What DWeb does

DWeb is a nonprofit community network organization founded in 2016 and operating as a project of the nonprofit Gatherings for Good under the umbrella of the Internet Archive. It functions as a global convening and coordinating network for the decentralized web movement, connecting builders, technologists, artists, archivists, policymakers, and civil society members across 8+ city-based nodes (Bangalore, Berlin, DC, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Sudaka, Vancouver) and through flagship events including DWeb Camp and the former Decentralized Web Summit series. The organization does not develop or sell a commercial product; instead, its core assets are the DWeb Principles document, the volunteer-powered node network, the DWeb Camp format (the next edition scheduled July 8–12, 2026 near Berlin), and a knowledge base of recorded talks, webinars, and resources, with its own website hosted on decentralized infrastructure (Distributed Press via IPNS and hyper:// protocols).

DWeb's underlying technology stack is centered on decentralized protocols rather than proprietary systems: it curates and showcases IPFS for decentralized storage, DAT/Hypercore for peer-to-peer data distribution, Matrix for decentralized messaging, mesh networking, and Archive.org/Wayback Machine for digital preservation. The organization's GTM is community-led: growth depends on volunteer node organizers, peer referral, email newsletter subscriptions, and event attendance, with secondary sponsorship and donation levers. Monetization is structurally limited to corporate sponsorships, philanthropic grants, Open Collective donations, and ticket sales from the annual DWeb Camp; participation in nodes and events is otherwise free.

The customer base comprises four primary personas: builders and technologists developing decentralized protocols; volunteer community organizers and node leaders running local chapters; 'dreamers, artists, and thinkers' contributing non-technical perspectives; and philanthropic sponsors supporting the movement. The organization is led by a small volunteer team (1–10 people) including Wendy Hanamura (Project Coordinator), Iryna Nezhynska (Designer and Website Lead), Mai Ishikawa Sutton (Content Editor & DWeb Principles Steward), John Patrick Ryan (DWeb Principles Steward), Mina Nagy Zaki (Software Developer), and Gerben (Decentralized Tech Team & Redecentralize.org Editor).

Name

DWeb

Legal name

DWeb

Website

https://getdweb.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

DWeb is a nonprofit global community network, founded in 2016 as a project of the Internet Archive, that connects builders, technologists, artists, and policymakers across 8+ city-based nodes and annual gatherings to advance the decentralized web movement. It generates revenue through sponsorships, donations, and event ticket sales, and does not sell a commercial product.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Decentralized Web Community Network

NAICS

Civic and Social Organizations (813410), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

akta.pro primary industry

Open-Source & Developer Communities (BPAMABAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Developer Portals, SDKs & Documentation Platforms (BPAMADAG)

Keywords

• Decentralized web community
• Peer-to-peer networking
• Decentralized protocols advocacy
• Open-source community organizing
• Distributed web events

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Sponsorships and Grants: DWeb operates as a project of the nonprofit Gatherings for Good. It is funded through corporate sponsorships, philanthropic grants, and donations. Organizations can become global sponsors of DWeb events and the broader movement. The organization has previously acknowledged sponsor support on its website.
2. Donations and Volunteer Contributions: DWeb accepts donations via Open Collective (opencollective.com/dweb-network). The organization is also powered by a global community of volunteer designers, developers, organizers, and thought leaders who contribute their time and skills.
3. Event Revenue (DWeb Camp Tickets): DWeb Camp, the flagship annual gathering, sells tickets to attendees. DWeb Camp 2026 (July 8–12 near Berlin) tickets are available for purchase at dwebcamp.org. Ticket sales contribute to event costs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels12 records

Core offering

DWeb is a global, volunteer-driven community network that connects people and projects working to build a decentralized web. It organizes local meetup groups (DWeb Nodes) in 8+ cities, runs the annual DWeb Camp gathering and DWeb Summit, hosts educational DWeb Webinars, and maintains the DWeb Principles document as a shared ethical and technical guide for the community.

Product overview

DWeb is a community network organization, not a product company. It does not offer commercial software products or services. Instead, DWeb operates as a global network connecting builders, dreamers, and projects working to create a decentralized web. The organization facilitates this mission through community-driven activities including DWeb Nodes (local meetup groups), DWeb Camp (annual gatherings), DWeb Webinars, resources, and educational materials. The website serves as an informational and coordination hub for the decentralized web movement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• DWeb Camp
• DWeb Summit
• DWeb Nodes

