CeMAS - Center für Monitoring, Analyse und Strategie

What CeMAS - Center für Monitoring, Analyse und Strategie does

CeMAS - Center für Monitoring, Analyse und Strategie is a Berlin-based non-profit (gemeinnützige gGmbH) civil society research institution and think tank that bundles interdisciplinary expertise on disinformation, right-wing extremism, antisemitism, and conspiracy ideologies. The organization employs a team of 17 staff — including political data scientists, psychologists, OSINT researchers, and area specialists — to systematically monitor and analyze digital threats to democracy across Telegram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and X. CeMAS's output portfolio includes peer-reviewed research papers and policy briefs, the continuously updated "Terror seit dem NSU" database of right-wing terrorism in Germany since 2011, the Digital Seismograph: Monitoring Terrorism (DSMT) project tracking online right-wing extremist developments since 2023, the SHIFT initiative spanning 13 European countries on disinformation and societal trust, the kuKI project deploying an AI pipeline for multilingual narrative detection on Telegram, YouTube, and TikTok together with a disinformation knowledge graph, and a dedicated BTW2025 election monitoring platform that ran through the 2025 German federal election campaign.

CeMAS's underlying technology stack combines OSINT research, systematic online monitoring, web scraping, political data science, and (within kuKI) machine-learning-based narrative detection and knowledge-graph construction across Russian- and Turkish-language communities. The organization is led by Managing Director Josef Holnburger (a political data scientist appointed in 2021) and COO Gregor Bauer, with senior researchers including alumni of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) London, Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, Die Welt, King's College London, and TU Berlin. Research findings are disseminated through free PDF downloads, a blog and newsletter, Instagram, Bluesky, and LinkedIn, and through recurring expert commentary in major German outlets including Tagesschau, Spiegel, and ZDF heute.

CeMAS operates a donation-driven business model: as a registered charitable gGmbH it accepts individual donations at €10, €20, €50, €100, and custom tiers and provides tax-deductible receipts for German donors, while distributing all research outputs free of charge. Its go-to-market is community-led and impact-oriented — generating reach through publications, conference presentations (e.g., re:publica, Digital-Gipfel), media appearances, and direct policy engagement — rather than through paid contracts. Target audiences are policymakers and political decision-makers, media organizations, civil society NGOs, and the general public across Germany and Europe; the organization appears to be supported in part by unstated institutional grants and donations rather than by a single dominant funding source.

Name

CeMAS - Center für Monitoring, Analyse und Strategie

Legal name

Center für Monitoring, Analyse und Strategie gGmbH

Website

https://cemas.io

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CeMAS is a Berlin-based non-profit think tank that uses OSINT, data science, and AI to monitor and analyze disinformation, right-wing extremism, antisemitism, and conspiracy ideologies, serving policymakers, media, civil society, and the public across Germany and Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Germany

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Support: CeMAS operates as a gemeinnützig (non-profit/charitable) organization and relies on donations from the public. The organization accepts donations at various levels (10€, 20€, 50€, 100€, and more) and provides donation receipts for tax purposes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CeMAS is a civil society research institution and think tank that systematically monitors and analyzes disinformation, right-wing extremism, antisemitism, and conspiracy ideologies across digital platforms using OSINT, web scraping, and political data science. It produces downloadable research papers, policy briefs, and reports, maintains a longitudinal database on right-wing terrorism in Germany since 2011, and operates AI-assisted monitoring (kuKI), transnational counter-disinformation initiatives (SHIFT), and election-period monitoring platforms.

