What ColaBoraBora does

ColaBoraBora (legal name: ColaBoraBora Koop. elk. txikia) is a small social-initiative cooperative (kooperatiba txikia) headquartered in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain, founded in 2001 as AMASTÉ Comunicación and rebranded to its current name around 2013. The cooperative designs and facilitates what it calls "Situaciones Colaborativas" — collaborative situations centered on people and their environments — through a proprietary framework comprising a components matrix, process phases (Preliminares/Desarrollo/Cierre), and a planning guide ("la guía"). The core deliverable portfolio is methodological and human-facilitation-centric: bespoke collaborative-design services, the KOOPtel kit for multi-agent collaboration, transmedia and speculative-design research lines (Transbiotika, BILBOtik-ra), an internal play-based R&D+i lab (J0K04N/JOKOAN), and training/empowerment programmes. All published outputs are released under Creative Commons (cc by-sa).

The cooperative is operated by a five-person transdisciplinary team — Ricardo Antón, Txelu Balboa, Leire García, Iranzu Guijarro, and Javi Modino — combining training in fine arts, industrial design engineering, strategic design (University of Deusto), marketing (EHU), business administration (EHU), and psychodrama (IEPPP/FEAPs). The team works from offices co-located inside Wikitoki, a collaborative-practices laboratory of which ColaBoraBora is a founding/host member. ColaBoraBora is a member of more than ten Basque cooperative and social-economy networks (Wikitoki, Goratuz, REAS Euskadi, KARRASKAN, Sarean, Colaboratorio IC, EIDE, Innobasque, REACC, KoSorkuntza Ekosistema/Arantzazulab) and is a key partner in the Bherria public-social innovation programme.

The business model is project-based professional services and consulting: revenue is earned through commissioned projects that design and facilitate collaborative processes, co-design methodologies, deliver training, and conduct research for Basque and Spanish public institutions (Gobierno Vasco, Ayuntamiento de Bilbao, Diputación Foral de Bizkaia), cooperatives, civil society organizations (BBK Kuna, REAS networks, KARRASKAN, Mugarik Gabe, Zemos98), and cultural actors. Pricing is custom-negotiated per engagement with no publicly disclosed rates, and go-to-market is community-led: a bilingual newsletter (CBBerriak), a blog and open-resource library, social media (LinkedIn, Twitter/X, YouTube, Flickr), network referrals, and participation in events. No external funding rounds, parent company, subsidiaries, or M&A activity have been disclosed, and the cooperative has experienced documented periods of financial precarity (notably a 2014 "Estamos en COMA" crisis) before recovering. No AI/ML, mobile app, API, or productized software distribution has been disclosed.

Name

ColaBoraBora

Legal name

ColaBoraBora Koop. elk. txikia

Website

https://colaborabora.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Small Bilbao-based cooperative of social initiative designing and facilitating collaborative situations (Situaciones Colaborativas framework, KOOPtel kit) for Basque public institutions, cooperatives, and civil society organizations via project-based consulting, transmedia research, and play-based R&D labs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bilbao

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Services and Consulting: ColaBoraBora earns revenue through commissioned projects designing and facilitating collaborative processes, co-designing methodologies, providing organizational consultancy, delivering training, and conducting research and experimentation for public institutions, cultural organizations, cooperatives, and civil society actors. Revenue is project-based and relationship-driven.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ColaBoraBora is a small worker cooperative that designs and facilitates "collaborative situations" (Situaciones Colaborativas) for public institutions, cooperatives, and civil society organizations. It offers accompaniment and facilitation, creation of methodologies and devices, collaborative design, training, and research/experimentation services centered on people and their environments. The cooperative was originally founded in 2001 as AMASTÉ and adopted the ColaBoraBora brand in 2013.

Product overview

ColaBoraBora is a small cooperative of social initiative (Koop. Elk. Txikia) that designs and facilitates collaborative situations centered on people and their environments. Founded in 2001 (formerly AMASTÉ until 2013) and based in Bilbao, the organization offers a portfolio of services centered on the 'Situaciones Colaborativas' framework. This framework includes methodological tools (El Kit, KOOPtel), process phases (Componentes, Fases), and planning guides. The portfolio also includes specialized R&D projects like Transbiotika (transmedia sociocultural lab), BILBOtik-ra (speculative design exploration), and J0K04N (play-based innovation lab), as well as services in facilitation, collaborative design, training, and research. All content is published under Creative Commons license.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Accompaniment and Facilitation Services
• Collaborative Design Service
• Training and Empowerment Programs
• Methodology and Device Creation
• Research and Experimentation Service

