What CityLAB Berlin does

CityLAB Berlin is a public innovation laboratory operated by Technologiestiftung Berlin, a non-profit foundation under German civil law, and primarily funded by the Berlin Senate Chancellery (Senatskanzlei Berlin). The organization employs approximately 40 people at its headquarters at Platz der Luftbrücke 4 in Berlin (Tempelhof) and collaborates directly with Berlin's public administration, civil society, academia, and industry to prototype digital solutions for government services and civic participation. Its work spans service design, UX/UI design, prototyping, and applied AI, organized around three focus areas: Digitale Lösungen (Digital Solutions), Partizipation und Zusammenarbeit (Participation and Collaboration), and Wissen und Methoden (Knowledge and Methods).

The organization's product portfolio combines civic participation platforms with AI-enabled government tools. Core products include BärGPT, an LLM-based AI assistant for Berlin civil servants that reached 10,000 users within two months of launch; Parla, an open-source RAG-based search tool over 19,500+ Berlin parliamentary documents that delivers reported 40% time savings for the Berlin Fire Brigade; Gieß den Kiez, a platform coordinating volunteer watering of 885,825 Berlin street and park trees via open municipal data; AzuKi, an AI vocational guidance assistant co-developed with JOBLINGE Berlin; Beyond Forms, an agentic AI research project funded by a USD 1M Google.org grant; and Kiezlabor Berlin, a mobile urban laboratory (converted shipping container) touring Berlin neighborhoods. Most products are released as open source on GitHub, and Gieß den Kiez has been forked by Leipzig and Magdeburg.

CityLAB operates as a non-commercial entity with no user fees. Its revenue consists entirely of public-sector grants and project-specific funding from sources including the Berlin Senate Chancellery, the Federal Ministry for Housing (BMWSB), the Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS), KfW (via Model Projects Smart Cities), and Google.org. Services are provided free of charge to Berlin's public administration and citizens. Distribution occurs through direct engagement with districts, annual conferences (Sommerkonferenz), a regular meetup series (Gelebte Beteiligung), the Kiezlabor mobile unit, an active multi-platform social media presence, the Radio CityLAB podcast, and self-serve web platforms.

Name

CityLAB Berlin

Legal name

Technologiestiftung Berlin

Website

https://citylab-berlin.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CityLAB Berlin is a publicly funded civic tech innovation laboratory operated by Technologiestiftung Berlin, developing AI-enabled digital prototypes and participation tools for Berlin's public administration and citizens.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Technology / Government Digital Services

NAICS

Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (925), Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development (92512)

akta.pro primary industry

Smart Cities & Urban Innovation Programs (Digital Planning, Civic Tech for Cities) (BPAIANAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sustainable Cities, Urban Development & Green Infrastructure (BPADALAL), Public Works & Municipal Infrastructure (Streets, Stormwater, Facilities) (BPAIACAF)

Keywords

• Civic technology
• Public administration innovation
• Digital government services
• Smart city solutions
• Participatory urban development

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Public Funding / Grants: CityLAB Berlin is funded primarily by the Berlin Senate Chancellery (Senatskanzlei Berlin) and operates as a project under Technologiestiftung Berlin, a non-profit foundation.
2. Project-Specific Grants: Individual projects receive dedicated funding from various sources such as Google.org ($1 million for Beyond Forms), Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building / KfW (Model Projects Smart Cities), and Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Civic Innovation Platform for AzuKi).

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

CityLAB Berlin operates as a public innovation laboratory that designs, prototypes, and operates digital solutions for Berlin's public administration and citizens. Its portfolio includes AI-powered assistants (BärGPT for administration, Parla for parliamentary documents, AzuKi for vocational guidance), a civic participation platform for coordinating urban tree watering (Gieß den Kiez), a mobile neighborhood laboratory (Kiezlabor Berlin), and research projects on agentic AI for government applications (Beyond Forms). All services are provided free of charge under public funding.

