ProPublish
ProPublish AG is a Hamburg-based system integrator and WoodWing Diamond Partner that designs and implements multichannel publishing solutions for publishers, corporate communications departments, and agencies across the DACH region since 2003.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersHamburg, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What ProPublish does
ProPublish AG is a Hamburg-based system integrator and consulting firm founded in 2003 that specializes in designing and implementing multichannel publishing solutions across the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). The company holds Diamond Partner status with WoodWing Software BV, the highest tier in WoodWing's partner program, and centers its offering on the WoodWing Enterprise Publishing Platform. ProPublish delivers consulting, system planning, integration, custom application and interface development, training, and ongoing support to publishers, corporate communications departments, agencies, and educational institutions. The firm has developed over 100 WoodWing-based applications since inception and serves enterprise clients such as Gruner + Jahr, Munich Re, AUTO BILD, Rolling Stone Germany, Delius Klasing Verlag (YACHT), PHOENIX CONTACT, Evonik Industries, and Yamaha Music.
The technical stack integrates WoodWing Studio for editorial workflows and WoodWing Assets (Elvis DAM) for digital asset management, complemented by dataplan's JournalSuite for production planning, Twixl Publisher for interactive tablet apps, Enfocus Switch and PitStop for workflow automation and PDF quality control, axaio MadeToPrint for print output automation, and connections to Adobe InDesign and InCopy. ProPublish extends this ecosystem with proprietary glue such as the Digital Magazine Converter plugin, which bridges DTI print editorial systems to WoodWing Digital Magazine tools for iPad app generation. Additional integrations include Drupal and TYPO3 CMS platforms, Oracle databases, and social media channels, enabling bidirectional content flow across print, web, and mobile.
ProPublish's revenue model combines professional services (project-based and time-and-materials consulting with hourly rates and surcharges for off-hours work, billed monthly with 10-day payment terms) and software licensing/resale of WoodWing, dataplan, Twixl, and Enfocus solutions bundled with implementation and support. The go-to-market is consultative direct enterprise sales supplemented by the WoodWing partner channel. The firm is led by an executive board (Vorstand) of Jochen Büllesbach, Patrick Natasadu, and Ole Schlüter, with oversight from a supervisory board chaired by Jörn Braune, and remains privately held with no disclosed funding, M&A, or external institutional investment.
ProPublish firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ProPublish
- Legal name
- ProPublish AG
- Website
- https://propublish.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- ProPublish AG is a Hamburg-based system integrator and WoodWing Diamond Partner that designs and implements multichannel publishing solutions for publishers, corporate communications departments, and agencies across the DACH region since 2003.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ProPublish industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Publishing System Integration Services
- NAICS
- Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Digital Publishing Creation & Formatting Tools (EPUB, conversion, layout) (MPAJAMAG)
Keywords
Where ProPublish is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Hamburg
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
ProPublish business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- System Integration and Consulting Services: ProPublish provides comprehensive consulting on optimal technologies and processes, planning and integration of system solutions, and develops individual applications and interfaces for clients. Billing is typically project-based or time-and-materials, with hourly rates quoted and travel costs billed separately. Payment terms are 10 days after invoicing.
- Software Licensing and Resale: ProPublish resells and integrates WoodWing products (Studio, Assets, Enterprise, Smart Connection, Elvis DAM, Digital Magazine), as well as partner solutions including dataplan JournalSuite, enfocus Switch, Twixl Publisher, and others. Revenue is generated through software licensing, implementation, and support contracts.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Monthly | Professional Services (Time & Materials) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
ProPublish product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ProPublish AG is a Hamburg-based, DACH-focused system integrator and consultancy that implements multichannel publishing solutions for publishers, corporate publishers, and communications agencies. The company specializes in deploying and integrating WoodWing's editorial, digital asset management, and multi-platform publishing software, and supports these implementations with its own proprietary tooling such as the Digital Magazine Converter plugin for InDesign/InCopy.
Product overview
ProPublish AG is a WoodWing Diamond Partner providing system integration, consulting, and implementation services for multi-channel publishing solutions. The core offering centers on the WoodWing Enterprise Publishing Platform, which includes WoodWing Studio for editorial workflows and WoodWing Assets (Elvis DAM) for digital asset management, complemented by the JournalSuite for newsroom production planning. Additional specialized tools include Catapult for cross-media publishing, Twixl Publisher for tablet app creation, and various Enfocus solutions (Switch for automation, PitStop for PDF editing) plus axaio MadeToPrint for output automation. ProPublish serves publishing houses, corporate publishers, newspapers, and agencies across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, offering consulting, system integration, support, and custom application development.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Digital Magazine Converter: A plugIn development by ProPublish that transfers print content to WoodWing Digital Magazine tools for app creation.
Products and services
- Multichannel Publishing System Integration End-to-end integration of WoodWing Studio, WoodWing Assets, and adjacent editorial and asset-management systems for publishers, corporate publishers, and communications agencies in the DACH region.
- Editorial Workflow Consulting Advisory engagement covering workflow design, tool selection, and editorial process optimization for multichannel publishing operations.
- Digital Magazine Converter Proprietary plug-in that enables digital magazine export workflows out of InDesign/InCopy, extending the WoodWing partner stack for agencies and corporate publishers producing digital editions.
