Quiropraxia

What Quiropraxia does

ABQ (Associação Brasileira de Quiropraxia, or Brazilian Chiropractors Association) is a non-profit civil association founded in 1992 and headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil. It represents Brazilian chiropractors — bacharéis em quiropraxia holding degrees from accredited chiropractic programmes — and serves as the professional body advocating for the recognition, regulation, ethics and standards of chiropractic practice within the Brazilian healthcare system. The association's served community comprised 465+ paid members as of January 2023, against a backdrop of more than 1,000 Brazilian chiropractic graduates recorded by 2018, indicating meaningful runway to grow its dues-paying base.

The organisation runs a subscription-based revenue model anchored in recurring annual membership dues (Professional R$545.60/year, Student R$152.90/year), supplemented by revenue from the biennial CBQUIRO congress and ancillary member fees. Its product portfolio spans the ABQ Bacharel and ABQ Estudantil programmes, the Anais and Revista publications, a professional directory, a job board, a member ID card, and legal advisory services. ABQ is affiliated with international bodies including the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC), FLAQ, the ICA and OMS/WHO, with academic ties to Palmer College, and operates the Quiropraxia Sem Fronteiras service initiative — together forming the connective tissue of its member value proposition.

ABQ's strategic positioning is centred on regulatory advocacy and supply-side development. It secured a legal victory against COFFITO defending the scope of the chiropractic title, achieved inclusion of chiropractic in Brazil's Classification of Occupations (CBO 2261-05), and issued a refreshed Code of Ethics in 2022. It is also expanding the domestic education pipeline through partnerships with UNIGAMA and UNIRB. Governance is exercised through elected boards (with elections for the 2024-2025 term), the association operates with 101-250 staff, and Brazil is one of the few large economies yet to formally regulate chiropractic despite 70+ countries having done so — making regulatory progress the central growth catalyst. Note: as a non-profit professional association, ABQ is not a conventional PE/VC/M&A target; the analysis below treats it as an operating organisation rather than a privately held investment.

Name

Quiropraxia

Legal name

Associação Brasileira de Quiropraxia

Website

https://quiropraxia.org.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

ABQ (Associação Brasileira de Quiropraxia) is a São Paulo-based non-profit professional association founded in 1992 that represents Brazilian chiropractors through annual membership dues, regulatory advocacy, education partnerships, and biennial congress events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

São Paulo, SP

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues (Anuidade): ABQ generates revenue primarily through annual membership fees charged to practicing chiropractors (bacharéis) and student members. Fees range from approximately R$152.90/year for students to R$545.60/year for graduated professionals, with discounts for early payment. Additional revenue comes from event registrations (CBQuiro congress) and sponsorship packages sold to businesses targeting the chiropractic community.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ABQ is a Brazilian non-profit civil association that represents chiropractic professionals, providing graduated (Bacharel) and student (Estudantil) memberships, hosting the annual CBQUIRO national congress, publishing the Revista do Associado and Anais, maintaining a public-facing professional directory, and operating a job board and legal advisory service for members. Founded in 1992 and headquartered in São Paulo, SP, the organization advocates for the chiropractic profession in Brazil and serves as the formal credentialing body for its members.

Product overview

Quiropraxia (ABQ - Associação Brasileira de Quiropraxia) operates as a professional association rather than a technology product company. The organization offers a portfolio of membership services including ABQ Bacharel (professional membership) and ABQ Estudantil (student membership), with offerings such as the CBQUIRO annual congress, scientific publications (Anais do CBQUIRO, Revista do Associado), directory services (Encontre um Quiropraxista), job board (Mural de Oportunidades), professional credentials (Carteirinha de Associação), and legal advisory. These services support the professional development and regulatory advancement of Brazilian chiropractic.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CBQuiro: Congresso Brasileiro de Quiropraxia - Brazilian Chiropractic Congress, the largest chiropractic event in Brazil.
• ABQ Estudantil

Products and services

• ABQ Bacharel Membership Annual paid professional membership for graduated Brazilian chiropractors that confers formal ABQ credentialing, access to the Revista do Associado and congresses, listing in the public professional directory, and access to legal advisory services.
• ABQ Estudantil Membership

Quantifiable outcome

• Legal prohibition of COFFITO from issuing 'chiropractic specialist' titles to physiotherapists, affirming the exclusive right of qualified chiropractors.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered supporting, minor, major, historic and core.

