Assemblée Virtuelle

What Assemblée Virtuelle does

Assemblée Virtuelle is a French non-profit association (Loi 1901) founded on May 31, 2011, by Guillaume Rouyer and headquartered at 2 rue de la cl\u00f4ture, 75019 Paris. The association federates an ecosystem of member organizations and contributors developing open-source digital commons software for the ecological, social, political, and economic transition. Its stated mission is to enable interoperability between fragmented information systems used by transition actors, so that associations, cooperatives, NGOs, citizen initiatives, and territorial bodies can link their data across organizational boundaries rather than operate in silos.

The product portfolio spans four interconnected layers: foundational frameworks (SemApps, ActivityPods, NextGraph, Cubicweb, Startin'Blox), end-user applications (Archipelago, Mycelium, Caroster, No\u00e9, Voca, Transiscope, GREZI), tools (Bus S\u00e9mantique, Sparnatural, Flodio), and ontologies (PAIR, Data Food Consortium). All software is built on W3C semantic web standards (RDF, OWL, SPARQL, LDP, ActivityPub, SOLID) and released under libre licenses (MIT, AGPL, LGPL). The architecture combines Node.js/Moleculer microservices, Apache Jena Fuseki triple stores, and React-Admin frontends, with P2P capabilities layered through CRDT and end-to-end encryption in NextGraph.

The association operates under community governance with a Board of Directors and a Permanent General Assembly, following principles of sobriety and subsidiarity. Revenue is generated through public subsidies (notably NLnet Foundation grants for ActivityPods), targeted patronage from sympathizers (with a percentage retained by AV), event organization, and service provision within project calls, with the latter two streams legally capped at 33% of turnover. Distribution is exclusively open-source via GitHub, with member organizations (Data Players, Logilab, Sparna, Octree, Startin'Blox, EcoRhizo) providing professional consulting, training, and deployment services around the software. Notable end-user deployments include Colibris (collaborative databases), Les Chemins de la Transition (nomadic training pathways), Alternatiba/Transiscope (map of citizen alternatives), and Compi\u00e8gne-region ActivityPods applications used by approximately 500 people.

Name

Assemblée Virtuelle

Legal name

Assemblée Virtuelle

Website

https://virtual-assembly.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Assemblée Virtuelle is a French non-profit association federating an ecosystem of organizations that develop open-source semantic web software (RDF, SPARQL, SOLID, ActivityPub) for ecological and social transition actors. Its 18+ frameworks, applications, tools, and ontologies enable interoperable, decentralized, user-controlled information systems.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open-source Semantic Web Software

NAICS

Business Associations (81391), Professional Organizations (81392), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHDADAAAG

Federation & Identity Standards (SAML/OIDC/OAuth, Federation Hubs)

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Cybersecurity/Identity & Access Management (IAM)

SECONDARYHDAEAMAL

Data Exploration & Ad-Hoc Query Tools

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Enterprise Platforms & Databases/Business Intelligence (BI) Tools

SECONDARYHDAEAMAA

Self-Service BI & Data Visualization

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Enterprise Platforms & Databases/Business Intelligence (BI) Tools

Keywords

• Semantic web software
• Open source frameworks
• Decentralized applications
• Linked data platforms
• Digital commons software

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Voluntary Contributions to Commons: Benzene/ volunteer contributions to commons software development and community activities. Community members and sympathizers contribute time and resources without direct financial compensation.
2. Patronage / Targeted Donations: Private financiers and sympathizers direct donations to specific project groups, with a percentage retained by Assemblée Virtuelle for operational management and support functions.
3. Event Organization: Revenue from organizing events (conferences, hackathons, webinars) within the limit of 33% of the association's turnover.
4. Service Provision within Project Calls: Commercial activities in the form of service provision within the framework of project calls where Assemblée Virtuelle is a partner, within the limit of 33% of turnover.
5. Public Subsidies: Public funding grants supporting open-source software development and R&D activities, such as NLnet foundation grants for ActivityPods and other projects.
6. Self-funding: The association operates on a principle of sobriety, effectiveness, and subsidiarity with a light structure minimizing fixed charges. Each project group is financially autonomous.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Assemblée Virtuelle is a French non-profit association (Loi 1901) that develops and federates an ecosystem of open-source software commons for the ecological and social transition. It produces semantic web frameworks (SemApps, NextGraph, ActivityPods, Cubicweb, Startin'Blox), end-user applications (Archipelago, Mycelium, GREZI, Noé, Caroster, Voca, Transiscope, OrganiGraph), data tools (Bus Sémantique, Sparnatural, Flodio), and ontologies (PAIR, Data Food Consortium), all built on W3C standards (RDF, SPARQL, SOLID, ActivityPub) to enable interoperable and decentralized information systems.