- Custom Application Development Bespoke development of publishing-specific applications and integrations on top of WoodWing and Adobe InDesign/InCopy technologies.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 90% increase in page production in four years for special publications at JDB Media
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use ProPublish
Customer profileNamed customers18 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
ProPublish technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
Feature1 record
ProPublish partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- WoodWing Software BVcoreProPublish is a Diamond Partner of WoodWing Software BV in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), the highest partnership tier. They integrate WoodWing Enterprise, Studio, Assets, Elvis DAM, Smart Connection Enterprise, and the Digital Magazine solution for publishing clients. This is a flagship, long-standing partnership dating to ProPublish's founding in 2003.
- dataplan GmbHcoredataplan GmbH from Hamburg specializes in production planning and production management software (JournalSuite) for publishers and agencies. ProPublish partners with dataplan to offer integrated editorial and planning solutions. The JournalSuite is featured and recommended on ProPublish's website.
- Twixl mediacoreTwixl Media (Twixl Publisher) is featured as a product on ProPublish's website and promoted for creating interactive tablet apps. Clients including Yamaha Music, PHOENIX CONTACT, and Hauni Maschinenbau have used Twixl Publisher through ProPublish. The partnership enables digital publishing to iPad and Android tablets.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
ProPublish competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Stibo Systems: Stibo Systems provides enterprise Digital Asset Management (DAM) and Product Information Management software that competes with WoodWing Elvis DAM in ProPublish's portfolio. It is an adjacent enabling platform relevant to ProPublish's DAM-driven integrations rather than a direct head-to-head competitor.
- Northplains (now Aprimo): Northplains provides enterprise Digital Asset Management and marketing resource management software via the Aprimo platform, comparable to WoodWing Assets/Elvis DAM. It is an ecosystem peer for the DAM and brand-asset management work ProPublish delivers for corporate clients.
Broad incumbents
- Adobe: Adobe is the incumbent vendor of InDesign, InCopy, and the Adobe Experience Manager / Adobe Publishing workflows that ProPublish integrates around. As the broader platform owner of the editorial and digital publishing stack, Adobe shapes the ecosystem ProPublish operates within and offers overlapping professional services at global scale.
- Quark Software: Quark is a long-established provider of QuarkXPress and the Quark Publishing Platform for automated, multichannel publishing across print, web, and mobile. It addresses the same multichannel-publishing use cases ProPublish targets but as a global software vendor rather than a regional integrator.
- Censhare: Censhare is a Munich-based vendor of omnichannel content and digital asset management platforms used by enterprises for marketing, brand, and publishing workflows. It competes with the WoodWing/Elvis stack at the upper end of the corporate communications market ProPublish targets.
Direct peers
- ppi Media GmbH: ppi Media provides newspaper planning and production software and is a ProPublish partner whose solutions integrate with WoodWing Enterprise at customers like Lippische Landes-Zeitung. It serves the same DACH newspaper and magazine market with comparable system-integration offerings.
- vjoon GmbH: vjoon is a Hamburg-based publishing software vendor and integrator offering the vjoon Enterprise Platform and Connect solutions for multichannel, cross-media editorial workflows. It competes head-to-head with WoodWing-integrated stacks and is the most directly comparable German system integrator to ProPublish.
- WoodWing Software BV: WoodWing is ProPublish's flagship technology partner and the vendor of the Enterprise Publishing Platform, Studio, Assets/Elvis DAM, and Digital Magazine solutions that ProPublish integrates. It is the strategic platform anchor in the same value chain and a potential competitive threat if WoodWing expands direct professional services.
- dataplan GmbH: dataplan is a Hamburg-based vendor of production planning and management software (JournalSuite) for publishers and agencies. It is both a ProPublish partner (JournalSuite is featured on ProPublish's site) and a directly comparable peer serving the same DACH publisher customer base with adjacent technology.
Emerging players
- Werbeagentur Büro 76: Büro 76 is the Hamburg advertising agency that implemented the Yamaha Music Twixl-based product catalog app with ProPublish support. It represents the class of creative agencies that increasingly take publishing-tech integration in-house, an emerging competitive frontier for ProPublish's service offering.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
ProPublish social profiles
Digital presenceProPublish financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ProPublish leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
ProPublish funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ProPublish 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 ProPublish
What does ProPublish do?
ProPublish AG is a Hamburg-based, DACH-focused system integrator and consultancy that implements multichannel publishing solutions for publishers, corporate publishers, and communications agencies. The company specializes in deploying and integrating WoodWing's editorial, digital asset management, and multi-platform publishing software, and supports these implementations with its own proprietary tooling such as the Digital Magazine Converter plugin for InDesign/InCopy.
Is ProPublish a public or private company?
ProPublish is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was ProPublish founded?
ProPublish was founded in 2003. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is ProPublish based?
ProPublish is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does ProPublish make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. System Integration and Consulting Services are the primary driver. The others are software Licensing and Resale.
Who are ProPublish's main competitors?
Others on record are Stibo Systems and Northplains (now Aprimo). Broad incumbents are Adobe, Quark Software and Censhare. Direct peers are ppi Media GmbH, vjoon GmbH, WoodWing Software BV and dataplan GmbH. Werbeagentur Büro 76 is listed as an emerging player.
Does ProPublish have an API?
No public API is recorded for ProPublish.
What industry is ProPublish in?
ProPublish's product category is Publishing System Integration Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAMAG, Digital Publishing Creation & Formatting Tools (EPUB, conversion, layout). Its NAICS code is 5131 and its SIC code is 2741.