Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo

What Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo does

Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo (Abraji) is a São Paulo-based non-profit civil association founded in 2002 in response to the murder of journalist Tim Lopes, dedicated to promoting investigative journalism and press freedom in Brazil. It serves professional investigative journalists, journalism students, civil society organizations, and Lusophone journalists across Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola, Cabo Verde, Timor-Leste, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea. The organization functions as a membership-based association with a small staff of 1-10 employees, operating as the exclusive Portuguese-language node of the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) since the 2018 launch of GIJN em Português.

Abraji's product portfolio centers on an integrated ecosystem of proprietary digital investigation tools, monitoring projects, educational programs, and press protection services. Core platforms include CruzaGrafos (relationship/network mapping across companies, politicians, payments, and public works), Achados e Pedidos (aggregated access to information requests and socio-environmental data, partnered with Fiquem Sabendo and Transparência Brasil), Abramos Dados (Cruzadados and Datascópio combined, indexing millions of public records), Publique-se (judicial process search engine for politicians), and Ctrl+X (SLAPP and judicial harassment monitoring). Monitoring and protection projects include Monitoramento de Ataques de Gênero (tracking gender-based attacks against women journalists since 2021) and Programa Tim Lopes (recovering the history of murdered Brazilian journalists). Educational offerings comprise online courses in data journalism, corruption investigation, company investigation, asset investigation, Access to Information Law, verification techniques, and a free generative AI literacy course for journalists supported by Google.

Abraji's business model is a hybrid non-profit model combining membership dues, individual donations via Mercado Pago crowdfunding, mostly-free course offerings with select paid in-person training, and institutional grants from foundations such as the Ford Foundation. Its go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: an active members-only email list, a regular newsletter, social media presence across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, and the annual International Investigative Journalism Congress (now in its 21st edition) serve as primary engagement channels. Enterprise training is delivered on-demand to major Brazilian newsrooms including TV Globo, O Globo, O Estado de S.Paulo, Zero Hora, and Gazeta do Povo. The organization receives no equity investment and operates independently under a member-elected board currently led by President Daniel Bramatti and Vice President Guilherme Amado, with Marina Atoji as Executive Manager.

Name

Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo

Legal name

Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo

Website

https://abraji.org.br

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Abraji is a São Paulo-based non-profit association founded in 2002 that promotes investigative journalism in Brazil and across Lusophone countries. It serves journalists through proprietary investigation tools (CruzaGrafos, Abramos Dados, Publique-se), training programs, the annual International Investigative Journalism Congress, and legal protection services, operating as the exclusive Portuguese-language GIJN member.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

São Paulo

HQ country

Brazil

HQ region

Latin America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership dues: Abraji operates as a membership-based association with paid memberships that fund operations and programs.
2. Donations: The organization accepts donations through Mercado Pago, a crowdfunding mechanism for supporting Abraji's activities.
3. Course fees: Many courses are offered for free, but some courses and training programs have registration fees. Some in-person courses charge for participation.
4. Institutional grants and funding: Abraji receives grants from foundations and international organizations for specific projects, such as the Ford Foundation funding for LAI (Access to Information Law) training programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Abraji is a nonprofit association that provides investigative journalists in Brazil with training programs (online courses and corporate training), free digital investigation platforms (CruzaGrafos, Achados e Pedidos, Abramos Dados, Publique-se, Ctrl+X), legal protection and litigation support, an annual international congress, and advocacy for freedom of expression and access to public information. Its core purpose is to strengthen investigative journalism practice, defend journalists facing threats, and promote transparency in Brazil and other Portuguese-speaking countries.

Product overview

Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo (Abraji) is a nonprofit journalism association founded in 2002 that operates as a platform of interconnected tools and services supporting investigative journalism in Brazil. The core offering combines investigation tools (CruzaGrafos, Abramos Dados, Publique-se, Achados e Pedidos), monitoring projects (Ctrl+X, Monitoramento de Ataques de Gênero, Programa Tim Lopes), and professional development (online courses, annual congress, Help Desk, publications). The organization also provides legal protection services and partners with GIJN to serve the Portuguese-speaking journalism community. The product portfolio functions as an integrated ecosystem where investigation tools enable data-driven reporting, educational resources build journalist capacity, and advocacy services protect press freedom.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GIJN em Português: Global Investigative Journalism Network in Portuguese - partnership with GIJN launched in 2018 to serve Portuguese-speaking journalists in Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Timor-Leste, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea.

Products and services

• CruzaGrafos Web-based graph analysis platform that cross-references multiple public datasets to help journalists identify relationships between people, companies, and entities. Available free of charge to investigative journalists.
• Achados e Pedidos Platform that aggregates public information access requests (Lei de Acesso à Informação) and their responses from federal, state, and municipal government bodies in Brazil. Used by journalists, researchers, and civil society to find and reuse public information requests.
• Abramos Dados Initiative that organizes and publishes categorized public datasets to facilitate investigative reporting and transparency analysis in Brazil.
• Publique-se Tool that allows journalists to search judicial records and related public legal information to support investigative reporting.
• Ctrl+X Project for monitoring court proceedings and judicial decisions to support transparency and investigative reporting on the Brazilian judicial system.
• Cursos Online Online course catalog delivered through Abraji's learning platform covering investigative journalism, data journalism, fact-checking, and related disciplines. Includes both free and paid asynchronous classes, with classes also available for institutional purchase.
• Congresso Internacional de Jornalismo Investigativo Annual international congress bringing together journalists, editors, researchers, and experts in investigative journalism for keynote talks, panels, workshops, and networking. Held annually in Brazil since the association's founding.
• Proteção Legal e Litigância Legal protection and strategic litigation service that supports journalists facing threats, lawsuits (including SLAPP-style cases), or restrictions on their reporting work, while also pursuing strategic cases to defend press freedom.
• Programa Tim Lopes Free training program aimed at university students, designed to develop the next generation of investigative journalists in Brazil.
• Monitoramento de Ataques de Gênero Project dedicated to monitoring and reporting on online gender-based attacks against journalists and public figures, with the goal of producing data-driven reporting on the issue.