Product overview

CeMAS is a civil society research institution and think tank that bundles interdisciplinary expertise on disinformation, right-wing extremism, antisemitism, and conspiracy ideologies. The organization offers a portfolio of research publications (research papers, reports, policy briefs), monitoring projects (DSMT, kuKI, SHIFT), and databases (Terror since NSU, BTW2025). The core offering consists of systematic online monitoring using OSINT research and computational methods, producing evidence-based analyses and recommendations for policymakers, security authorities, media, and civil society.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Digital Seismograph: Monitoring Terrorism (DSMT): A project that monitors and analyzes right-wing terrorist developments online through systematic monitoring and qualitative, quantitative and OSINT-guided investigations.
• SHIFT
• kuKI

Products and services

• CeMAS Research Publications Downloadable research papers, reports, and policy briefs on disinformation, right-wing extremism, antisemitism, and conspiracy ideologies, providing evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, security authorities, media, and civil society.
• Digital Seismograph: Monitoring Terrorism (DSMT) Systematic monitoring project observing and analyzing right-wing terrorist developments online through qualitative, quantitative, and OSINT-guided investigations, producing a continuously updated database on right-wing terrorism in Germany since the NSU.
• kuKI - Kulturalisierungssensible KI-Assistenz Project developing AI-powered monitoring on Telegram, YouTube, and TikTok, an AI pipeline for narrative detection, and a disinformation knowledge graph on topics, actors, and campaigns to build multilingual disinformation resilience for Russian- and Turkish-speaking communities.
• SHIFT - Shaping Informed Frameworks for Trust Interdisciplinary project covering 13 European countries that examines the influence of disinformation on societal trust and tests scalable counter-strategies to strengthen societal resilience and enable early containment of spread narratives.
• Terror seit dem NSU Database Continuously updated database documenting right-wing terrorist activities in Germany since the NSU's self-revelation in 2011, covering executed attacks, foiled plots, and state responses to support research and analysis of current developments.
• BTW2025 Monitoring Platform Dedicated monitoring website documenting digital risks around the 2025 German federal election, analyzing disinformation and influence campaigns during the campaign period from January 15 to February 23, 2025.

Quantifiable outcome

• Population survey data on conspiracy beliefs: 12.4% of Germans and 16.2% of Austrians show agreement with QAnon narratives; 19% of Germans believe Russian attack on Ukraine was a justified response to NATO provocation.
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 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

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• AlgorithmWatch: German civil society organization auditing algorithmic systems and their societal impact. Comparable as a German non-profit at the intersection of technology and democracy, with overlapping policy and media audiences, though focused on algorithmic accountability rather than disinformation directly.
• Logically: AI-driven company offering disinformation detection, narrative tracking, and threat intelligence. Comparable on AI tooling for narrative detection (similar in scope to CeMAS's kuKI pipeline) but operates as a commercial technology vendor rather than a think tank.

Direct peers

• CORRECTIV: German investigative journalism and fact-checking organization. Comparable as a DACH-based civil society actor producing investigative content on disinformation, extremism, and democracy issues, with overlapping media and policy audiences.
• Reset: European non-profit developing public-interest technology and policy responses to disinformation and harmful content. Directly comparable as a values-aligned civil society actor working at the intersection of technology and democratic resilience.
• EU DisinfoLab: European non-profit research initiative focused on disinformation analysis and policy response. Directly comparable in subject matter (disinformation, FIMI), European geographic focus, and civil society think-tank structure.
• Graphika: Social network analysis company specializing in disinformation and influence-operation mapping. Directly comparable in computational analysis of online networks, extremist communities, and narrative spread, though Graphika is a commercial entity.
• Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD): Global think tank and operational NGO working on disinformation, extremism, and foreign interference — directly comparable mission and methodology. CeMAS's Julia Smirnova was an ISD London analyst from 2021–2024, evidencing direct talent and methodological overlap.
• Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab, Atlantic Council): Open-source research lab analyzing disinformation, extremism, and influence operations on social platforms. Directly comparable OSINT methodology, open publication model, and policy-facing outputs.

Regional players

• Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV): Berlin-based independent think tank working on technology and society policy. Comparable as a German policy-focused think tank serving the same policymaker and media ecosystem in Berlin, though focused on broader digital policy rather than disinformation research specifically.

Broad incumbents

• Counter Extremism Project (CEP): International policy and advocacy organization focused on extremist movements, with broader geographic scope and a wider portfolio (legal advocacy, tech tools, policy). Comparable subject matter but operates at a more established and broader institutional scale than CeMAS.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/center-f%C3%BCr-monitoring-analyse-und-strategie
• Instagraminstagram.com/cemas_io

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 CeMAS - Center für Monitoring, Analyse und Strategie