Quantifiable outcome

• BILBOtik-ra project engaged over 160 direct participants across fieldwork and educational workshops.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

25 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• WikitokicoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerColaBoraBora is a founding/host member of Wikitoki, a laboratory of collaborative practices based in Bilbao, where ColaBoraBora maintains its office. The two organizations share space, projects, and a joint community of practice, making this a foundational partnership.
• GoratuzcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGoratuz is the network of small cooperatives in Bizkaia. ColaBoraBora participates actively, using the network to share experiences, organize joint encounters, and build collaborative capacity among small cooperatives. Active co-development of organizational practices.
• REAS Navarra y Comunidad ValencianacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerREAS is the network of Social and Solidarity Economy organizations across Spain. ColaBoraBora participates in the Basque branch (REAS Euskadi) as a member and collaborator, contributing to and drawing from the SSE ecosystem.
• KARRASKANcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKARRASKAN is the Basque network for cultural innovation and the culture of innovation. ColaBoraBora collaborates on joint projects, knowledge-sharing, and advocacy for the cultural and creative sector, including the mapping of the Basque Cultural and Creative Ecosystem.
• SareancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSarean is an association developing community from cultural action in the San Francisco neighborhood of Bilbao. ColaBoraBora collaborates on neighborhood-based projects (e.g., Gau Irekia cultural night, EREIAROA), and shares organizational proximity.
• Colaboratorio ICminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerColaboratorio IC is a meeting point for articulating citizen innovation ecosystems. ColaBoraBora participates as a member, contributing expertise in collaborative design and facilitation to the network.
• ArantzazulabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArantzazulab is a social innovation and collaborative governance laboratory in the Basque Country. ColaBoraBora participates in the Co-Creation Ecosystem of Euskal Herria (KoSorkuntza Ekosistema) coordinated by Arantzazulab, contributing to collective innovation processes.
• KoSorkuntza Ekosistema (Co-Creation Ecosystem of Euskal Herria)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA network of organizations and social agents for co-creation in the Basque Country, coordinated by Arantzazulab. ColaBoraBora participates as a key partner contributing to the ecosystem's co-creation processes, with emphasis on organizational forms, local capillary action, and international connections.
• BecomingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization in the BILBOtik-ra speculative design project, contributing to transmedia and co-creative methodology for urban peripheral exploration.
• HolonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization in the BILBOtik-ra speculative design project, contributing to the collaborative exploration of desirable urban futures from peripheral perspectives.
• MoviltikminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization in the BILBOtik-ra speculative design project, contributing interdisciplinary creative capabilities to the co-creation of urban speculative scenarios.
• Gobierno Vasco – Departamento de Cultura y Política Lingüística (Bitartez Programme)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Basque Government's Culture Department, through the Bitartez programme, provides funding and institutional support for ColaBoraBora's JOKOAN play-lab project, enabling open events and workshops at Wikitoki. A key institutional relationship for project legitimacy and reach.
• Ayuntamiento de BilbaocoreGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Bilbao City Council funded the BILBOtik-ra project under the #BilbaoAurrera strategic plan, commissioning ColaBoraBora to lead speculative co-creation exercises with peripheral neighborhoods.
• Diputación Foral de Bizkaia – Departamento de CulturacoreGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Provincial Council of Bizkaia's Culture Department co-funded the BILBOtik-ra project alongside the Ayuntamiento de Bilbao, contributing to the financing of transmedia speculative design activities in peripheral urban areas.
• AGA (Cerrajería Industrial)minorOthersAGA is a Gipuzkoan industrial security locksmith company (family-owned, celebrating 50th anniversary in 2013) that engaged ColaBoraBora for organizational change consulting, including a 'Pase Sin Llamar' facilitation process to reinforce organizational dynamism and client orientation.
• BherriacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBherria is a public-social innovation programme/initiative in which ColaBoraBora is a key driving partner. It focuses on collaborative governance, community management of public spaces, and innovative public administration models. In 2023 Bherria celebrated its fifth anniversary. Recognized with the NovaGob 2018 award.
• InnobasqueminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInnobasque is the Basque innovation network. ColaBoraBora participates as a member, contributing to and drawing from Basque innovation ecosystem activities.
• EIDEminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEIDE is the Basque association of design professionals. ColaBoraBora participates as a member, contributing collaborative design expertise and participating in joint events like BEGIHANDI design club.
• REACCminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerREACC is the state network of community cultural practitioners. ColaBoraBora participates as a member, connecting with peers across the Spanish community cultural sector.
• E-kin (Wikitoki/Mundo Ivaginario Women's Design Community)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerE-kin is a community of women linked to design and architecture in the Basque-Navarre region, co-created by ColaBoraBora as part of Wikitoki, alongside Mundo Ivaginario, to build mutual support and feminist transformation networks in design professions.
• GORATUZ – VIIth Encounter Partners (Dorotea Ruiz, Belkis da Fonseca)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFor the 7th GORATUZ encounter of small cooperatives, Dorotea Ruiz (Alto Rendimiento, Madrid) and Belkis da Fonseca (International Solidarity Association, Oporto) were invited to present a methodology for deepening network creation and cooperation, organized by ColaBoraBora within the GORATUZ cooperative network.
• Mugarik GabeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMugarik Gabe collaborated with ColaBoraBora on a project about organizational change from feminist perspectives, resulting in a travel guide for feminist organizational transformation in everyday practices.
• Zemos98minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerZemos98 is a long-term partner organization (celebrating 20 years in 2018) engaged in critical culture production. Shared projects include collaborative events and COMMONSPOLY/PISCINOPOLY speculative game exercises.
• Ciudad de la Sombra / José AbellánminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJosé Abellán, founder of Ciudad de la Sombra (15 years applying play for learning and sensitization), collaborated on the Lúdicos Anónimos en Jokoan initiative at Wikitoki, contributing the Mundo Error–Mundo Fortaleza game experience and JOKOAN play-lab facilitation.
• EutropianminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerColaBoraBora and Eutropian jointly applied to Advocate Europe with a proposal to develop methodology for scaling social economy projects linked to citizen initiatives, reflecting cross-border collaborative working.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Kaospilot: Kaospilot is a Sweden-based education organization that trains designers of transformative entrepreneurial and collaborative processes. It is comparable as a smaller, emerging player whose pedagogy and practice intersect with ColaBoraBora's collaborative facilitation, design fiction, and empowerment-training offerings.

