What Koha-Suomi Oy does

Koha-Suomi Oy is a Finnish non-profit limited company (osakeyhtiö) wholly owned by Finnish municipalities, founded in 2016 as the result of the "Kohti Kohaa" (Towards Koha) project. The company maintains and develops a Finnish-customized fork of the Koha open-source integrated library system (ILS) for municipal library consortia (kimpat). Its core product is a SaaS-delivered library management platform covering circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials management, reservations, patron management, interlibrary loans, fee management, and Ministry of Education and Culture reporting. The technical foundation is the international Koha codebase (Perl-based) augmented with Finnish-specific extensions, including a customized OKM reporting plugin, KaTi shared bibliographic database, Melinda national catalog integration, Finna discovery layer integration, and Suomi.fi government messaging integration. Integrations also span VTJ (population registry), SIP2 self-service protocols, BIBFRAME standard support, and Power BI for analytics.

The company operates a staff of seven (one CEO, five full-time developers, one systems designer) distributed across Mikkeli, Joensuu, Oulu, Kouvola, and Raasepori. Its revenue model is exclusively annual municipal service fees paid by library consortia, with the first fee increase implemented in July 2024 after seven years of flat pricing. The company does not distribute dividends; any surplus is reinvested in development. Recent strategic actions include onboarding the Lastu consortium (2024), completing the Koha 24.05 major version migration including a Bootstrap 5 upgrade, piloting the Suomi.fi Viestit REST API integration, and advancing the RFID Harava inventory scanning project. Membership includes nine library consortia (Helle, Kirkes, Kyyti, Lappi, Lastu, Lumme, OUTI, Vaara, Vaski) covering approximately 98 Finnish municipalities. Koha-Suomi holds in-house company status under Finnish public procurement law, qualifying for procurement exemptions, and was awarded the COSS ry Open World Hero recognition in October 2025.

Name

Koha-Suomi Oy

Legal name

Koha-Suomi Oy

Website

https://koha-suomi.fi

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Koha-Suomi Oy is a Finnish non-profit company, wholly owned by municipalities, that maintains and develops a Finnish-customized Koha open-source library system delivered as SaaS to approximately 98 municipalities organized in nine library consortia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Library Management Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Managed Workplace Services (DaaS/Workplace-as-a-Service) (BPAEAIAA)

Keywords

• Library management system
• Open source library software
• Municipal library services
• SaaS library platform
• Integrated library system

Headquarters

HQ city

Mikkeli

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Municipal Service Fees (Palvelumaksu): Annual service fees charged to owner-municipality library consortia for Koha system maintenance, development, hosting, and support. The company operates on a non-profit basis; any surplus is reinvested in system development rather than distributed as dividends. Service fees have remained stable since 2017, with a price increase implemented from July 1, 2024.
2. New Member Onboarding: One-time setup and migration fees for new library consortia joining the shared Koha installation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Koha-Suomi Oy provides centralized SaaS hosting, maintenance, and development of the Koha open-source integrated library system for Finnish municipal library consortia. The company delivers a Finnish-customized fork of Koha, including proprietary plugins, national service integrations (Melinda, Finna, Suomi.fi), and ongoing version migration and support services. It is a non-profit entity owned by its member municipalities, serving approximately 98 municipalities across nine library consortia (kimpat).

Product overview

Koha-Suomi Oy operates as a non-profit company maintaining and developing the Koha open-source library management system for Finnish municipalities. The company offers a unified library system platform with various integrated modules for circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials management, reporting, and self-service operations. The product portfolio includes the core Koha system, various JavaScript plugins and system plugins, documentation in Finnish, training sessions, and specialized interfaces for government services (Suomi.fi). Member libraries organize into 'kimppa' (consortium) groups that share the system with support from regional staff across Finland.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Koha Library System (Koha-kirjastojärjestelmä) — Finnish SaaS Deployment Open-source integrated library system (ILS) delivered as a centralized SaaS service to Finnish municipal library consortia. Provides circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials management, reservations, patron management, fees, reporting, and self-service operations. Based on the international Koha community codebase with Finnish-specific customizations and integrations for Melinda, Finna, Suomi.fi and OKM reporting. Sold through annual service fees to library consortia (kimpat).
• Koha-Suomi Plugins and Extensions Collection of custom Koha plugins developed and maintained by Koha-Suomi, including koha-plugin-intranetjs-set-defaults, koha-plugin-visual-label-tool, koha-plugin-rest-di, and other utility plugins for system-specific enhancements. Available via the Koha-Suomi GitHub and deployed as part of the SaaS service to member consortia.
• New Consortium Onboarding and Migration Services One-time professional services for new Finnish library consortia joining the centralized Koha SaaS deployment, covering kickoff, data migration, training, and cutover to the shared installation. Recent onboarding projects include Kirkes-kirjastot (Tuusula, Kerava, Järvenpää, Mäntsälä, Siilinjärvi) and Lastu-kirjastot (Lahti, Heinola region).
• RFID Harava Inventory Scanning Software RFID antenna-based inventory scanning application developed for automated shelf reading in Finnish libraries. Originated at the Turku (Vaski) library and being made open source for adoption by other Koha-Suomi member libraries as part of the shared Koha service.
• Suomi.fi Messages Integration (REST API) Integration of the Finnish government digital messaging service (Suomi.fi Viestit) into Koha through a REST API implementation, enabling official government communications from libraries to patrons and replacing traditional email and paper notices. Deployed as part of the shared Koha SaaS service to member consortia.

