placemaking

What placemaking does

place/making berlin is a Berlin-based GbR (German civil law partnership) founded in 2014 by Stefan Göllner and Andreas Pittrich that designs and implements digital information platforms and physical information infrastructure for social and civil society organizations, welfare associations, NGOs, and Berlin public administration. Its core technology is a proprietary Civic-Data platform that underpins a portfolio of multilingual online platforms (Beratungsnetz für Migration, social-map.berlin, Seniorennetz Berlin, InfoCompass/Nachbarschaftskompass), augmented by interactive maps, filterable lists, the MIKI text-based chatbot, and modular physical InfoPoint hardware (InfoStelen with integrated tablet/printer/WiFi, CNC-milled templates, Metaltapes, barrier-free media stations). The firm operates exclusively in Berlin, serving end-user populations including migrants and refugees, the elderly, and members of the city's welfare ecosystem.

The business model is project-based professional services: place/making is contracted as a conception and implementation partner by welfare associations (Paritätischer Landesverband Berlin, AWO Landesverband Berlin, VIA, VskA) and funded primarily through public grants from Lottostiftung Berlin, BMFSFJ, Senatsverwaltung für Integration, Arbeit und Soziales, and related programs. A core team of two managing directors is extended on a project basis with web developers, data scientists, and UX designers drawn from a known pool. Deliverables are typically hybrid digital-plus-physical installations co-developed with target communities through participatory design processes.

The company has accumulated a track record of award recognition (Goldener Internetpreis 2017, Deutscher Engagementpreis nomination 2018, BBU ZukunftsAwards special recognition 2018) and sector publications (BetterplaceLab Trendradar 2016, transcript Verlag 2017). It has no external investors, no parent company, no disclosed revenue, and has remained a two-person core GbR for its entire operating history, with all observable growth occurring through project pipeline rather than headcount or geographic expansion.

Name

placemaking

Legal name

Stefan Göllner Andreas Pittrich GbR place/making

Website

https://place-making.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Berlin-based civic-tech GbR founded in 2014 that designs and implements multilingual digital information platforms and modular InfoPoint hardware for social welfare associations, NGOs, and public sector clients serving migrants, refugees, and the elderly in Berlin.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Technology / Social Welfare Digitalization Services

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Q&A and Knowledge Discovery Platforms (BPAMAAAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Work Management & Collaboration Suites (BPAMAMAG)

Keywords

• Civic data platforms
• Social welfare technology
• Digital inclusion services
• Community information systems
• Migration counseling platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Project-based consulting and implementation: Partner in conception and implementation of information platforms and digitization measures for social and civil society organizations. Revenue derived from publicly funded projects, grants, and commissioned work from welfare associations and public administration.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

place/making conceives, designs, and programs digital information platforms (such as social-map.berlin, Seniorennetz Berlin, and Beratungsnetz für Migration) and modular InfoPoint hardware installations for social and civil society organizations in Berlin. Engagements cover the full project lifecycle — from participatory conception and UX/UI design to web development, data modeling, and deployment of bilingual civic data platforms with integrated chatbot (MIKI) and physical information terminals. The firm operates as a project-based consulting and implementation partner to NGOs, welfare associations, housing companies, and Berlin's public administration.

