London, UK / Bolzano, Italy – Wednesday 25 March 2026
Digital Science, a technology company providing innovative solutions to stakeholders across the research ecosystem, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Ontopic, a pioneer in Virtual Knowledge Graph technology.
Based in Bolzano, Italy, Ontopic is a spin-off from the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and is renowned for its expertise in Ontop, the leading open-source framework for Virtual Knowledge Graphs (VKG) and Ontology-Based Data Access (ODBA).
By acquiring Ontopic, Digital Science continues its commitment to democratizing research data and providing enterprise-grade AI solutions that transform fragmented data into actionable knowledge.
Integrating Virtualization with Semantic Discovery
Ontopic’s core technology and its flagship product, Ontopic Studio, will be integrated with metaphactory, Digital Science’s industry-leading knowledge democratization platform. This integration will enable users to build and access Knowledge Graphs directly from their existing data sources, without the need for expensive and time-consuming data transformation.
By combining Ontopic’s virtualization capabilities with metaphactory’s low-code environment for semantic modeling and discovery, Digital Science is creating a seamless, end-to-end pipeline for the “Knowledge-First” enterprise.
Advancing Digital Science’s Knowledge Graph Competency
As part of this acquisition, the Ontopic team will join the recently established Knowledge Graph Competency group within Digital Science. This specialized group will serve as the company’s center of excellence for semantic technology, driving innovation across the Digital Science portfolio, including Dimensions and Altmetric.
The Ontopic management team will take on key leadership roles within this new group, ensuring that their deep academic and technical expertise remains at the heart of Digital Science’s growth strategy.
Responding to Customer Needs
“Our customers have consistently voiced a need for more agile ways to integrate data into their semantic layers and knowledge graphs. By welcoming Ontopic into the fold, we are directly answering that call. Ontopic has deep expertise in data virtualization, combined with a sophisticated approach to mapping management and automation. This represents a key advancement in our commitment to delivering a truly comprehensive and scalable platform, significantly enhancing the coherence and capability of our Enterprise Information Architecture solution,” said Sebastian Schmidt, EVP of the Enterprise segment at Digital Science.
Peter Hopfgartner, CEO and co-Founder of Ontopic, said: “Joining Digital Science is a pivotal moment for Ontopic. Our customers are no longer just looking for data integration; they are building the brain of their enterprise. By combining our virtualization technology with metaphacts, we are delivering a robust Semantic Layer that serves as the essential foundation for Trustworthy AI. Together, we enable AI agents to reason over real-time, distributed data with full context and zero duplication. We aren’t just helping companies find their data; we’re helping them turn it into an intelligent, autonomous asset.”
Alex Weissensteiner, Rector at the Free University of Bolzano (unibz), said: “We believed in Ontopic from the outset, recognizing its strong potential as an initiative rooted in excellent research and innovation. Today, its acquisition by a global knowledge and technology company confirms the soundness of that vision. Particularly significant is the fact that Ontopic will remain headquartered in Bolzano, maintaining here its research and development focus in the field of Virtual Knowledge Graphs.”
For more information, visit www.digital-science.com or https://ontopic.ai/en/
About Digital Science
Digital Science is an AI-focused technology company providing innovative solutions to complex challenges faced by researchers, universities, governments, funders, industry, and publishers. We work in partnership to advance global research for the benefit of society. Through our brands – Altmetric, Dimensions, Figshare, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, metaphacts, Overleaf, ReadCube, Symplectic, and Writefull – we believe when we solve problems together, we drive progress for all. Visit digital-science.com and follow Digital Science on Bluesky, on X or on LinkedIn.
About Ontopic
Ontopic is the leading provider of Virtual Knowledge Graph solutions. Originating from the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Ontopic helps organizations integrate heterogeneous data sources into a unified semantic layer without the need for data duplication, enabling faster, more cost-effective data discovery.
Media Contact
David Ellis, Manager, Media & PR, Digital Science: d.ellis@digital-science.com
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