Product overview

CityLAB Berlin is a public innovation laboratory operated by Technologiestiftung Berlin, funded by the Berlin Senate Chancellery. It does not operate a unified SaaS platform but rather develops and maintains a portfolio of civic technology prototypes and participation projects. The core product portfolio includes: BärGPT (AI assistant for administrative staff), Parla (AI-powered parliamentary document search), Gieß den Kiez (civic tree-watering coordination platform), Kiezlabor Berlin (mobile urban laboratory for neighborhood participation), AzuKi (AI vocational guidance for youth), and Beyond Forms (AI agents for citizen-to-government application processes). These products are complemented by the Gemeinsam Digital: Berlin implementation support initiative and the Radio CityLAB podcast. Most products are released as open source, with several being replicated in other German cities (e.g., Leipzig Gießt, Magdeburg Gießt). The organization employs approximately 40 people and collaborates with Berlin's districts, Senate administrations, civil society, and research institutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BärGPT AI assistant for Berlin's public administration employees that supports text creation and revision, brainstorming, document analysis, and summarization in German-language administrative workflows.
• Parla AI-powered knowledge management tool that makes Berlin's parliamentary documents (written inquiries and main committee proceedings) searchable via natural-language Q&A using a RAG architecture; released as open source.
• Gieß den Kiez Interactive civic platform enabling Berlin residents to explore 885,825 urban trees on a map, understand individual water needs based on age and weather data, adopt trees, and coordinate volunteer watering through open data integrations.
• Kiezlabor Berlin Mobile urban laboratory service that tours Berlin's neighborhoods as an energy-self-sufficient tiny house (converted shipping container), offering workshops, consultations, and neighborhood dialogue on topics such as climate adaptation, mobility, and public space design.
• AzuKi AI-powered vocational guidance assistant for youth and young adults seeking apprenticeships; uses dialog-based AI to identify users' strengths and interests, generate personalized competency profiles, and match them with suitable apprenticeships and available positions nearby.
• Beyond Forms Two-year research project exploring how agentic AI can transform citizen-to-government application processes; tests AI agents that guide users through complex administrative procedures without requiring form-filling, with a pilot focus on vulnerable groups.
• Gemeinsam Digital: Berlin – Umsetzungsbegleitung Methodological implementation support service for Berlin's Smart City strategy 'Gemeinsam Digital: Berlin', providing workshops, community building, and an annual conference for strategy measure implementation teams across Berlin's public administration.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 40% time savings in parliamentary research
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability7 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Senatskanzlei Berlin (Berlin Senate Chancellery)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary government partner providing funding and strategic direction for CityLAB. Jointly develops digital transformation initiatives including Gemeinsam Digital: Berlin strategy.
• Technologiestiftung BerlincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent foundation that operates CityLAB Berlin. Provides organizational infrastructure, staffing, and strategic alignment for civic tech initiatives.
• Politics for TomorrowminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with CityLAB on annual reports for Gemeinsam Digital: Berlin strategy implementation, producing learning experience documentation.
• JOBLINGE BerlincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-development partner for AzuKi AI training assistant project. JOBLINGE provides expertise on youth employment services and facilitates user testing with target demographic.
• Senatsverwaltung für Arbeit, Soziales, Gleichstellung, Integration, Vielfalt und Antidiskriminierung (SenASGIVA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partner for Beyond Forms project, providing insights into social services access barriers and facilitating connection with relevant administrative departments.
• Sozialberatung der CaritasminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial services partner in Beyond Forms project, helping analyze barriers faced by vulnerable groups in accessing government services.
• Leipzig GießtminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLeipzig became the first city to fork and adapt CityLAB's Gieß den Kiez code, creating their own version for tree watering coordination.
• Magdeburg GießtminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMagdeburg also forked CityLAB's Gieß den Kiez code to implement their own tree watering coordination platform.
• Berlin PartnerminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEconomic development agency co-organizes the annual Gemeinsam Digital: Berlin Conference with Senate Chancellery and CityLAB.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• The GovLab (NYU): Research and action lab at New York University focused on improving governance through technology, data, and innovation. Comparable as an academic-adjacent civic innovation lab that develops tools, frameworks, and prototypes for public sector use, with similar research-pilot-publishing model.
• Code for America: US-based non-profit civic technology organization that builds digital services for government and is widely regarded as the most direct international analogue to CityLAB. Both operate as non-profits building prototypes for public administration with similar service-design and agile methodologies.
• 18F (US General Services Administration): US federal government digital services team that builds technology for public agencies using agile and user-centered design. Comparable as an embedded civic-tech team within government, with similar product portfolio (forms, AI assistants, open data tools) though operating at federal rather than city scale.
• MindLab (Danish Ministry of Digital Government): Danish cross-ministerial innovation lab that develops digital solutions for the public sector using service design and citizen participation. Highly comparable as a European government innovation lab of similar scale and methodology, though embedded directly within a ministry rather than a foundation.

Broad incumbents

• Nesta: UK innovation foundation running mission-driven programs including government innovation, AI for the public good, and civic participation. Broader thematic scope and larger budget than CityLAB but operates a similar model of publicly-funded innovation projects with societal impact.
• GovTech Singapore: Singapore's Government Technology Agency, which builds and operates digital services for citizens and public officers. Comparable mission (digital public services, AI assistants, smart city platforms) but operates at national scale with significantly larger resources and procurement authority.

Regional players

• Helsinki Digital (Helsinki City): City of Helsinki's digital transformation program developing smart city services, digital participation tools, and AI assistants for residents. Comparable as a European city-level digital government initiative with similar citizen-participation and AI-deployment focus.
• Prototype Fund: German federal civic tech funding program that supports public-interest technology projects, often via the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany. Operates in the same German civic-tech ecosystem as CityLAB with overlapping grantee networks, though as a funder rather than a builder.
• Barcelona Ciutat Digital: Barcelona's municipal digital transformation program, including citizen participation platforms, open data initiatives, and smart-city deployments. Comparable as another European city pursuing citizen-centric digital public services, though without a dedicated civic-tech lab structure.

Emerging players

• Open Data Institute: UK-based non-profit that promotes open data adoption and supports civic technology initiatives. Comparable through shared emphasis on open data infrastructure (e.g., Gieß den Kiez's open municipal data integration) and open-source civic tech, though ODI focuses more on ecosystem advocacy than building tools directly.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/citylabberlin
• GitHubgithub.com/technologiestiftung
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCXKw3_0L2rqLpz94L7YwFqg/playlists?view=50&sort=dd&shelf_id=4
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/citylab-berlin
• Instagraminstagram.com/citylabbln

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CityLAB Berlin