Archiefpunt

What Archiefpunt does

Archiefpunt vzw is a Belgian non-profit association (vereniging zonder winstoogmerk) headquartered in Ghent that operates the Archiefbank, a centralized database and search portal for metadata on private archives and collections in Flanders and Brussels. The organization was founded in 2005 and was formally designated as the coordinator for the private archives registry under the Flemish Cultural Heritage Decree of 6 July 2012. Its core technology conforms to international archival description standards (ISAD, ISAAR, ISDIAH, RiCO) and the dataset is published under a CC0 open-data license. Archiefpunt is governed by a consortium of nine founding partner archive institutions: ADVN, AMSAB-ISG, AMVB, CAVA, KADOC-KUL, Letterenhuis, Liberas, VAI, and Rijksarchief (the Belgian State Archives), with operating funding provided by the Flemish Government (Vlaamse overheid).

The product surface consists of the Archiefbank search portal as the core registry, complemented by a Kennisbank (knowledge bank of practical archival tips), a Herbestemmen working group that rehomes orphaned archives, an Erfgoedkaart geographic integration, a user-account dashboard ("Mijn fiches"), and web exhibitions ("Webtentoonstellingen"). Metadata is harvested outward into pan-European infrastructure including Archives Portal Europe and Europeana. The organization also runs the Oorlogsdagboeken war-diaries project and coordinates sector-wide campaigns such as International Archives Week and Erfgoeddag.

Archiefpunt's business model is that of a grant-funded public-good platform: all services are provided free of charge to users (researchers, archive holders, the general public), and operations are sustained by recurring Flemish government subsidies under the Cultural Heritage Decree. There is no commercial revenue stream, no pricing tiers, no equity funding, and no M&A activity. The go-to-market is community- and network-led, relying on the partner-institution network for content contribution and on content marketing (website, social media, newsletters, exhibitions, campaigns) for outreach to archive holders and researchers. Customer concentration on the Flemish Government as sole funder is structurally Critical but mitigated by the statutory mandate.

Name

Archiefpunt

Legal name

Vzw Archiefpunt

Website

https://archiefpunt.be

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Archiefpunt is a Belgian non-profit that operates the Archiefbank, the centralized metadata registry for private archives and collections in Flanders and Brussels, funded by the Flemish Government under the 2012 Cultural Heritage Decree and governed by nine partner archive institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Heritage Archive Management

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (519210), Libraries and Archives (51921)

akta.pro primary industry

Archives, Special Collections & Preservation Operations (Rare Materials, Conservation) (EDAEAGAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Library Collections & Cataloging Services (Acquisitions, Metadata, Circulation) (EDAEAGAE), Libraries, Archives & Special Collections (BPAGAHAF)

Keywords

• Archival database services
• Cultural heritage preservation
• Private archive registry
• Archival metadata management
• Heritage search portal

Headquarters

HQ city

Gent

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Free Platform Access: Archiefpunt provides its Archiefbank platform and services free of charge to users. The platform is an initiative of the Flemish Community funded by government support, with no direct revenue generation from users.
2. Government Funding: As a non-profit organization, Archiefpunt is supported by the Flemish government (Vlaamse overheid) to fulfill its mission of managing, protecting and making cultural heritage accessible.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Archiefpunt operates Archiefbank, a centralized metadata database and search portal that lists private archives and collections (organizational, family and personal) across Flanders and Brussels, linked to preservation locations and contacts. It complements the registry with a knowledge bank (Kennisbank) offering practical archival management guidance and a Herbestemmen service that rehomes orphaned or at-risk archives by matching them with suitable institutional custodians. All services are provided free of charge to researchers, archive holders, and partner institutions.