Product overview

Assemblée Virtuelle is a non-profit association (Loi 1901) federating an ecosystem of actors developing digital commons for the ecological and social transition. The portfolio consists of four interconnected layers: (1) Frameworks providing foundational technology - SemApps (semantic toolkit), Nextgraph (P2P/CRDT semantic cloud), ActivityPods (Solid/ActivityPub decentralized apps), Cubicweb (Python semantic platform), and Startin'Blox (interoperable standards); (2) Applications built on these frameworks - Archipelago (collaborative knowledge bases), GREZI (visual graph exploration), Mycelium (farm management), Caroster (carpooling), Noé (event management), OrganiGraph (project management), Transiscope (alternatives map), and Voca (civic participation); (3) Tools for data management - Bus Sémantique (ETL/interoperability bus), Sparnatural (SPARQL query builder), and Flodio (graph visualization); (4) Ontologies enabling interoperability - PAIR (semantic data model for communities) and Data Food Consortium (food supply chain standards). All products prioritize decentralization, data sovereignty, privacy, and open-source principles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SemApps A software toolkit enabling easy deployment and configuration of semantic information systems. Built on RDF, OWL, SPARQL, LDP, ActivityPub, and SOLID standards, facilitating interoperability with linked open data and decentralized applications. Targeted at developers and organizations building knowledge bases and collaborative networks.
• NextGraph A decentralized cloud framework converging P2P, end-to-end encryption, and semantic web technologies using CRDT. Provides secure, privacy-preserving data storage with semantic data repositories (RDF/SPARQL) and offline-first, local-first portable data.
• ActivityPods A framework for creating ActivityPub-compatible decentralized social applications where all data is stored in personal data pods (PODs). Unifies ActivityPub and Solid protocols for truly decentralized apps under full user control.
• Cubicweb A semantic web application development platform built in Python using modular components called cubes. Winner of the Dataconnexions 2013 competition organized by Etalab. Maintained by member organization Logilab.
• Startin'Blox An innovative technology based on interoperable standards that opposes siloed proprietary platforms. Develops open, cooperative, flexible, and trustworthy applications through cooperative software publishing.
• Archipelago A collaborative semantic knowledge base application enabling communities to create and share interconnected databases. Built on SemApps and the PAIR ontology, allowing mapping of ecosystems of actors, projects, and resources.
• GREZI A visual tool for representing and manipulating interactive narrative graphs from diverse databases on territorial resilience topics, enabling actors and citizens to engage with complex systems functioning.
• Mycelium A digital commons project for farmers providing interoperable, libre, and ethical farm management applications covering invoicing, production, planning, and distribution. Based on SOLID architecture and the Data Food Consortium ontology.
• Bus Sémantique An open-source data processing software (ESB and ETL hybrid) for interoperability and aggregation of heterogeneous data sources including APIs, files (XLS, CSV, RDF), and databases (SQL, NoSQL). Core component of the Transiscope project.
• Sparnatural A JavaScript component enabling users to explore RDF knowledge graphs by intuitively building SPARQL queries. Configurable to adapt to specific knowledge graph ontologies, providing visual interactive knowledge graph exploration.
• Caroster An open-source carpooling coordination tool for events, festivals, seminars, and gatherings, evolving toward a low-impact mobility manager for events.
• Noé Open-source event management software for horizontal, self-organized participatory events, handling program declarations, participant registration, volunteer management, and communication.
• Voca A SaaS Decidim platform for civic participation tools, providing configured Decidim instances with base modules and long-term support versions for citizen participation.
• Ontologie PAIR A semantic data model (Projets/Acteurs/Idées/Ressources) for describing community life, providing generic concepts and relationships for diverse communities based on semantic web standards. Published under AGPL 3.0 license.
• Data Food Consortium An interoperability ontology for short food supply chain actors, defining common digital language and open standards for data mutualization and connecting initiatives in the food system.

Quantifiable outcome

• Applications used by approximately 500 people in live deployments (Bienvenue chez moi and L'Entraide in Compiègne)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability4 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

