heise Academy
heise Academy is an online continuing education platform for IT professionals in the DACH region, offering video courses, live Classrooms, and webinars across 60+ IT topics. Operated by German IT media group Heise Medien, it serves 60,000+ individual users and 800+ corporate customers via subscription passes and state-subsidized training.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersHanover, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What heise Academy does
heise Academy is an online continuing education platform focused on IT professional development, operating as a brand of Heise Medien GmbH & Co. KG, the privately held German IT media company behind heise online and c't magazine. Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Hannover, the Academy offers training in IT security, software development, cloud computing, data science, cybersecurity, and IT project management to individual IT professionals, corporate teams, and state-subsidized job seekers in the DACH region. The platform serves over 800 enterprise customers and 60,000+ individual users across 60+ topic areas, taught by more than 100 expert trainers from the German-speaking IT community.
The Academy's core technology is the academy Campus, a learning management system built on Codeversity GmbH's codeversity Campus and codeversity Production.Suite infrastructure. The Campus delivers content in three formats — Videokurse (on-demand video courses), Classrooms (live instructor-led sessions that are recorded for on-demand replay), and Webinare (recorded editorial and partner webinars). Platform features include full-text search across video transcripts, note-taking, learning progress tracking, and downloadable completion certificates. Course delivery is browser-based streaming with no download option, simplifying the learner experience.
The business operates on a hybrid model combining one-time individual course purchases (from €49) with three recurring subscription tiers: Essential Pass (on-demand video only), Professional Pass (adds live Classroom access, from €895), and Enterprise Pass (team licensing with centralized management, volume-based). Distribution is primarily self-serve through the website for individual consumers, supplemented by a dedicated enterprise sales team for team licensing. Marketing leverages the parent company's heise online portal, c't magazine, an editorial newsletter, and SEO-optimized course catalog pages, with state-subsidized training channeled through partner mindrefined.de.
heise Academy firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- heise Academy
- Legal name
- Heise Medien GmbH & Co. KG
- Website
- https://heise-academy.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- heise Academy is an online continuing education platform for IT professionals in the DACH region, offering video courses, live Classrooms, and webinars across 60+ IT topics. Operated by German IT media group Heise Medien, it serves 60,000+ individual users and 800+ corporate customers via subscription passes and state-subsidized training.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
heise Academy industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online IT Professional Education
- NAICS
- Computer Training (61142), Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Educational Support Services (611710)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Integrated Tutoring + Learning Content Platforms (Curriculum + Tutors) (EDANAGAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Lecture Capture, Live Streaming & Class Recording (EDAFABAD), Data, Analytics & AI/ML Certifications (EDAAANAG)
Keywords
Where heise Academy is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Hanover
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
heise Academy business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Individual Course Sales (Einzelkauf): One-time purchase of individual video courses or Classroom sessions at fixed price points. Lifetime access granted upon purchase.
- Subscription Passes (Essential, Professional, Enterprise): Recurring subscription model providing access to on-demand library of courses and live Classroom sessions. Billed monthly or annually with automatic renewal. Enterprise Pass licensed per user with volume-based pricing.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Essential Pass – On-Demand only subscription for individual learners |
| Subscription | Annual | Professional Pass – On-Demand + Live Classroom access |
| Per seat | Multi-year contract | Enterprise Pass – Team licensing with admin management |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Individual Course Purchase (Einzelkauf) |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
heise Academy product offering
Product offeringCore offering
heise Academy operates an online continuing education platform for IT professionals delivering curated video courses (Videokurse), live instructor-led Classrooms with on-demand recordings, and recorded Webinars across 60+ IT topic areas. Access is provided through the academy Campus learning management system via individual course purchases or subscription passes (Essential, Professional, Enterprise), with state-subsidized training options covering up to 100% of costs.
Product overview
heise Academy is an online continuing education platform for IT professionals offering a modular portfolio of learning products. The core platform is the academy Campus, a learning management system providing access to three main content formats: Videokurse (on-demand video courses), Classrooms (live instructor-led training with recordings), and Webinare (recorded webinars). Content access is available through individual purchases or three subscription tiers: Essential Pass (on-demand video only), Professional Pass (adds live Classroom access and recordings), and Enterprise Pass (team-oriented with centralized license management for organizations).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Essential Pass: On-demand subscription providing access to video courses and selected webinar recordings with monthly or annual options.
- Professional Pass
- Enterprise Pass
- academy Campus
Products and services
- academy Campus
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 800 enterprise customers and more than 60,000 individual users
Companies that use heise Academy
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
heise Academy technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
heise Academy partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Codeversity GmbHcoreCodeversity provides the underlying Learning Management System (LMS) infrastructure for heise Academy, including the 'codeversity Campus' learning environment and 'codeversity Production.Suite' course production platform. Located in Vienna, Austria.
