What Platoniq Foundation does

Platoniq Foundation is a Spanish non-profit foundation founded in 2001 by Susana Noguero and Olivier Schulbaum and registered in the Registro Estatal de Fundaciones (number 1438). It develops open-source civic technology platforms centered on democratic participation and collective funding, with a registered headquarters in Palma de Mallorca and operational offices in Barcelona, Madrid, and Rome. The foundation's portfolio comprises Goteo.org (a civic crowdfunding and matchfunding platform launched in 2011 that has redistributed approximately €22 million across 2,199 social impact initiatives involving over 362,500 community members), Decidim.org (an open-source participatory democracy platform used by over 200 cities globally, including the European Commission), Crowdcoop.org (cooperative-formation support), Open Spaces (a Decidim-based participation instance focused on youth mental health), and the Wilder Journal (a bilingual editorial platform on democratic innovation). Underlying technology is built on open-source principles, Creative Commons licensing, and interoperability standards, with integration into the broader digital commons ecosystem (e.g., ActivityPub, Mastodon, PeerTube).

The foundation serves four primary customer segments: public institutions and governments seeking citizen-participation tools; social-economy and civil-society organizations (cooperatives, NGOs, social enterprises) seeking funding and governance support; youth and youth-led organizations; and artists and cultural actors. Revenue is generated through institutional partnerships with foundations (notably Open Society Foundations), government agencies, and European funding programs (e.g., SoilTribes); project-based consulting and strategic services for participatory process design and facilitation; Goteo platform operations including matchfunding administration and modest transactional fees; and training programs through the Escuela de Creatividad y Democracia. The go-to-market combines direct institutional consulting engagements, open-source platform distribution globally, and participation in European project consortiums. Distribution leverage is amplified through partnerships with organizations including Barcelona City Council, Decide Madrid, Deliberativa, Raons Públiques, the Delib network, Democracy R&D, KNOCA, the OECD Innovative Citizen Participation Network, Eurocrowd, Civio, and Tecnopolitica.

Name

Platoniq Foundation

Legal name

FUNDACIÓN PLATONIQ

Website

https://journal.platoniq.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Platoniq Foundation is a Spanish non-profit founded in 2001 that develops open-source civic technology, including the Goteo crowdfunding platform and the Decidim participatory democracy platform used by 200+ cities globally. It serves governments, social economy organizations, and youth through consulting, training, and platform services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Technology and Democratic Innovation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ), Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)

Keywords

• Civic crowdfunding platforms
• Participatory democracy tools
• Open source civic technology
• Democratic innovation consulting
• Social economy funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Palma de Mallorca

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Institutional Partnerships: Funding through alliances with public and private institutions that share the foundation's mission and vision, including government agencies, European programs, and foundations such as Open Society Foundations.
2. Consulting and Strategic Services: Fees for strategic consulting, participatory process design and facilitation, and training services provided to public and private entities.
3. Goteo Platform Operations: The platform facilitates crowdfunding campaigns with some administrative or service fees, while also enabling matchfunding programs where public institutions contribute based on campaign success.
4. Training and Education: Revenue from the School of Creativity and Democracy programs, workshops, and capacity-building initiatives for youth and civil society organizations.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Platoniq Foundation is a Spanish nonprofit that develops and operates open-source civic technology platforms—most notably Goteo.org (civic crowdfunding with matchfunding) and Decidim.org (participatory democracy platform used by 200+ cities). It complements these platforms with project-based consulting, participatory process design and facilitation, training programs (School of Creativity and Democracy), and the Wilder Journal publication, targeting governments, civil society organizations, cooperatives, and social enterprises.

Product overview

Platoniq Foundation operates a portfolio of interconnected open source civic technology products centered on democratic participation and collective funding. The core offerings consist of Goteo.org (civic crowdfunding platform with matchfunding capabilities) and Decidim.org (participatory democracy platform used by 200+ cities). These are complemented by Crowdcoop.org for cooperativism support, Open Spaces (Decidim instance for project-specific participation), and the Wilder Journal editorial platform. All products emphasize open source principles, Creative Commons licensing, and social impact measurement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Goteo.org: Civic crowdfunding platform that finances initiatives with social impact at regional, national, and international levels. Founded in 2011, it has redistributed approximately €22 million across 2,199 projects and involves over 362,500 community members.
• Decidim.org
• Crowdcoop.org
• Wilder Journal
• Open Spaces
• SoilTribes

