Mastodon gGmbH is a non-profit from Germany that develops the Mastodon software. Mastodon started in 2016 as an open-source project by Eugen Rochko, who, as an avid user since 2008, was dissatisfied with the state and direction of Twitter.
Believing that instant global communications were too crucial for modern society to belong to a single commercial company, he sought to build a user-friendly microblogging product that would not belong to any central authority, but remain practical for everyday use.
The first public launch occurred in October 2016. The initial support the project received through Patreon ensured that Eugen could begin working on the project full-time post-graduation. In April 2017 it received its first big break and garnered world-wide attention and press coverage.
The project was officially incorporated as a gGmbH (a German form of non-profit LLC) in 2021.