• International Chiropractic Association (ICA)supportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024In April 2024, ABQ received official support from ICA for Brazilian chiropractic and educational formation under global standards.
• Various Sponsors - CBQUIRO 2024minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Sponsors of the 9th CBQUIRO congress included Good Spine, Ivotitable, Hyperfascia, Lulubalm, 755 Quiro, and Wcare, among others. These companies paid for advertising space and banner placements on the ABQ website and at the event.
• ONG Quiropraxia Sem FronteirasmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Founded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic by a group of Brazilian female chiropractors, this NGO operates in partnership with ABQ on social missions, educational support for students, professional empowerment for women in chiropractic, and advocacy for the profession. The alliance focuses on four fronts: healthcare for vulnerable populations, education support, professional strengthening, and connecting women in the profession.
• Palmer College of Chiropractic (USA)historicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2000The world's first chiropractic university (founded 1895) partnered with ABQ to help establish the first chiropractic degree program in Brazil at Feevale University (Universidade FEEVALE) in 2000. Palmer also operated its Clinic Abroad Program (CAP) in Brazil, with coordination by ABQ members. Dr. Garry Krakos and Dr. Ken Brian were key figures in this partnership.
• WFC - World Federation of ChiropracticcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerABQ is the sole official Brazilian representative member of the WFC, which is in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO). The WFC is the global governing body for the chiropractic profession. This affiliation provides ABQ with international legitimacy, access to global standards, and representation of Brazilian chiropractic at the world level.
• FLAQ - Federación Latino Americana de QuiroprácticacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFLAQ is the Latin American federation of chiropractic, founded in 1988 in Mexico City, with representatives from multiple Latin American countries. ABQ works jointly with FLAQ on congresses, professional development, and regional policy advocacy. Brazilian ABQ members (Juliana Piva, Sira Borges, João Francisco Seixas) have held leadership positions on the FLAQ board.
• OMS/WHO - Organização Mundial da SaúdecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe World Health Organization published the 'Guidelines on Basic Training and Safety in Chiropractic' (2005), which serves as the foundational framework for ABQ's educational and professional standards. The WFC holds official relations with WHO, through which ABQ's international credibility is derived.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• American Chiropractic Association: The largest national professional chiropractic association in the United States. Directly comparable as a national membership body for licensed chiropractors offering advocacy, continuing education, ethical standards, and annual conferences — exactly the model ABQ operates at smaller scale.
• Canadian Chiropractic Association: National professional association representing Canadian chiropractors with a similar mandate of advocacy, education, and member services. Functions as a peer in scope, structure, and value proposition to ABQ.
• European Chiropractors' Union: Regional federation of European national chiropractic associations analogous to FLAQ. Comparable as a peer international federation coordinating cross-border advocacy, education standards, and congresses.
• British Chiropractic Association: The UK national professional chiropractic association offering member advocacy, ethical enforcement, continuing education, and public-facing practitioner directories. Closely mirrors ABQ's service portfolio and governance structure.
• International Chiropractors Association: U.S.-based international chiropractic association that formally endorsed ABQ in 2024 for Brazilian chiropractic education and standards. Directly comparable peer offering member advocacy, conferences, and professional representation.
• Chiropractic Australia: Australia's national chiropractic association, representing practitioners with a comparable focus on professional standards, advocacy, and member services. Same scale tier as ABQ in a market of similar maturity.

Others

• Conselho Federal de Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional (COFFITO): Brazilian federal regulatory council for physiotherapy against which ABQ has waged multi-decade jurisdictional battles. Comparable as the principal adversarial regulatory body in the same healthcare professional landscape in Brazil.
• Palmer College of Chiropractic: The world's first chiropractic university and a historic partner of ABQ since 2000 when it helped establish the first degree program at Feevale University. Comparable as the educational and institutional partner that anchors ABQ's standards framework.

Broad incumbents

• World Federation of Chiropractic: The global umbrella body for national chiropractic associations, holding official relations with the WHO. ABQ is the sole Brazilian member; comparable as the global institutional structure within which ABQ operates and from which it derives international legitimacy.

Regional players

• Federación Latinoamericana de Quiropráctica (FLAQ): Latin American federation of chiropractic founded in 1988, of which ABQ is a member and whose board has included Brazilian leaders (Sira Borges, Juliana Piva, João Francisco Seixas). Directly comparable as a regional counterpart.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/abquiro
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/quirovibe
• Instagraminstagram.com/abq_oficial
• Facebookfacebook.com/abquiro

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Quiropraxia