrid model of OSS stewardship plus Pre-K-12 digital divide programming.
• Open Source Initiative: Nonprofit advocacy and standards body for open source software. Comparable to Unity Foundation in its open-source-first mission and nonprofit governance model, though focused on advocacy and licensing rather than project stewardship.
• Linux Foundation: Largest open source software foundation globally, providing neutral home and governance for hundreds of OSS projects. Directly comparable to Unity Foundation's role stewarding Grails, Micronaut, and OpenDDS through dedicated nonprofit entities, though at vastly larger scale.
• Cloud Native Computing Foundation: Foundation under the Linux Foundation umbrella supporting cloud-native OSS projects with broad enterprise adoption. Comparable to Unity's Micronaut/Grails/OpenDDS stewardship model where large tech companies (Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, Google) sit on advisory boards.
• Kapor Foundation: Foundation focused on tech equity, STEM education for underrepresented youth, and open web access. Directly comparable to Unity's mission of bridging the digital divide and providing STEAM access to under-resourced communities.

Emerging players

• Code.org: Nonprofit expanding access to computer science education in K-12 schools. Comparable to Unity Foundation's Pre-K-12 STEAM education and digital divide focus, with partial overlap in teacher training and school-based program delivery.

Broad incumbents

• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: National youth development nonprofit that operates community-based programs including workforce readiness. Unity Foundation partners with the St. Louis affiliate for the SLIP internship program, making this a peer and partial upstream/downstream relationship.
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation: Major education- and research-focused grantmaking foundation that funded the SLU Open Source Software Center which Unity Foundation partners on. Comparable as a large-scale education grantmaking foundation operating in adjacent funding territory.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/unity-foundation-stl

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 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 Unity Foundation