Quantifiable outcome

• 21 consecutive annual International Investigative Journalism Congresses
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

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

• Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 August 2018Abraji is the exclusive GIJN member for all Portuguese-speaking countries. Partnership launched GIJN em Português in August 2018, the first global community of Portuguese-speaking journalists. The partnership disseminates investigative journalism techniques, tutorials, and best practices across Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola, Cabo Verde, Timor-Leste, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea through daily social media content.
• Transparência BrasilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership for the 'Achados e Pedidos' platform that monitors socio-environmental data through FOI requests. Joint work also includes the Access to Public Information Forum (Fórum de Direito de Acesso a Informações Públicas) and multiple training initiatives on the Access to Information Law.
• Transparência InternacionalflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizing the new Brazilian Investigative Journalism Award announced at the 21st International Investigative Journalism Congress. The award aims to recognize reporting that prioritizes public interest, technical rigor, and social relevance, with the first edition accepting entries published in 2026.
• Open Knowledge BrasilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for the 'Prêmio Cláudio Weber Abramo de Jornalismo de Dados' (Cláudio Weber Abramo Data Journalism Award), held in partnership with Transparência Brasil and Open Knowledge Brasil.
• GoogleminorGTM or Marketing PartnerGoogle provides support for Abraji's free AI course 'Fundamentos de IA Generativa para Jornalistas' (Foundations of Generative AI for Journalists) offered through the Abraji Academy.
• BRIOminorOthersBrenno Costa, editor of GIJN Português and former investigative reporter at Folha de S.Paulo, founded and directs BRIO, which provides individualized mentorship and other services to journalists in Brazil. Collaborative relationship through shared personnel.
• Coda.BrminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for the Coda.Br data journalism conference in São Paulo. Abraji shares presentations and resources from the event, which had over 300 participants with dozens of hours of presentations and hands-on activities.
• Fiquem SabendocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for the 'Achados e Pedidos' platform that monitors socio-environmental data. Fiquem Sabendo is a key partner in aggregating FOI requests and responses from public administration.
• Voces del SurminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAbraji participates in the 'Relatório Sombra' (Shadow Report) published by the Voces del Sur collective, joining nine other organizations in defense of press freedom in Latin America.
• ARTIGO 19minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for publications on press freedom, safety guides for journalists covering political events, and practical legal guides for bloggers and internet users facing lawsuits.
• Conselho Federal da OABcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership agreement providing basic legal counseling for press professionals who are victims of online threats. The convenio helps journalists denounce threats and online harassment.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project): OCCRP is a transnational investigative journalism network focused on organized crime and corruption, with tools and training programs for partner newsrooms. It overlaps with Abraji's corruption-investigation tools (CruzaGrafos, Publique-se) and target audience, but operates at a larger transnational scale.

Direct peers

• Ponte Jornalismo: Ponte Jornalismo is a Brazilian investigative journalism nonprofit focused on human rights, transparency, and access to public information. It overlaps with Abraji's mission and target community (Brazilian investigative journalists, civil society) and serves as a downstream consumer of FOI tools like Achados e Pedidos.
• Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE): IRE is the largest US-based professional association for investigative journalists, providing training, resources, and an annual conference. It is the closest international functional analog to Abraji, comparable on training programs, member services, and investigative methodology resources.
• Transparência Brasil: Transparência Brasil is a long-standing Brazilian anti-corruption and transparency NGO that co-maintains the Achados e Pedidos platform with Abraji and co-organizes the Cláudio Weber Abramo data journalism award. It is a DIRECT_PEER because it shares Abraji's mission, audience, and product (FOI data).
• Fiquem Sabendo: Fiquem Sabendo is a Brazilian FOI-focused news collective and Abraji's partner on the Achados e Pedidos platform. It is a DIRECT_PEER in the access-to-information and data journalism ecosystem, serving an overlapping audience.
• ARTIGO 19: ARTIGO 19 is a Brazilian human rights and press freedom organization that publishes safety guides and legal resources for journalists—directly comparable to Abraji's legal protection, press freedom advocacy, and Help Desk offerings.
• Agência Pública: Agência Pública is a Brazilian investigative journalism outlet founded in 2011 that produces in-depth reporting and collaborates with Abraji. It is a DIRECT_PEER because it shares the same target audience (Brazilian investigative journalists and civil society), the same language ecosystem, and a complementary mission to advance accountability reporting.

Broad incumbents

• Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN): GIJN is the global umbrella for investigative journalism organizations with 163 members across 70+ countries. Abraji is GIJN's exclusive Portuguese-language member, and GIJN is both Abraji's parent network and a content partner, making it the closest structural peer.
• ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigative Journalists): ICIJ is the world's largest investigative journalism collaborative, partnering with newsrooms globally on cross-border accountability reporting. It is a BROAD_INCUMBENT because, like GIJN, it operates globally and overlaps with Abraji in tools, training, and the Lusophone audience via translated resources.

Regional players

• The Intercept Brasil: The Intercept Brasil is a major investigative journalism outlet serving the Brazilian market, producing the type of accountability reporting that Abraji's tools and training enable. It is a REGIONAL_PLAYER because it operates exclusively in Brazil while sharing Abraji's audience and ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/abraji
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/CanalABRAJI
• Facebookfacebook.com/JornInvestigativo
• Instagraminstagram.com/abraji_
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/abraji

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo