BrainsFirst
BrainsFirst provides neuroscience-based, game-driven cognitive assessments (NeurOlympics) that measure learning ability, attention, and decision-making to match candidates and employees to roles. It serves enterprises for HR, mobility, and team analytics, and professional football clubs for youth talent identification.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersAmsterdam, Netherlands
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What BrainsFirst does
BrainsFirst B.V., headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, is a neuroscience-based cognitive assessment company that operates the NeurOlympics platform — four scientifically validated, in-house developed brain games (approximately 45 minutes total) that measure 16 cognitive skills including working memory, attention, decision-making, information processing, and learning capacity. Each assessment produces a Personal Brain Profile that is matched against 900+ pre-defined Goal Profiles to recommend roles, teams, or development paths. The company was co-founded in 2012 by University of Amsterdam neuroscientists Dr. Ilja Sligte (CSO) and Andries van der Leij (CTO), building on research originating at Real Madrid's training ground in 2009; it now reports 400,000+ brain measurements across both business and sports applications and a 20,000-brain football-specific dataset underlying the Football Brain Index.
The platform serves two primary customer segments. Business organizations — including corporations, banks (ABN AMRO), consulting and professional services firms (McKinsey, Deloitte), IT companies (Atos, TOPdesk), and Dutch municipalities (Gemeente Rotterdam, Gemeente Amsterdam) — use it for recruitment, internal mobility, team composition, and outplacement. Sports organizations, particularly professional football clubs (PSV, AZ Alkmaar, Real Sociedad, Nottingham Forest, Legia Warsaw), use it for youth academy talent identification and player development. Revenue is generated primarily through B2B enterprise licensing subscriptions, with additional revenue from a Certification Program for HR/L&D practitioners and sports-specific services; individual candidates take assessments for free while organizations pay licensing fees.
The company was acquired in March 2026 by TMA, a Dutch talent management software provider backed by Main Capital Partners, positioning BrainsFirst within a PE-backed talent-tech roll-up. Distribution combines direct enterprise sales with a product-led growth motion (free demo games at neurolympics.nl), a podcast and content-led marketing strategy (NeurOlympics Podcast), and an ecosystem of certified practitioners. Strategic partnerships extend reach — SoccerLAB integrates the platform with established sports data infrastructure, and Kyodo News Digital enables entry into the Japanese professional football market. The company holds ISO 27001-aligned information security practices and operates a GDPR-compliant data model.
BrainsFirst firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- BrainsFirst
- Legal name
- BrainsFirst B.V.
- Website
- https://brainsfirst.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- BrainsFirst provides neuroscience-based, game-driven cognitive assessments (NeurOlympics) that measure learning ability, attention, and decision-making to match candidates and employees to roles. It serves enterprises for HR, mobility, and team analytics, and professional football clubs for youth talent identification.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
BrainsFirst industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cognitive Talent Assessment Platform
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (61171)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cognitive Ability & General Intelligence Testing (BPACAMAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Skills Assessment & Talent/Employability Testing Platforms (EDAFADAM)
Keywords
Where BrainsFirst is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Amsterdam
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
BrainsFirst business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- B2B Platform Licensing: BrainsFirst provides its cognitive assessment platform to business customers (organizations) who pay licensing fees to use the NeurOlympics for candidate assessment and talent development. The platform is offered at no charge to individual users whose cognitive performance is assessed.
- Certification Program: Professional certification program for HR, L&D, recruitment, and talent professionals to become certified BrainsFirst experts, providing practical knowledge and tools for applying brain insights to talent management.
- Sports Organization Services: Cognitive assessment services specifically designed for sports organizations including football clubs, academies, and sporting federations for talent identification and development.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Not specified | B2B Enterprise Licensing |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
BrainsFirst product offering
Product offeringCore offering
BrainsFirst offers the NeurOlympics platform, a neuroscience-based cognitive assessment system using four scientifically validated brain games (about 45 minutes) that objectively measure 16 cognitive skills including working memory, attention, decision-making, and learning ability. The platform generates a Personal Brain Profile for each candidate and matches it against 900+ pre-defined Goal Profiles for corporate HR (recruitment, team insights, career mobility), sports talent identification (Football Brain Index), and student study matching.
Product overview
BrainsFirst offers a neuroscience-based talent management platform centered on the NeurOlympics game-based cognitive assessment system. The platform measures cognitive abilities (attention, memory, planning, information processing speed) through four scientifically validated brain games, generating a Personal Brain Profile for each individual. The core platform is supplemented by solution modules including Early Talent Recognition (recruitment), Team & Talent Insights (team analysis), Career Mobility (internal talent development), and Sports Talent Identification (football talent). Additional offerings include a Certification Program for HR professionals, the Multi-Match feature for multi-position testing, the BrainPool talent database, and the Study Match Report for student career guidance. The platform is used by corporations, sports organizations, and educational institutions for objective talent identification and development.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- NeurOlympics: The game-based cognitive assessment platform developed by BrainsFirst, featuring four scientifically validated brain games that measure cognitive abilities including working memory, attention, decision-making, and learning potential to create personal brain profiles for talent matching.
Products and services
- NeurOlympics Core game-based cognitive assessment platform of four scientifically validated brain games (~45 minutes) that measure executive functions, cognitive strengths, and learning potential for use by HR, sports organizations, and educational institutions.
- Early Talent Recognition Talent identification solution enabling organizations to measure candidate cognitive abilities through game-based assessments, replacing CV-based screening with objective brain measurements for recruitment selection.