Product overview

place/making develops digital platforms and information systems for social and civil society organizations in Berlin. The core offerings include a portfolio of Civic-Data-based platforms: Seniorennetz Berlin (citywide senior information platform with local contact points), social-map.berlin (interactive map of social services for 800 member organizations), Beratungsnetz für Migration (bilingual migration counseling resource with MIKI chatbot), and InfoCompass/Nachbarschaftskompass (neighborhood information system). Projects typically include both online platforms and physical components such as InfoPoints, media stations, and InfoStelen, developed in participatory processes with target communities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Seniorennetz Berlin Cross-district online information platform offering an overview of cultural, leisure, and healthcare-related services for elderly people across Berlin, integrated with six local contact points and tablet-based training to support guided digital access.
• Seniorennetz Märkisches Viertel Pilot project (2016-2020) delivering an online platform plus a local Senioreninfothek info desk with mobile info terminals for elderly residents in Berlin's Märkisches Viertel district.
• InfoCompass Berlin / Nachbarschaftskompass Multilingual online platform and modular InfoPoint system consolidating information on services, appointments, and contact points for refugees, volunteers, and neighborhood houses in Berlin, later continued as the neighborhood compass (Nachbarschaftskompass).
• social-map.berlin Interactive online resource built for Paritätischer Landesverband Berlin, featuring filterable maps and lists of social services offered by approximately 800 member organizations, with self-managed content updates by each organization.
• Beratungsnetz für Migration Bilingual information platform providing an overview of counseling services for migrants across Berlin's districts, built on place/making's Civic-Data platform and operated under the IKMO project framework in cooperation with Gangway and Willkommenszentrum Berlin.
• MIKI Chatbot Rule-based, text-based chatbot integrated into the Beratungsnetz für Migration, enabling users to query the counseling network in accessible language; staff can extend MIKI's content via simple online spreadsheet inputs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 12 InfoPoint locations established between 2015-2018
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AWO Landesverband BerlincoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Project trustee for Seniorennetz Berlin (2020-2023). AWO conceived and implemented the training component while place/making handled platform development.
• Senatsverwaltung für Integration, Arbeit und SozialescoreOthers · 1 January 2020Continued funding support for Beratungsnetz für Zugewanderte since 2020.
• Netzwerk Märkisches Viertel e.V.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Implementation partner for Seniorennetz Märkisches Viertel pilot project. Network group CyberSeniors was involved in the development process.
• Gesobau AGcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Housing company partner for Seniorennetz Märkisches Viertel pilot project implementation.
• Verband für interkulturelle Arbeit e.V. (VIA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Primary project partner for Beratungsnetz für Zugewanderte platform development. VIA is the contracting entity for the IKMO project.
• IKMOcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Project framework for Beratungsnetz für Zugewanderte. VIA, Gangway, and Willkommenszentrum Berlin collaborate under IKMO.
• GangwayminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Cooperation partner in IKMO project for migration counseling network.
• Willkommenszentrum BerlinminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Cooperation partner in IKMO project for migration counseling network.
• Lottostiftung BerlincoreOthers · 1 January 2016Major funder for InfoCompass Berlin (2016-2018) and Beratungsnetz für Zugewanderte.
• Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (BMFSFJ)coreOthers · 1 January 2016Funding for chatbot MIKI development (2020) and Seniorennetz Märkisches Viertel pilot.
• Deutscher Verband für Wohnungswesen, Städtebau und RaumordnungminorOthers · 1 January 2016Co-funder of Seniorennetz Märkisches Viertel pilot project.
• Verband für sozial kulturelle Arbeit e.V. (VskA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Partner for InfoCompass Berlin (2015-2020) and continued as Nachbarschaftskompass (2021-2024). VskA took over platform operation after initial development.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Fraunhofer IAIS: Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems, applied-research partner for public-sector AI/data and digitalization projects in Germany — broader research-driven incumbent active in the same civic-tech and public-sector digitization domain as place/making.
• msg systems AG: Large German IT consultancy serving insurance, banking, and public-sector clients with digitalization and platform projects — comparable broad incumbent whose public-sector practice overlaps with place/making's welfare/government digitization engagements, but at vastly greater scale and scope.
• T-Systems International: Deutsche Telekom's enterprise and public-sector IT subsidiary, a major provider of digitization platforms and managed services for German government and welfare organizations — broad incumbent competing for the same public-sector digitalization budgets as place/making.

Others

• Liquid Democracy e.V. Berlin non-profit building open-source participation and deliberation tools (e.g., adhocracy, OpenSlides) — adjacent civic-tech actor with overlapping funder base (BMFSFJ, prototype fund) and overlapping audience of public-sector/civil-society clients.
• Open Knowledge Foundation Germany: German civic-data/FOSS non-profit operating Code for Germany and the Prototype Fund; ecosystem partner and adjacent civic-tech actor that funds and supports open-data projects similar in spirit to place/making's civic information platforms.
• Stiftung Neue Verantwortung: Berlin-based think tank working on digital infrastructure, public-sector IT modernization, and civic technology policy — comparable ecosystem participant whose work shapes the funding and policy environment in which place/making operates.

Direct peers

• POLYTEIA: Berlin govtech startup that builds data dashboards and performance-management platforms for municipalities and public administrations — comparable as a small, Berlin-rooted vendor turning public-sector digitalization budgets into productised platform offerings.
• Zebralog: Berlin-based civic-tech consultancy building digital participation and citizen-engagement platforms for German public-sector clients — same buyer set (government, welfare, civil society), same project-based delivery model, with adjacent product focus on e-participation rather than welfare information portals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/placemaking-berlin

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about placemaking