Sinar Project

What Sinar Project does

Sinar Project is a Malaysian civic-tech nonprofit founded in 2009 and headquartered in Subang Jaya, Selangor. The organization develops open-source transparency and accountability tools for the Malaysian public, including the OKU parliamentary monitoring system, the Politikus elected-representatives platform, and a database of more than 4,200 politically exposed persons alongside 5,000+ archived parliamentary documents. Its core technical work centers on scraping, structuring, and publishing government data through public APIs (notably the Popit API, which has been adopted externally by platforms such as Myanmar's Open Hluttaw).

Beyond domestic tooling, Sinar Project operates the iMAP (Internet Monitoring Action Project) across 9 Southeast Asian countries, monitoring 1,152+ websites daily for censorship events, positioning the organization as a regional infrastructure provider for digital-rights and internet-freedom research.

The organization's revenue model is grant-driven: primary funding comes from institutional donors including the European Union (via the 48-month "Safeguarding Our Information Ecosystem" partnership with Article 19 and the Centre for Independent Journalism), EWMI, Access Now, the Open Contracting Partnership, OTF, and APNIC. Supplementary income streams include individual memberships at RM10-RM250 per month and fees from workshops and training events. All public-facing tools are offered free of charge, with an 8-person staff executing programs and platform maintenance.

Name

Sinar Project

Legal name

Sinar Project

Website

https://sinarproject.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sinar Project is a Malaysian civic-tech nonprofit that builds open-source transparency tools, monitors internet censorship regionally, and runs AI governance and capacity-building programs for civil society.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Technology

NAICS

Libraries and Archives (51921)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Development & ICT4D / GovTech Technical Assistance (BPADAEAL)

Keywords

• Civic technology
• Open data platforms
• Internet censorship monitoring
• Government transparency tools
• Digital rights advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Subang Jaya

HQ country

Malaysia

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Institutional Grants and Funding: Primary revenue source from international donors and foundations supporting digital rights, open government, and civic technology initiatives. Funding covers specific projects, general operations, and in-kind donations.
2. Individual Donations and Memberships: Monthly membership contributions (RM10-RM250) and one-time donations from individual supporters. Recurring donations provide predictable funding for basic operations.
3. Workshop and Training Fees: Story grants worth EUR2,000 provided to selected participants upon completion of investigative journalism workshops, funded in partnership with European Union.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sinar Project is a civic technology nonprofit that develops and operates open-source platforms and open data infrastructure to make government information publicly accessible, particularly in constrained environments. Its portfolio spans elected representative databases (Wakil Rakyat, GE14 Website, Politikus), parliamentary and government document archives (Pardocs, GovDocs), internet censorship monitoring via OONI Probe, a regional multi-country iMAP internet monitoring network, and a local AI server for civil society capacity building and AI governance research.

