Dark Horse

What Dark Horse does

Dark Horse (legal entity: Dark Horse Innovation) is a Berlin-based management consulting firm positioned as a 'Beratung, Akademie und Ideenlabor für Future Organizations' — consulting, academy, and ideas laboratory combined. The firm helps enterprise clients and public-sector organizations build adaptive capacity, develop innovation strategies, design future scenarios, and transform operating models and workspaces. Its intellectual core is a set of proprietary frameworks: the Strategie-Hexagon (an organizational operating system linking Purpose, Playing Field, Value Proposition, Competencies, Structures, and Culture), Systemic Design (a five-phase methodology co-developed with the System Mapping Academy), Design Futuring (scenario and future-image development), and Markierungen/Optionen/Arbeit (an adaptive strategy model by mentor Markus Andrezak). These methodologies are delivered through human-led consulting engagements rather than via software or AI tooling.

The firm operates through three revenue streams. The primary stream is project-based and multi-year management consulting for enterprise and government clients, evidenced by engagements with Lufthansa Technik (workspace design for ~300 IT staff), AOK PLUS (five-year transformation 2017–2022), Deutsche Bahn (Lost & Found process redesign launched 2019), and POTSDAM LAB (a 300 sqm public-sector co-creation space). The second stream is the Dark Horse Academy, a wholly-owned subsidiary offering fee-based training courses (Systemic Design, Design Futuring, Strategic Leadership, Complexity Competence, Designing Public Governance) delivered online via Livestorm and as inhouse corporate training. The third stream is publications — the Future Organization Playbook, New Workspaces Playbook, Digital Innovation Playbook, and the trade book 'Thank God It's Monday' (Ullstein Verlag) — sold through retail and used as thought-leadership marketing assets.

Go-to-market is content-driven: a blog at blog.thedarkhorse.de, LinkedIn and Instagram presence, a 'Post von Dark Horse' newsletter, free introductory webinars, and Eventbrite registration drive top-of-funnel leads that convert to consulting and Academy engagements. Distribution is regional, focused on the DACH market (Germany, Austria via a bluebird.space partnership in Salzburg, Switzerland by proximity), with global footprint not claimed. The firm is privately held, founder-controlled (co-founder Fried Große-Dunker), reports 11–50 employees, has not raised external capital, and has no disclosed parent, subsidiaries beyond Dark Horse Workspaces and Dark Horse Academy, or M&A activity. Founded-year sources conflict (firmographics 2009; company narrative 2014), and the AI capability surface is effectively zero — the business is entirely a human-delivered professional services and training enterprise.

Name

Dark Horse

Legal name

Dark Horse Innovation

Website

https://thedarkhorse.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Dark Horse Innovation is a Berlin-based management consulting firm providing adaptive strategy, organizational transformation, innovation, and workspace design services to enterprise and public-sector clients across the DACH region, monetized through consulting engagements, the Dark Horse Academy training programs, and published playbooks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Management Consulting & Advisory: Core revenue stream from strategic consulting engagements with enterprise clients and public-sector organizations. Projects span innovation management, organizational transformation, adaptive strategy, and workspace design. Engagement models include project-based consulting and multi-year transformation partnerships.
2. Dark Horse Academy (Training & Workshops): Revenue generated from fee-based training programs, workshops, and masterclasses offered through the Dark Horse Academy. Offerings include Systemic Design courses, Design Futuring workshops, Strategic Leadership Masterclass, Komplexitätskompetenz (Complexity Competence), and Designing Public Governance. Both online and in-person (inhouse) formats are available.
3. Publications & Playbooks: Revenue from published books and playbooks including the Future Organization Playbook, New Workspaces Playbook, Digital Innovation Playbook, and 'Thank God It's Monday'. These are sold as intellectual property products complementing the consulting and training offerings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Dark Horse is a Berlin-based management consulting firm, academy, and idea laboratory that helps organizations become adaptive 'Future Organizations.' It delivers consulting engagements in innovation management, business model development, product strategy, organizational development, and adaptive strategy using proprietary frameworks such as the Strategie-Hexagon, Systemic Design, and Design Futuring. The Dark Horse Academy offers fee-based training and masterclasses, and the firm publishes playbooks and books as knowledge products.

