Ontotext

Ontotext is a Bulgarian software company founded in 2000 and focused on semantic technology, knowledge graphs, RDF data management, and text analysis. Its best-known product is GraphDB, an RDF database and semantic repository formerly associated with the OWLIM and BigOWLIM product names. GraphDB is designed to store, query, enrich, and reason over interconnected data represented using the Resource Description Framework and queried through SPARQL. This positions it between conventional database infrastructure, metadata management, ontology repositories, and enterprise knowledge platforms. The company’s technology addresses organizations that need to combine information from heterogeneous sources and preserve the meaning of relationships among entities. Rather than treating data only as rows, documents, or isolated records, Ontotext’s approach represents people, organizations, places, products, concepts, and events as connected entities. This can support data integration, master-data management, semantic search, analytics, content enrichment, and data publishing. The company has also worked in text analysis and natural-language-oriented applications, extending knowledge-graph technology into large collections of documents and other unstructured material. GraphDB became Ontotext’s flagship commercial offering. Its capabilities include RDF storage, SPARQL querying, inferencing, ontology management, graph analytics, and interfaces for administration and data ingestion. The product has been used in areas including healthcare, genetics, cultural heritage, geography, infrastructure planning, civil engineering, oceanography, digital historiography, and data forensics. Publicly identified users and collaborators have included the BBC, the Financial Times, Springer Nature, the UK Parliament, and AstraZeneca, although the nature and scope of individual deployments vary. Ontotext also developed Ontotext Platform, a broader data-management environment centered on knowledge graphs. The platform was intended to help enterprises ingest and reconcile data, create semantic models, connect structured and unstructured information, and expose the resulting knowledge for search, analysis, or publishing. GraphDB and the wider platform therefore served different but related roles: GraphDB functioned as the core semantic database and repository, while Ontotext Platform addressed broader knowledge-management and data-integration workflows. A notable part of Ontotext’s history was its collaboration with the BBC beginning in 2010 on Dynamic Semantic Publishing. The project is described as one of the early large-scale industrial applications of semantic technology. It demonstrated how structured semantic data could be used to generate and maintain digital publishing experiences across changing bodies of editorial and reference content. In 2014, Ontotext acquired the GraphDB trademark from Sones. The product subsequently became the central identity for the company’s RDF database technology. In October 2024, Ontotext merged with the Austrian Semantic Web Company to form Graphwise, described by the parties as a major global semantic-technology company. This transaction changed the corporate context in which Ontotext’s products and capabilities operate. The continued status of Ontotext as a standalone legal entity or active corporate brand is not fully established by the supplied reference material; GraphDB and related semantic technologies are now associated with Graphwise.

Ontotext was established in Bulgaria in 2000 as a software company specializing in semantic technologies and data management. Its work developed around the idea that enterprise information can be made more useful when data is represented not only as isolated records or documents but also as explicit relationships among entities. This approach led the company toward RDF databases, ontologies, semantic repositories, knowledge graphs, and text-analysis applications. The company’s principal database product evolved under the OWLIM and BigOWLIM names before becoming GraphDB. GraphDB is an RDF triplestore and semantic repository designed to manage graph-shaped information and support SPARQL queries. It incorporates inferencing capabilities so that relationships implied by an ontology or set of rules can be derived from stored facts. The system also includes a web-based Workbench for administration and an engine incorporating query optimization, reasoning, storage, and plugin-management functions. Its architecture has been associated with RDF4J components and is intended for enterprise-scale metadata, master-data, analytics, and data-publishing workloads. Ontotext’s technology was applied across a diverse set of fields. Document-heavy and data-intensive use cases included genetics, healthcare, cultural heritage, geography, infrastructure planning, civil engineering, oceanography, digital historiography, and data forensics. The company’s publicly cited commercial users and collaborators included the BBC, the Financial Times, Springer Nature, the UK Parliament, and AstraZeneca. These examples reflect the breadth of semantic data applications, from publishing and content discovery to scientific, governmental, and pharmaceutical information management. Beginning in 2010, Ontotext worked with the BBC on Dynamic Semantic Publishing. The initiative became an important demonstration of semantic technology in a major media environment. It used structured relationships and semantic enrichment to support digital publishing workflows and changing collections of content. The project is characterized in reference material as one of the early large-scale industrial semantic applications. In 2014, Ontotext acquired the GraphDB trademark from Sones. The trademark acquisition helped establish GraphDB as the principal public identity of the company’s RDF database offering. Later product development included support for easier tabular-data ingestion and reconciliation through integration with OpenRefine from GraphDB version 8.0 onward. Ontotext also offered Ontotext Platform, a broader knowledge-graph-centered data-management environment intended to combine ingestion, semantic modeling, data integration, search, and analysis. The company’s corporate history entered a new phase in October 2024, when Ontotext merged with the Austrian Semantic Web Company. The combined organization was named Graphwise and was presented as a large international semantic-technology company. The merger means that Ontotext’s products, expertise, and customer relationships must now be understood in the context of Graphwise. The supplied references do not establish whether Ontotext continues as a separate legal entity, a product-facing brand, or an operating division, so its current standalone status is recorded as unknown.