Products and services

• Goteo.org Civic crowdfunding platform that finances initiatives with social impact at regional, national, and international levels. Promotes cooperativism and the Social and Solidarity Economy through open licensing and matchfunding programs where public institutions match community contributions. Has redistributed approximately 22 million euros across 2,199 projects and serves a community of over 362,500 people and entities.
• Decidim.org Open-source participatory democracy platform for cities and organizations. Provides citizen participation tools including assemblies, proposals, consultations, and participatory budgets. Used by over 200 cities globally as a distributed participatory infrastructure.
• Crowdcoop.org Platform promoted by Platoniq to boost cooperativism through crowdfunding. Supports the creation and development of cooperative enterprises and the Social and Solidarity Economy.
• Open Spaces Digital participation platform (Decidim instance) for co-designing youth-focused processes centered on mental health support and creating and sharing mental health resources.
• School of Creativity and Democracy (Escuela de Creatividad y Democracia) Intensive training program for deliberative democracy professionals in participatory policy-making, incorporating care methodologies and creative approaches. Designed for youth and civil society organizations.
• Strategic Consulting and Participatory Process Design Project-based consulting services for public administrations and civil society organizations. Includes participatory process design and facilitation, deliberative assembly design, and strategic consulting on democratic innovation and civic engagement.
• Wilder Journal Bilingual (Spanish/English) digital publication featuring in-depth articles, interviews, and content on democratic innovation, citizen empowerment, social and solidarity economy, cooperativism, and future culture.

Quantifiable outcome

• Near 22 million euros redistributed to social impact projects
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 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

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Decidim.orgcoreTechnology or IntegrationDecidim is the open-source participatory democracy platform developed by Platoniq and used by 200+ cities globally. The partnership involves ongoing platform development and community building around democratic participation tools.
• Wikimedia FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on digital commons and open knowledge initiatives related to civic participation.
• Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partnership for research and knowledge development in digital participation and civic technology.
• Delib (Red de Democracia Deliberativa)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIberian network of organizations and individuals promoting deliberative democracy. Platoniq is a founding member, working to accompany and monitor citizen assembly experiences in Spain and Portugal.
• DeliberativacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization providing technical assistance for citizen assemblies, including processes in Besaya, Barcelona, and Guipúzcoa climate assemblies.
• Democracy R&DminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational network established 2018-2021 focusing on innovation in democratic processes and citizen participation.
• FIDE (Federation for Innovation in Democracy Europe)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean federation promoting innovation in democratic institutions and citizen participation mechanisms.
• KNOCA (Knowledge Network on Climate Assemblies)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge network focused on climate assembly methodologies and best practices.
• OECD Innovative Citizen Participation NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork under OECD focusing on new democratic institutions and citizen participation innovation.
• DigitalFemsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork promoting feminist digital rights and inclusive technology approaches.
• Barcelona City CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing collaboration on citizen participation initiatives, including the Barcelona Climate Citizens' Assembly and Decidim platform implementation.
• Raons Públiques (Cooperativa)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperative providing technical assistance for Barcelona's Climate Citizens' Assembly and other deliberative processes.
• Marea DeliberativacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitiative launched by Platoniq and partners promoting citizen participation to strengthen democracy through Citizens' Assemblies, addressing challenges like climate emergency and inequality.
• EurocrowdminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean network of crowdfunding initiatives and stakeholders promoting civic financing.
• CiviominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCitizen Foundation focused on transparency and open government, collaborating on civic technology initiatives.
• TecnopoliticaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch group on technology and politics focusing on digital democracy and civic participation.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• vTaiwan: Taiwanese civic-tech initiative combining digital platforms (e.g., Pol.is) with government consultation processes. Comparable to Platoniq's Decidim-based deliberative methodology work, particularly around climate assemblies.
• LiquidFeedback: German-origin open-source platform for opinion polling and binding delegated voting. Direct open-source peer in the participatory democracy tooling category, though with a different emphasis on liquid democracy.
• Civio: Spanish non-profit focused on transparency, accountability, and open data. An active collaborating partner of Platoniq and a regional peer in the civic technology and open government ecosystem.

Direct peers

• Loomio: New Zealand-origin cooperative decision-making platform used by civil society and movement organisations. Targets similar social-economy and democratic participation use cases as Goteo and Crowdcoop.
• CitizenLab: Belgian SaaS vendor of civic engagement and participatory democracy platforms for cities and governments. A direct competitor to Decidim in the citizen participation tooling market, though it operates a proprietary hosted model rather than open source.
• Make.org: French civic engagement platform running large-scale citizen consultations and deliberative processes across Europe. Active in the same participatory democracy space as Decidim and the Marea Deliberativa initiative.
• Open Collective: Open-source fiscal sponsorship and transparent crowdfunding platform for collectives, open-source projects, and social initiatives. Closely comparable to Goteo's mission-driven crowdfunding model with similar open-source ethos.
• Consul (Madrid City Council): Open-source participatory democracy platform originally developed by the Madrid City Council. Comparable to Decidim in scope and adoption by Spanish municipalities, and used by Decide Madrid.

Broad incumbents

• Wikimedia Foundation: Large open-knowledge non-profit that collaborates with Platoniq on digital commons initiatives. Comparable as a mission-aligned foundation operating open-source infrastructure with community-driven governance, though at substantially greater scale.
• Ulule: European crowdfunding incumbent active in France, Spain, and Italy. Direct competitor to Goteo in the same regional geographic markets, with significantly larger funding scale and broader project categories.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/platoniq
• GitHubgithub.com/decidim
• Instagraminstagram.com/platoniqfoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/platoniqlab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Platoniq Foundation