Product overview

Dark Horse Innovation operates as a consulting firm, academy, and idea laboratory for 'Future Organizations.' The core offering consists of consulting services organized into interconnected service modules: Innovation Management (including innovation architecture and portfolio management), Business Model Development (with Business Model Design and Portfolio Strategy), Product Development & Product Strategy (covering Discovery, Research, Product & Service Design), Organizational Development (with cultural and structural/process components), Effective Teams (team development, communication, agile methods), Adaptive Strategy (using the Strategy Hexagon framework), and Future Images Development (identity and futures development using Design Futuring). Transformation services include Systemic Design methodology and Dark Horse Workspaces for workspace design. The Dark Horse Academy provides structured training courses. The company also publishes several playbooks and books including the Future Organization Playbook, New Workspaces Playbook, Digital Innovation Playbook, and 'Thank God It's Monday' as knowledge products that document and disseminate their methodologies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Dark Horse Workspaces: User-centered workspace design and hybrid work consulting services
• Dark Horse Academy

Products and services

• Dark Horse Innovation Consulting Organizational consulting services that help companies become 'Future Organizations' fit for the future, covering innovation management, business model development, product strategy, organizational development, and transformation. Sold to enterprise clients and public-sector institutions on a project or multi-year basis.
• Dark Horse Academy Fee-based training and education programs including courses on Design Futuring, Systemic Design, Strategic Leadership, Agile Methods, Complexity Competence, and New Leadership. Delivered as open enrollment online (via Livestorm) or as in-house corporate training.
• Dark Horse Workspaces Workspace design and transformation services that help organizations create user-centered workspaces for hybrid work environments, including activity-based working concepts and collaborative 'Marktplatz' commons areas.
• Systemic Design A methodology combining Systems Thinking and Human-Centered Design to sustainably transform organizations by considering interdependencies and dynamics. Delivered as consulting engagements and training courses through the Dark Horse Academy.
• Future Organization Playbook A playbook covering transformation and Future Organization concepts, including adaptive strategy methodologies, sold as a knowledge product to extend Dark Horse's intellectual property to broader audiences.
• New Workspaces Playbook A practical guide for designing new work environments, helping organizations overcome prejudice and reflect on their own work practices. Sold as a published knowledge product.
• Digital Innovation Playbook A guide for shaping digital innovation within organizations, sold as a knowledge product that extends Dark Horse's digital innovation consulting intellectual property.
• Thank God It's Monday A book on creating a new work culture that makes Monday something to look forward to, published through Ullstein Verlag and sold through standard retail channels.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50% reduction in CO2 emissions achieved through low-hanging fruit measures (eco-gas, travel policy, vegetarian/vegan catering)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• bluebird.spaceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDark Horse partnered with bluebird.space to deliver selected training programs in Salzburg, Austria. bluebird.space serves as a co-delivery partner for the 'Kompliz:innen für ein wünschenswertes Morgen' (collaborators for a desirable tomorrow) initiative, extending Dark Horse Academy's geographic reach into the Austrian market.
• System Mapping AcademycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDark Horse collaborated with the System Mapping Academy to co-develop the Systemic Design process and the System Mapping Toolkit. The System Mapping Academy's award-winning toolkit (available on Miro) is recommended by Dark Horse as a guided entry into system mapping. This partnership is central to Dark Horse's Systemic Design methodology, with Fabian Gampp from the Academy credited as a co-developer of the process.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Strengths4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/darkhorseberlin
• Facebookfacebook.com/thedarkhorse.de
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dark-horse-gmbh
• Instagraminstagram.com/darkhorseinnovation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dark Horse