Broad incumbents

• IDEO: IDEO is a global design and innovation consultancy with a long-running social-innovation practice. It is a broad incumbent offering collaborative design and human-centered facilitation across many sectors, with which ColaBoraBora competes only at the very high level of methodology.
• Livework: Livework is a European service design consultancy that designs public services and multi-stakeholder processes. It is comparable as a broader incumbent offering collaborative service design to public institutions, including participatory methods similar to ColaBoraBora's Situaciones Colaborativas.
• Forum for the Future: Forum for the Future is a UK sustainability-focused non-profit running labs, partnerships, and co-design programs on systems change. It is comparable as a broader incumbent working across sustainability, social innovation, and stakeholder collaboration, with overlapping methodologies and funding types.
• Nesta: Nesta is a UK-based foundation for innovation, with an active portfolio of social-innovation labs and participatory-governance programs. It is comparable as a broader incumbent funding and running co-creation and social-innovation ecosystems that overlap with ColaBoraBora's institutional work in the Basque Country.

Direct peers

• Zemos98: Zemos98 is a long-running Spanish cooperative in Seville that produces critical culture, social innovation, and collaborative media projects. ColaBoraBora and Zemos98 are explicit long-term partners working on shared speculative-game and collaborative-culture projects, making them close methodological peers in the Spanish social-innovation space.
• KARRASKAN: KARRASKAN is the Basque network for cultural innovation that commissioned ColaBoraBora as co-developer of the Basque Cultural and Creative Ecosystem mapping under RIS3. It is a peer operating in the same Basque cultural-and-collaborative-innovation sector with overlapping client and ecosystem footprints.
• Innobasque: Innobasque is the Basque innovation agency; ColaBoraBora participates as a member contributing collaborative-design expertise to Basque innovation activities. Both operate in the Basque public-innovation ecosystem addressing similar participatory-governance and innovation-policy needs.
• Wikitoki: Wikitoki is a Bilbao-based laboratory of collaborative practices where ColaBoraBora maintains its office and is a founding/host member. Both organizations operate in the same Basque social-innovation ecosystem, share co-located space, and co-deliver collaborative practice projects with public and civil-society actors.
• Arantzazulab: Arantzazulab is a Basque social-innovation and collaborative-governance laboratory. ColaBoraBora is an active partner in its KoSorkuntza Ekosistema co-creation initiative, working on the same multi-stakeholder facilitation and co-design projects targeting public-sector innovation.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/colaborabora
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ColaBoraBora
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/colaborabora

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 ColaBoraBora