- Team & Talent Insights Team analysis solution revealing cognitive diversity within teams, showing how team members think, decide, and collaborate to improve team effectiveness, communication, and productivity.
- Career Mobility Career development solution using cognitive profiles to identify internal talent, plan career paths, and match employees to suitable roles based on their natural cognitive strengths.
- Sports Talent Identification & Potential Sports-specific solution using neuroscience-based cognitive assessments to identify and develop football talent, including the Football Brain Index benchmark for professional football.
- Certification Program Training program for HR, L&D, recruitment, and talent professionals to become certified BrainsFirst experts, providing practical knowledge and tools to apply brain insights in career development and talent management.
- Study Match Report Product launched for (aspiring) students providing objective study and career direction based on cognitive profile measurements, using game-based assessments instead of subjective questionnaires.
Quantifiable outcome
- 42% better quality of hire through improved candidate-job matching
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use BrainsFirst
Customer profileNamed customers19 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
BrainsFirst technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Feature6 records
BrainsFirst partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.
- TMAmajorTMA, a Dutch provider of talent management software, announced acquisition of BrainsFirst in March 2026. This marks TMA's second acquisition of 2026 and fourth since partnering with Main Capital Partners in December 2024. The combination represents a strategic expansion for TMA in cognitive assessment capabilities.
- SoccerLABcoreSoccerLAB and BrainsFirst joined forces to offer a unique combination of platforms to the sports world, providing unprecedented possibilities in identifying and developing talents for customers of both platforms.
- Kyodo News DigitalcoreJapanese firm Kyodo News Digital partnered with Amsterdam-based BrainsFirst to offer talent identification services to Japanese professional football organizations, supporting clubs in making better talent decisions with objective cognitive performance data.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
BrainsFirst competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- TestGorilla: TestGorilla offers pre-employment skills and cognitive assessments used by SMBs and mid-market employers. Overlaps with BrainsFirst's early-talent recognition module, though less specialized on neuroscience and more on broad skills screening.
- Cogstate: Cogstate provides computerized cognitive testing primarily for clinical trials and healthcare but also for sports concussion and performance assessment. The cognitive testing technology overlaps with BrainsFirst's neuroscience approach, particularly in sports brain-performance applications.
- SciSports: SciSports (now Stats Perform) provides data-driven football analytics and player tracking for talent identification and recruitment. It overlaps with BrainsFirst's sports talent identification vertical on data-driven football player evaluation.
Broad incumbents
- SHL: SHL is a global leader in psychometric and cognitive talent assessments for enterprise hiring and development. Its broad portfolio of cognitive, personality, and situational assessments competes with BrainsFirst's offerings in large-enterprise HR.
- Hogan Assessments: Hogan Assessments provides personality and cognitive assessments widely used for executive selection and leadership development. It is a broad incumbent in the talent assessment category where BrainsFirst also competes.
- Aon Assessment Solutions: Aon's assessment solutions business delivers cognitive and behavioral assessments for enterprise hiring and leadership development, representing a large, broader-portfolio incumbent competing for the same enterprise budget line.
- Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm offering assessments, executive search, and leadership development. Its Korn Ferry Assessment of Leadership Potential (KFAL) overlaps with BrainsFirst's predictive talent analytics for enterprise clients.
Direct peers
- Arctic Shores: Arctic Shores provides game-based psychometric assessments measuring cognitive and personality traits for recruitment and talent development. Direct overlap with BrainsFirst on methodology (gamified cognitive testing) and buyer (HR/talent acquisition).
- Pymetrics: Pymetrics offers neuroscience-based, game-based cognitive and behavioral assessments for hiring, using AI to match candidates to roles. It is the closest direct competitor to BrainsFirst's NeurOlympics platform, serving enterprise HR teams with objective cognitive measurement.
- Thomas International (TMA): Thomas International, operating under TMA in the Netherlands, provides psychometric assessments (DISC, PPA, GIA) for talent management. Now BrainsFirst's parent, it is a direct peer in the talent assessment category with overlapping HR-tech buyer relationships.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
BrainsFirst social profiles
Digital presenceBrainsFirst compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
BrainsFirst financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
BrainsFirst leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
BrainsFirst funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
BrainsFirst M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about BrainsFirst
What does BrainsFirst do?
BrainsFirst offers the NeurOlympics platform, a neuroscience-based cognitive assessment system using four scientifically validated brain games (about 45 minutes) that objectively measure 16 cognitive skills including working memory, attention, decision-making, and learning ability. The platform generates a Personal Brain Profile for each candidate and matches it against 900+ pre-defined Goal Profiles for corporate HR (recruitment, team insights, career mobility), sports talent identification (Football Brain Index), and student study matching.
Is BrainsFirst a public or private company?
BrainsFirst is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was BrainsFirst founded?
BrainsFirst was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is BrainsFirst based?
BrainsFirst is headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does BrainsFirst make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. B2B Platform Licensing is the primary driver. The others are certification Program and sports Organization Services.
Who are BrainsFirst's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are TestGorilla, Cogstate and SciSports. Broad incumbents are SHL, Hogan Assessments, Aon Assessment Solutions and Korn Ferry. Direct peers are Arctic Shores, Pymetrics and Thomas International (TMA).
Does BrainsFirst have an API?
No public API is recorded for BrainsFirst.
What industry is BrainsFirst in?
BrainsFirst's product category is Cognitive Talent Assessment Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAMAB, Cognitive Ability & General Intelligence Testing, with a secondary code of EDAFADAM, Skills Assessment & Talent/Employability Testing Platforms. Its NAICS code is 61171 and its SIC code is 7373.