Product overview

Archiefpunt operates a single unified platform called Archiefbank — a central database and search portal for private archives and collections in Flanders and Brussels. The platform is complemented by a Knowledge Bank (Kennisbank) for practical archive management guidance, a Herbestemmen working group for archive relocation, an Erfgoedkaart integration for geographic heritage overview, and user account management tools (Mijn fiches). The Archiefbank uses international archival description standards (ISAD, ISAAR, ISDIAH, RiCO) and supports manual data entry as well as automated data harvesting from partner institutions. No separate API product is offered.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Archiefbank: The central database and search portal for private archives and collections in Flanders and Brussels, managed by Archiefpunt.

Products and services

• Archiefbank

Quantifiable outcome

• Metadata distributed internationally via Archives Portal Europe and Europeana under CC0 license

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ADVN (Archief voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerADVN is one of 9 founding partner institutions of Archiefpunt, contributing to the collaborative network for private archive preservation in Flanders. As a founding partner, ADVN helps govern and develop the Archiefpunt initiative.
• AMSAB-ISG (Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAMSAB-ISG is a founding partner institution of Archiefpunt, contributing to the collaborative archive preservation network. The institute specializes in social history archives.
• AMVB (Archief en Museum voor het Vaderlandsch Cultuurleven)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAMVB is a founding partner of Archiefpunt, participating in the collaborative network for cultural heritage archives in Flanders.
• CAVA (Centrum voor Archiefvorming)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCAVA is a founding partner of Archiefpunt, contributing expertise in archive formation and management.
• KADOC-KUL (Documentatie- en Onderzoekscentrum voor Religieuze Cultuur)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKADOC-KUL is a founding partner of Archiefpunt, representing the Catholic University of Leuven's documentation center for religious culture.
• LetterenhuiscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLetterenhuis is a founding partner of Archiefpunt, specializing in literary archives and collections.
• LiberascoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiberas is a founding partner of Archiefpunt, contributing to the collaborative archive preservation network.
• VAI (Vlaams Architectuurinstituut)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVAI (Vlaams Architectuurinstituut) is a founding partner of Archiefpunt, specializing in architecture archives.
• Rijksarchief (State Archives of Belgium)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRijksarchief is a founding partner of Archiefpunt, representing the Belgian state archives network.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Internet Archive: Nonprofit digital library preserving cultural artifacts and providing free public access. Comparable as a mission-driven, free-access digital preservation organization, though with global rather than regional scope.
• Europeana: EU-wide cultural-heritage platform that receives Archiefpunt's CC0 metadata. Operates as a much larger, pan-European aggregator with overlapping mission around digital archive access.
• The National Archives (UK): UK government archive body that publishes descriptive standards and operates a national archive catalog. Comparable as a publicly funded archive registry and standards authority operating at larger scale.
• OCLC (WorldCat): Global library cooperative operating the WorldCat union catalog. Comparable as a metadata aggregator serving libraries and archives, but operating commercially at much greater scale.

Regional players

• Library and Archives Canada: Canadian federal institution combining national library and archival functions. Comparable as a publicly mandated body preserving and providing access to documentary heritage.
• Bibliothèque nationale de France: French national library responsible for bibliographic heritage and archive access. Comparable as a publicly funded national information institution stewarding cultural-heritage metadata.
• Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB): Dutch national library with mandate to preserve and provide access to cultural heritage. Comparable as a publicly funded national information institution stewarding metadata and collections in the Low Countries.
• Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek: German national digital library portal aggregating metadata from cultural and scientific institutions. Comparable as a government-backed portal consolidating heterogeneous archive/library records.

Direct peers

• Archives Portal Europe: European archival aggregator that Archiefpunt feeds metadata into. Directly comparable as a registry/search portal aggregating descriptive records from multiple national and institutional archive partners.
• Netwerk Digitaal Erfgoed: Dutch national network for digital heritage that aggregates metadata from memory institutions across the Netherlands. Closely comparable as a regional nonprofit consortium producing a unified cultural-heritage registry.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/archiefpunt
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/archiefpunt
• Instagraminstagram.com/archiefpunt

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Archiefpunt