CitizenLab

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CitizenLab

Type	Civic Technology Companies
Founded	September, 2015
Founder	Wietse Van Ransbeek, Aline Muylaert, Koen Gremmelprez
Headquarters	Brussels , Belgium
Products	Civic engagement platform
Number of employees	11-50
Website	www.citizenlab.co

CitizenLab is a Brussels-based civic tech company that works with 200+ local governments across nine countries around the world that aims to digitalize governance and make decision-making more effective, transparent, collaborative, and data-driven.^[1]

History[]

CitizenLab was founded in September 2015 by three young entrepreneurs, Wietse Van Ransbeeck, Aline Muylaert, and Koen Gremmelprez.

Over its five years of existence, CitizenLab has provided platforms in Belgium, Netherlands, France, Germany, Denmark, United Kingdom, Norway, Canada, the United States and Chile.^[1]

Platform[]

The goal of the CitizenLab platform is to facilitate civic engagement through a two-way, digital platform. The platform is a cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) that empowers citizens to take part in the decision-making process along with allowing governments to collect data and opinions in an easier and more organized manner.

The front end of the CitizenLab platform has participation features such as participatory budgeting, survey and polling, idea collection and voting, and citizen initiatives. The back end of the platform allows local governments to gather and manage citizen data efficiently, facilitating educated decision-making based on the wants and needs of the citizens.

In the spring of 2019, CitizenLab raised two million euros in order to aid the company's expansion into international markets along with broadening their impact.^[2] Investors include: Inventures and finance.brussels funds, the ING bank and the IT group Cipal-Schaubroeck.^[3] In May 2019, CitizenLab took part in a Nesta experiment where six cities were sponsored to use the CitizenLab platform in order to explore the if technology can, indeed, increase government efficiency and transparency.^[4]

Awards[]

• VivaTech Paris, "Digital Inclusion" (2019)^[5]
• Wietse Van Ransbeeck & Aline Muylaert, listed as ‘50 Flemings of the Future' (2018)^[6]
• Aline Muylaert and Wietse Van Ransbeeck placed on Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Law and Policy (2018)^[7]
• Young Belgian Startup of the Year (2017)^[8]
• One of the 10 Radical Changemakers, Radio 1, De Standaard and De Sociale Innovatiefabriek (2017)^[9]
• One of the 5 Smart City Applications, Gartner (2017)^[10]
• Aline Muylaert (Head of Sales), One of the 10 final nominees for the StartHer Award (2018)^[11]
• Selected as one of the 5 Best Smart City startups worldwide, 4YFN at the Smart City Expo World Congress, Barcelona (2016)^[12]

References[]