Named customers9 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration14 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bittiguru (now part of Soprano Group)coreTechnology or Integration · 15 January 2021Data center and server management services provider. Koha-Suomi migrated all library servers to Bittiguru's shared data center in 2021-2022, consolidating infrastructure that was previously managed by 7 separate entities. The consolidation brought cost savings for municipalities and reduced maintenance burden for developers.
• Melinda (National Library of Finland)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMelinda is the national metadata cooperative service operated by the National Library of Finland. Koha-Suomi maintains bidirectional integration with Melinda for shared bibliographic record sharing, record updates, and authority work. Libraries export records to Melinda and import records from the national database.
• Finna (Finnish National Library Service)coreTechnology or IntegrationFinna is the national discovery layer platform for Finnish libraries. Koha-Suomi maintains integration with Finna for public-facing catalog searches, patron authentication, and resource discovery. All member consortia use Finna as their public interface.
• National Library of Finland (Kansalliskirjasto)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe National Library sets standards for Finnish libraries and coordinates national library system initiatives. Koha-Suomi collaborates on BIBFRAME support, metadata standards, requirements specification guidelines for library system changes, and KohaCon hosting.
• Suomi.fi / Digi- ja väestötietovirasto (DVV)coreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with the Finnish Digital Agency's Suomi.fi services including Suomi.fi Messages (official government communications) and Suomi.fi Identification. Libraries are required to adopt Suomi.fi Messages by end of 2025.
• Koha Community (International)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKoha is a global open-source library system with an international community. Koha-Suomi contributes code back to the community, participates in KohaCon conferences, and has nominated its CEO for the Koha Foundation board. The company contributes bug fixes and new features to the upstream Koha project.
• Turku City Library (Turun kaupunginkirjasto) / VaskiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVaski consortium (Turku) developed an RFID Harava (inventory scanner) application and is leading an open-source initiative to make the software available to other libraries. Koha-Suomi is exploring integration possibilities.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• SirsiDynix: Major global vendor of integrated library systems (Symphony, BLUEcloud) serving public, academic, and special libraries. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the commercial ILS market with overlapping public library customer segment.
• Innovative Interfaces (part of Ex Libris): Long-established global ILS vendor (Sierra, Polaris, Vega) now operating within Ex Libris/Clarivate. Comparable as a broad incumbent serving public and academic libraries with overlapping product category (ILS).
• Ex Libris (Clarivate): Global library technology vendor (Alma, FOLIO, Voyager, SFX) owned by Clarivate. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the ILS/library services platform category with academic and public library customers worldwide.
• OCLC: Global library cooperative providing WorldCat, WMS, and shared library services. Comparable as a broad incumbent operating shared library infrastructure across many libraries, with overlapping mission in national/international library cooperation.
• Axiell Group: Swedish company and the largest dedicated library and museum systems provider in the Nordics, offering commercial alternatives to Koha (e.g., Arena, Bookit). Comparable as the primary commercial competitor in Nordic municipal library market with overlapping customer base.

Others

• Koha Community (international): Global open-source community coordinating Koha development. Comparable as an ecosystem participant: Koha-Suomi contributes code, attends KohaCon, and has nominated its CEO to the Koha Foundation board, making the community a peer/partner rather than direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Biblibre: French open-source library services company providing Koha hosting, support, and development. Direct comparable due to identical Koha focus, similar SaaS hosting model, and shared open-source community contribution approach.
• ByWater Solutions: US-based company providing hosting, support, and development for the Koha open-source library system. Most direct comparable globally given shared product (Koha), shared customer type (libraries), and similar SaaS delivery model, though operating in a different geography.
• Equinox Software (now PTFS Europe): Norwegian-origin Koha support and hosting company serving Nordic and European libraries. Direct comparable due to shared Koha product, Nordic market overlap, and similar municipal/county library customer base.
• Catalyst IT: New Zealand-based open-source software company that provides Koha library system hosting and support. Direct comparable due to identical Koha product focus, similar consortium-oriented customer model, and shared open-source philosophy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/KohaSuomi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/koha-suomi-oy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Koha-Suomi Oy