Quantifiable outcome

• Organized the first fully decentralized website demonstration (Juan Benet) and first browser-based DAT protocol implementation (Karissa McKelvey) at the June 2016 Decentralized Web Summit.
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022METRO co-presented the six-part webinar series 'Imagining a Better Online World: Exploring the Decentralized Web' alongside DWeb, Internet Archive, and Library Futures, targeting library professionals and the broader public.
• Library FuturesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Library Futures partnered with DWeb, Internet Archive, and METRO to co-present the 2022 webinar series 'Imagining a Better Online World: Exploring the Decentralized Web', focused on privacy, data control, and censorship resistance in libraries and beyond.
• Internet ArchivecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Internet Archive, founded by Brewster Kahle, is the parent organization and convening anchor for DWeb. The Internet Archive hosted the first Decentralized Web Summit in June 2016 and the 2018 Summit at its headquarters. Brewster Kahle issued the original 'moonshot for the Internet' challenge in 2015 that catalyzed the movement. DWeb operates as a project of the Internet Archive's ecosystem.
• Gatherings for GoodcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDWeb is formally a project of the nonprofit Gatherings for Good. This nonprofit status allows DWeb to accept sponsorships, grants, and donations, and provides organizational structure for the global community movement.
• Redecentralize.orgminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerben, a member of the DWeb website team and editor of Redecentralize.org, contributes to making the DWeb website decentralized across Hypercore and IPFS. Redecentralize.org is also listed as a related organization in the DWeb resources and projects ecosystem.
• Simply SecureminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSimply Secure is referenced as a related community organization in the DWeb ecosystem. It provides UX design resources, wireframing guides, and knowledge base materials that are shared as DWeb resources for builders and designers.
• DWeb Nodes (Global)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDWeb Nodes in Bangalore, Berlin, DC, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Sudaka, and Vancouver are volunteer-run local hubs that organize events, onboard new community members, and represent the DWeb brand in their cities. They are essential distribution and community-building partners for the global network.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Mozilla Foundation: Mozilla Foundation funds the open web movement through grants and advocacy, including the Mozilla Festival. It is comparable as a nonprofit advancing an open, decentralized, user-controlled internet through community programs, public-interest funding, and educational events targeting similar developer and policymaker audiences.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): EFF advocates for digital privacy, free expression, and decentralization through litigation, policy, and community organizing. It is comparable as a long-running nonprofit focused on civil liberties and decentralization, addressing overlapping audiences of technologists, civil society, and policymakers that DWeb's "dreamers" segment targets.
• Web3 Foundation: Web3 Foundation funds and stewards the Polkadot/Substrate ecosystem, focused on building a decentralized web through protocol investment. It is comparable as a major institutional player in the same decentralized-web mission space, though it pursues the mission through grants and protocol development rather than community convening.
• Ethereum Foundation: Ethereum Foundation funds Ethereum protocol research, developer events, and ecosystem grants. It is comparable as a major institutional convener in the broader decentralized web/infrastructure space with significantly larger funding scale, targeting overlapping developer audiences at Ethereum-focused events such as Devcon and Devconnect.
• Creative Commons: Creative Commons builds open-licensing infrastructure and convenes a global community of advocates, librarians, and policymakers around shared digital commons. It is comparable as a mission-driven nonprofit with strong community programming, similar education and webinar efforts, and the same institutional library/archival partnerships visible in DWeb's METRO and Library Futures collaborations.

Others

• Internet Archive: Internet Archive is DWeb's parent organization and convening host, sharing the same founder (Brewster Kahle) and mission around open access to knowledge and digital preservation. It is comparably relevant as the institutional anchor that gives DWeb brand credibility, physical convening space, and archival infrastructure for its recorded events.

Emerging players

• Filecoin Foundation: Filecoin Foundation supports decentralized storage infrastructure built on Protocol Labs technology. It is comparable as a nonprofit in the DWeb ecosystem that promotes decentralized storage adoption through education, advocacy, and ecosystem support, sharing a similar convening and standards-setting role at the protocol level.
• Arweave: Arweave operates a decentralized permanent storage network and supports the permaweb ecosystem via community grants and developer programming. It is comparable as an emerging protocol foundation within the DWeb-aligned decentralized storage ecosystem, building on adjacent technology and engaging overlapping builder communities.
• Protocol Labs / IPFS: Protocol Labs builds IPFS, a foundational decentralized storage protocol referenced throughout DWeb's materials. It is comparable as a builder of core decentralized web infrastructure that DWeb's community actively uses and advocates for, and serves as a related organizational hub for the same movement.

Direct peers

• Redecentralize: Redecentralize is an independent news/community site curating decentralized web projects and events, with overlapping contributors to DWeb (Gerben is on both teams). It is the closest functional peer: same target audience of builders and dreamers, same mission of supporting a decentralized web, and similar volunteer-led operating model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgitlab.com/getdweb
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dwebcommunity

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about DWeb