- mindrefined.decoremindrefined.de serves as a channel for state-subsidized continuing education programs. heise Academy content is available through these funded training programs, covering up to 100% of costs for employed individuals, companies, and job seekers.
- Streilinger Marketing GmbH & Co. KGminorDesignated as the subscription service and distribution partner for heise Academy. Located in Heidelberg, Germany. Handles subscription management and customer service for Academy Pass customers.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
heise Academy competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Udemy: Global online learning marketplace with a massive catalog of IT, development, cloud, and cybersecurity video courses plus a Udemy Business team-licensing product. Closely comparable to heise Academy's mix of self-paced video courses, individual purchases, and team subscriptions, though Udemy operates globally and primarily in English.
- Coursera: Online learning platform offering professional certificates, specializations, and courses from universities and tech companies including Google, IBM, and Meta. Comparable to heise Academy in offering structured IT/career-skills content to professionals and enterprise teams, with Coursera for Business as the enterprise analog to heise Academy's Enterprise Pass.
- Pluralsight: Technology-focused learning platform with deep catalogs in software development, cloud, cybersecurity, and IT operations, plus skill-assessment and analytics tools for enterprise teams. Highly comparable to heise Academy's IT-only focus, expert-instructor model, and enterprise seat licensing; Pluralsight operates at significantly larger scale and primarily in English.
- O'Reilly (O'Reilly Learning): Technical learning platform combining expert-authored books, video courses, sandboxes, and live events with an enterprise seat-based subscription. Highly comparable to heise Academy's combination of expert-authored video courses, live training sessions, and team licensing for IT professionals.
- Codecademy: Interactive learning platform specializing in programming, data science, and IT skills with subscription pricing for individuals and Codecademy for Teams for enterprise. Comparable to heise Academy's developer-and-IT-pro audience and subscription + team licensing model.
- DataCamp: Online learning platform focused on data science, analytics, AI/ML, and Python, with individual subscriptions and DataCamp for Business for enterprise teams. Comparable to heise Academy's data science and AI content lines and enterprise training motion.
- CBT Nuggets: IT training platform offering video courses on infrastructure, cloud, cybersecurity, and development with team subscriptions for IT professionals. Closely comparable to heise Academy's IT-only focus, video-course format, and enterprise team licensing.
- Haufe Akademie: German corporate training provider offering online and in-person courses across IT, compliance, management, and professional development with strong enterprise customer base in the DACH region. Most direct DACH-region comparable to heise Academy in language, geography, and B2B training focus.
Broad incumbents
- LinkedIn Learning: Professional development platform with a broad catalog spanning IT, business, and creative skills, sold both as individual subscriptions and as a perk of LinkedIn Premium/recruiter offerings. Comparable to heise Academy's subscription model and professional-development audience, but with much wider scope beyond IT.
Regional players
- Golem.de: Leading German-language IT news and technology portal targeting IT professionals in the DACH market. Adjacent rather than directly competing — comparable in audience (German IT professionals) and editorial credibility, and a potential content/audience partner for heise Academy rather than a learning rival.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
heise Academy social profiles
Digital presenceheise Academy financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
heise Academy leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
heise Academy funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
heise Academy 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 heise Academy
What does heise Academy do?
heise Academy operates an online continuing education platform for IT professionals delivering curated video courses (Videokurse), live instructor-led Classrooms with on-demand recordings, and recorded Webinars across 60+ IT topic areas. Access is provided through the academy Campus learning management system via individual course purchases or subscription passes (Essential, Professional, Enterprise), with state-subsidized training options covering up to 100% of costs.
Is heise Academy a public or private company?
heise Academy is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was heise Academy founded?
heise Academy was founded in 2021. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is heise Academy based?
heise Academy is headquartered in Hanover, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does heise Academy make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Individual Course Sales (Einzelkauf) is the primary driver. The others are subscription Passes (Essential, Professional, Enterprise).
Who are heise Academy's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Udemy, Coursera, Pluralsight, O'Reilly (O'Reilly Learning), Codecademy, DataCamp, CBT Nuggets and Haufe Akademie. LinkedIn Learning is listed as a broad incumbent. Golem.de is listed as a regional player.
Does heise Academy have an API?
No public API is recorded for heise Academy.
What industry is heise Academy in?
heise Academy's product category is Online IT Professional Education. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDANAGAL, Integrated Tutoring + Learning Content Platforms (Curriculum + Tutors), with a secondary code of EDAFABAD, Lecture Capture, Live Streaming & Class Recording. Its NAICS code is 61142 and its SIC code is 8200.