1. 2024Merger creates Graphwise

   Ontotext merges with the Austrian Semantic Web Company to form Graphwise.

   Source
2. 2014GraphDB trademark acquired from Sones

   Ontotext acquires the GraphDB trademark, which becomes the principal commercial identity of its RDF database product.

   Source
3. 2010Dynamic Semantic Publishing work begins with the BBC

   Ontotext begins collaborating with the BBC on a large-scale semantic publishing application.

   Source
4. 2000Ontotext is founded in Bulgaria

   Ontotext is established as a Bulgarian software company focused on semantic technology and data management.

   Source

Enterprise semantic-technology provider focused on RDF databases, knowledge graphs, semantic data integration, and text analysis.

• GraphDBRDF database and semantic repository

  GraphDB is Ontotext’s flagship RDF database and triplestore. It stores knowledge graphs using the RDF data model, supports SPARQL querying, and provides ontology-based reasoning for deriving implied relationships. The product includes a web administration Workbench and an engine covering query optimization, storage, inferencing, and plugin management. It has been used for metadata and master-data management, graph analytics, data publishing, semantic search, and domain-specific knowledge management. GraphDB was formerly associated with the OWLIM and BigOWLIM names.

• Ontotext PlatformKnowledge-graph data management platform

  Ontotext Platform is a broader data-management environment built around knowledge graphs. It is intended to help organizations bring together structured and unstructured information, create semantic models, reconcile data, and make connected information available for search, analysis, and publishing. The platform complements GraphDB by addressing wider enterprise workflows around ingestion, integration, knowledge management, and content enrichment.

• 2010Dynamic Semantic Publishing

  United Kingdom · International digital publishing

  Ontotext collaborated with the BBC on Dynamic Semantic Publishing, applying knowledge-graph and semantic technologies to large-scale digital publishing and content organization.

  Outcome. The project became a prominent early industrial demonstration of semantic technology in a major media organization.

  Source

• 2024Merge with the Semantic Web CompanyM&A

  Both organizations operated in semantic technology and knowledge-graph software, creating an opportunity to combine their products, expertise, and international operations.

  What changed. Ontotext merged with the Austrian Semantic Web Company to form Graphwise.

  Aftermath. The combined company was presented as a major international semantic-technology provider. The supplied sources do not clarify Ontotext’s continuing standalone legal or brand status.

  Source
• 2014Acquire the GraphDB trademarkOther

  Ontotext’s RDF database had previously been associated with the OWLIM and BigOWLIM product names. Acquiring the GraphDB trademark provided a distinct commercial identity for the product.

  What changed. Ontotext acquired the GraphDB trademark from Sones and subsequently used GraphDB as the principal product name.

  Aftermath. GraphDB became Ontotext’s best-known product and the central identity of its graph-database business.

  Source

• 2024Ontotext merges with the Semantic Web Company to form Graphwise

  Ontotext and the Austrian Semantic Web Company merged in October 2024 to create Graphwise, combining their semantic-technology capabilities and presenting the resulting organization as one of the largest companies in the field.

  M&A
  Source
• 2014Ontotext acquires the GraphDB trademark from Sones

  Ontotext acquired the GraphDB trademark from Sones, strengthening the commercial identity of its RDF database product.

  Other
  Source
• 2010Ontotext and the BBC develop Dynamic Semantic Publishing

  Ontotext began working with the BBC on Dynamic Semantic Publishing, an early large-scale industrial application of semantic technology for digital publishing and content organization.

  CampaignOther
  Source

1. Ontotext
2. Graphwise
3. Ontotext official website