Product overview

Sinar Project is a civic tech initiative using open technology, open data, and policy analysis to make important information public and accessible. The organization operates a portfolio of transparency platforms including elected representative databases (GE14 Website, Wakil Rakyat, Politikus), parliamentary and government document archives (Pardocs, GovDocs), and internet censorship monitoring tools (Internet Censorship Monitoring, iMAP). Recent initiatives include Safeguarding Our Information Ecosystem (digital rights and AI governance) and Enabling Tech (civil society capacity building). The technical infrastructure includes Popit open data API serving other civic tech projects, and a local AI server for RAG services and investigative journalism.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• GE14 Candidate and Elected Representatives Website Electoral transparency platform for Malaysia's 14th General Elections providing candidate information, campaign materials, blacklist criteria, and beneficial ownership data, built on Popit API with 4,200+ politically exposed persons.
• Wakil Rakyat Electoral transparency platform bringing together information on all elected representatives at state and parliamentary level, including contact details, political interests, assets, blacklist monitoring, and integration with parliamentary documents; powered by the Popit Open Data API.
• Parliamentary Documents (Pardocs) Online searchable archive of Malaysian parliamentary documents including written replies to MP questions, PAC reports, and other legislative materials previously not accessible to the public, covering over 5,000 parliamentary replies.
• Malaysian Government Document Archives (GovDocs) Public searchable archive of Malaysian government documents including annual reports, speeches, and forms organized by ministries and agencies.
• Internet Censorship Monitoring Active research and monitoring of internet censorship in Malaysia and Southeast Asia using OONI Probe for network interference detection and documentation, performing daily tests on over 1,152 websites and services.
• Politikus Open data platform tracking politically exposed persons, elected representatives, senior public officials, their relationships, beneficial ownership, and involvement in corruption issues, using Popolo, OCDS, and BODS standards.
• Safeguarding Our Information Ecosystem 48-month project in collaboration with Article 19 and Centre for Independent Journalism to empower civil society to respond to online threats to freedom of expression, privacy, and data protection, including digital governance and AI governance research outputs.
• Enabling Tech Technical capacity building program for Malaysian civil society including community of practice, civic tech fellowships, and training curriculum on digital rights and technology.
• iMAP (Internet Monitoring Action Project) Regional internet censorship monitoring network covering 9 countries (Myanmar, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam) using OONI detection systems.
• Database on AI Implementations in the Malaysian Public Sector Research database tracking AI implementations in the Malaysian public sector as part of the Safeguarding Our Information Ecosystem project.
• Local AI Server (Limau Ais) Local AI workstation and server built on open source stack (Ubuntu Linux, AMD Lemonade Server, ROCm) for civil society capacity building, RAG services, and investigative journalism, capable of running open-weight models from Hugging Face including Qwen3 and Gemma.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 5,000 parliamentary documents made searchable and accessible online
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• European Union (EU)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 January 2025Primary funder of the Safeguarding Our Information Ecosystem project (48-month initiative). EU Delegation to Malaysia supports civic society organizations working towards development goals and UN SDGs. Provides funding for investigative journalism workshops and civil society capacity building.
• Article 19coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 January 2025British international human rights organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of expression. Co-implementing Safeguarding Our Information Ecosystem project with focus on digital governance, online safety regulations, and multi-stakeholder co-regulatory models for ASEAN.
• Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 January 2025Malaysian civil society organization advocating for media freedom, freedom of expression, and access to information. Co-implementing project on empowering civil society to respond to online threats to freedom of expression, privacy, and data protection.
• Internews in MalaysiamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for investigative journalism workshops funded by European Union. Organized workshops on fundamentals of investigative journalism with story grants worth EUR2,000 each for selected participants.
• The Web FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on case study 'Building an Open Database on Politically Exposed Persons in Malaysia'. Supported open data infrastructure development for government and parliamentary transparency.
• OONI (Open Observatory of Network Interference)coreTechnology or IntegrationGlobal partner providing open infrastructure, tools, and technical support for internet censorship measurements. Sinar Project is an official OONI partner conducting network interference testing in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
• APNIC FoundationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupporting extended internet censorship monitoring and research work in the Asia-Pacific region through iMAP project.
• Initiate.myminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Enabling Tech project for building civic tech capacity among Malaysian civil society.
• AlternativesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization in Enabling Tech project for civil society technology capacity building.
• Monash University MalaysiaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on events including Social Media and Politics in Southeast Asia discussion with Merlyna Lim.
• Asian Institute of TechnologyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for PULSE Measuring Internet Censorship Thailand project and training activities.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sunlight Foundation: US government transparency nonprofit tracking politicians, lobbying, and influence. Highly comparable mission around political accountability and open data, though operates in a different national context.
• Open Knowledge Foundation: Global open data nonprofit running open data indexes, tools, and community initiatives. A past funder of Sinar Project (Open Data Day 2016 Malaysia, Global Open Data Index) that operates very similar open data programs internationally.
• Poplus: International civic tech collective developing reusable open-source components (Representatives, PopIt) for civic applications. Funds Sinar Project for component implementations and shares its open-source civic tech infrastructure approach.
• OONI - Open Observatory of Network Interference: Global internet censorship measurement project that provides the OONI Probe infrastructure Sinar Project uses. Listed as a core technology partner but performs substantially the same network interference testing work as Sinar Project's monitoring program.
• Code for America: US civic technology nonprofit focused on improving government services and transparency through technology. Shares the same nonprofit structure, civic-tech-for-good orientation, and reliance on philanthropic and grant funding.
• Alaveteli: Open-source Freedom of Information platform provider whose software Sinar Project has deployed for Malaysia. Operates as a comparable civic tech tool provider focused on government transparency and FOI request infrastructure.
• Engine Room: International nonprofit supporting civil society with technology and research, including capacity building and responsible data practices. Highly comparable mission around tech-for-good for civil society organizations.
• mySociety: UK-based civic technology nonprofit building transparency and accountability tools (They Work For You, WhatDoTheyKnow). mySociety is even a current demographic research funder of Sinar Project, indicating near-identical mission and approach.

Broad incumbents

• ARTICLE 19: Global freedom of expression and information rights organization currently partnering with Sinar Project on the EU-funded Safeguarding Our Information Ecosystem initiative. Operates more broadly in digital rights advocacy rather than technology development, with a much larger international footprint.

Regional players

• Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ): Malaysian media freedom NGO co-implementing the Safeguarding Our Information Ecosystem project with Sinar Project. A direct in-country partner, but focuses more on journalism advocacy than technology infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/Sinar
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sinarproject

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Sinar Project