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

• Reconnexion (SCIC Cooperative)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 June 2025Reconnexion is a cooperative of general interest (SCIC) in the process of creation, dedicated to the Universal Social Network project. The June 12, 2025 webinar co-hosted by Assemblée Virtuelle serves as the launch event for Reconnexion, which aims to build a Universal Social Network based on open protocols (Solid, ActivityPub) where any application can connect, giving users full data control.
• NextGraphcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024NextGraph and ActivityPods announced a partnership and collaboration in 2024. Both projects are based on semantic web technologies (RDF, linked data) and enable data storage decoupling. ActivityPods plans to use NextGraph as its quad-store, replacing Jena Fuseki, enabling encrypted PODs. The long-term goal is to merge both frameworks into a unified platform.
• Solid Project CommunitymajorTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2024ActivityPods and Assemblée Virtuelle actively collaborate with the broader Solid Project community (W3C standardization). The team contributes to Solid specification development, participates in Solid World events, and works toward ActivityPods 3.0 full Solid protocol compliance. Tim Berners-Lee's Solid community is a key ecosystem partner.
• ActivityPub / Fediverse CommunitymajorTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2024ActivityPods participates in the broader ActivityPub ecosystem and Fediverse. The project aims for full compatibility with ActivityPub servers (including Mastodon) while adding Solid's personal data POD architecture. Collaboration includes contributions to standardization processes at W3C.
• Data PlayerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorData Players is a service company based in Nantes (created 2017) specializing in interoperability, data valorization, and aggregation tools. They distribute the Bus Sémantique open-source software managed by Assemblée Virtuelle and have created a professional version for enterprise clients. A key channel partner for the Bus Sémantique product.
• EcoRhizo (Adrien Solacroup)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEcoRhizo is the commercial activity of Adrien Solacroup within CAE Oxalis, focused on territorial planning since 2015. Key contributor to GREZI (territorial resilience visualization) and Mycelium (farmer management apps). Expert in territorial mapping, Green and Blue Infrastructure planning, rural transitions.
• LogilabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLogilab develops libre software and provides high-level consulting and training in semantic web and scientific computing using agile methods. Maintains Cubicweb (semantic web application development platform, winner of Etalab Dataconnexions 2013), contributing this framework to the AV ecosystem.
• Startin'BloxcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStartin'Blox develops an innovative and ethical technology based on interoperable standards, opposing siloed proprietary platform logic. A cooperative software publisher developing open, cooperative, flexible, and trustworthy applications. Key ecosystem partner contributing both technology and GTM alignment.
• Octree (Geneva)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOctree builds digital commons for ecological and social transition. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, with a multidisciplinary team operating under distributed governance. Projects include voca.city (citizen participation), caroster.io (event mobility), r-21.ch (circular economy). Active contributor to Caroster, Voca, and other AV applications.
• SparnacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSparna is an IT consulting firm specializing in knowledge organization, document annotation and indexing, and data opening/reuse. Founded in 2012 by Thomas Francart, expert in ontology management systems, knowledge graphs (RDF, OWL, SKOS, SPARQL, SHACL). Contributes expertise to AV's semantic web tooling.
• Transiscope (Alternatiba, Colibris)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTransiscope is the map of citizen alternatives in France, created by Alternatiba and Colibris. The Bus Sémantique is at the core of the Transiscope project, enabling interoperability and aggregation of data from heterogeneous sources. Key production deployment of AV technology.
• Data Food ConsortiummajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerA collective of actors working for fundamental change in the food system, supporting independent producers and short supply chains. Defined a common digital language (nomenclatures and open standard) for mutualizing data and connecting actors. Key ontology project (Data Food Consortium ontology) enabling interoperability across short supply chain platforms.
• Commons to CommonsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitiated by Assemblée Virtuelle in 2015 with Mathieu Coste (ChezNous), Julien Cantoni (Mangroov and Spuntera), and Isabelle Delannoy (Atelier Symbiotique). A collaborative network of commons-oriented organizations sharing resources and knowledge.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Framasoft: French non-profit association promoting free software and digital commons with comparable community-led operating model, similar scale, and shared focus on libre-software education, hosting services, and digital sovereignty in France.
• Inrupt: Commercial entity founded by Tim Berners-Lee to industrialize the Solid protocol. Directly competes with AV's ActivityPods in the Solid-based, data-sovereignty-and-federation space, targeting overlapping enterprise and developer use cases.
• Decidim Free Software Association: Spanish-based non-profit stewarding Decidim, the open-source civic participation platform. Shares AV's open-source / participatory-democracy ethos and is a particularly close peer because AV's Voca product is built on top of Decidim.
• Mastodon gGmbH: Non-profit entity operating Mastodon, the most prominent ActivityPub-based decentralized social network. A direct peer in the federated social ecosystem where AV's ActivityPods also sits as an ActivityPub + Solid implementer.

Broad incumbents

• Eclipse Foundation: Major open-source foundation hosting hundreds of projects under a non-profit, vendor-neutral governance model. Operates at substantially larger scale but embodies the same open-source-federation-with-member-organizations structure that AV is building toward.
• Wikimedia Foundation / Wikidata: Much larger non-profit operating Wikidata — a massive open knowledge graph built on linked open data and RDF. Operates at substantially greater scale but shares AV's underlying semantic-web, open-data technology stack and standards-based philosophy.
• Open Knowledge Foundation: UK-based non-profit promoting open data, open knowledge, and data interoperability across institutions. Comparable mission around open standards and data reuse with a broader, more policy-oriented scope than AV.

Others

• OW2 Consortium: European open-source middleware consortium federating member-contributed software projects. Same non-profit federation / member-organization model as AV, and operates adjacent technology layers (interoperability, cloud middleware) for similar European institutional buyers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/assemblee-virtuelle
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/assemblee-virtuelle

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Assemblée Virtuelle