---
title: bHive
type: cooperative
status: inactive
country: AU
website: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://bhive.coop
summary: A place-based platform cooperative in Bendigo, Victoria that has since closed
  — was the first of its kind globally, providing a member-owned sharing platform
  for local neighbourhoods to exchange skills, goods, and mutual aid.
concepts:
- cooperative
- worker-cooperatives
- economic-democracy
events:
- date: '2016-09-01'
  title: Held its founding pitch night in Bendigo, raising $35,000 from Founding Patrons
  url: https://web.archive.org/web/20190824085752/https://bhive.coop/our-story/
  quote: $35,000 was raised in donations to kickstart bHive from an amazing group
    of Founding Patrons.
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: false
- date: '2017-01-01'
  title: Formally granted cooperative status by Consumer Affairs Victoria, becoming
  url: https://web.archive.org/web/20190824085752/https://bhive.coop/our-story/
  quote: Finally Consumer Affairs granted us cooperative status. We were now a real
    thing. Australia's first platform cooperative
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-12'
  notable: true
last_checked: '2026-05-29'
---

**bHive has since closed.** Confirmed inactive as of 2026.

bHive was a Bendigo-based cooperative founded on the premise that sharing economy platforms should be owned by the communities that use them, not by distant technology companies. Members were equal owners with no advertising, no data sales, and profits retained locally.

Its main product, **bHive Villages**, was an online neighbourhood sharing platform where residents could share tools, skills, food, time, and organise events and mutual aid. It was structured as a platform cooperative — a model that applies cooperative principles (member ownership, democratic control, local reinvestment) to digital infrastructure.

The broader bHive ecosystem included a marketplace for local cooperatives across energy, food, transport, and finance — positioning it as economic infrastructure for a local democratic economy rather than just a tool.

## Links

- Archive: [bhive.coop (Wayback Machine)](https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://bhive.coop)

## See also

- [Cooperative](../concepts/cooperative.md)
- [Worker Cooperatives](../concepts/worker-cooperatives.md)
- [Economic Democracy](../concepts/economic-democracy.md)
- [888 Co-operative Causeway](888-cooperative-causeway.md)
- [Earthworker Cooperative](earthworker-cooperative.md)