MA Group

What MA Group does

MA Group AG is a Swiss-headquartered, privately held scientific content aggregator and publishing services company established in 2015 in Fribourg, Switzerland. It connects over 60 international scientific publishers — including IEEE, SAGE, Taylor & Francis, BMJ, ACS, AIP Publishing, Wolters Kluwer Health, ASME, and Karger — with higher education institutions, academic and corporate R&D organizations, and individual researchers, offering subscription and database access to e-books, journals, and magazines alongside versatile discovery and searching tools. On top of the distribution layer, the company operates a portfolio of publishing services that includes three-stage scientific translation, professional and scientific editing, publication preparation with ISO-compliant quality control, plagiarism checking via iThenticate, SCI/SSCI/Web of Science/Scopus-based journal selection, preliminary expert evaluation, and journal submission support. The firm also runs webinars and training programs on academic writing and runs university and business consulting engagements. For publishers, MA Group offers three partnership tiers: Basic Partnership (collecting services including invoicing, currency conversion, hedging, and payment transfers with consulting and marketing support), Sales Partnership (market research, sales, marketing, and customer support for agreed markets), and full Publisher Representation (legal representative role including exclusive sales, marketing, and customer services). MA Group makes money through recurring subscription and database fees, professional-services fees for editing/translation/submission work, and commissions/transaction fees on publisher representation and collecting services. The company is founder-controlled by Matthias Aicher and operates with multi-lingual customer support across EMEA.

Name

MA Group

Legal name

MA Group AG

Website

https://ma-group.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MA Group AG is a Fribourg, Switzerland-based scientific content aggregator that distributes e-books, journals, and magazines from 60+ international publishers to universities, R&D institutions, and researchers, and offers scientific translation, editing, and publication support services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic and Scientific Publishing Services

NAICS

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

STM Publishing (Science, Technical & Medical) (MPAJABAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK), Scientific & Laboratory Reference (Chemistry, Biology, Physics; Methods & Protocols) (EDAGAGAG), Life Sciences (Biology, Ecology, Agriculture) Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAC)

Keywords

• Scientific publishing services
• Academic content distribution
• Journal subscription services
• Scientific manuscript editing
• Publisher representation

Headquarters

HQ city

Fribourg

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription and Database Services: Access to e-books, journals, and magazines through subscription and database models. MA Group arranges electronic access for institutions from publisher partners.
2. Publishing Services: Fees for scientific translation, editing services, publication preparation, journal selection, plagiarism checking, preliminary expert evaluation, and journal submission support.
3. Publisher Partnership Services: Commission and transaction fees from managing collecting services, sales representation, and marketing support for publishing partners on agreed markets.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

MA Group AG promotes and distributes scientific content from over 60 international scientific publishers, offering subscription and database access to e-books, journals, and magazines for higher education and corporate R&D institutions. It also delivers fee-based publishing support services including scientific translation, editing, publication preparation, journal selection, plagiarism checking, and journal submission management for researchers and institutions. For publishers, the company offers three tiers of partnership (Basic Collecting Services, Sales Partnership, and full Publisher Representation) covering sales, marketing, and customer support.

Product overview

MA Group AG operates as a scientific content aggregation and publishing services company established in 2015, offering premium subscription and database access to e-books, journals, and magazines from over 60 international scientific publishers including Wolters Kluwer Health/Ovid, ACS, Karger, GeoScienceWorld, AIP Publishing, ASME, Taylor & Francis, SAGE, SPIE, and others. The company provides a comprehensive portfolio of publishing support services including Scientific Translation, Editing Services, Publication Preparation, Scientific and Technical Editing, and Publication Support Services (journal selection, plagiarism checking, peer review, submission management). Additionally, MA Group offers educational services through webinars and training on academic writing, as well as consulting services for universities and businesses. For publishers, the company offers three partnership tiers: Basic Partnership (collecting services), Sales Partnership (diversified sales and marketing), and Publisher Representation (full legal representation).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Partner Publisher Content Access Subscription and database access to e-books, journals, and magazines from over 60 international scientific publishers including Wolters Kluwer Health/Ovid, ACS, Karger, GeoScienceWorld, AIP Publishing, ASME, Taylor & Francis, SAGE, SPIE, and others, delivered with multi-platform discovery and search tools to higher education, academic, and corporate R&D institutions.
• Scientific Translation Professional translation of scientific manuscripts by subject matter experts, reviewed by bilingual proofreaders and edited by native speakers in a three-stage quality assurance process, designed for researchers preparing scientific papers for international journals.
• Editing Services Professional editing by experienced editors with in-depth scientific knowledge to ensure research papers meet academic standards for global scientific community publication.
• Publication Preparation Comprehensive manuscript preparation including editing by two native English-speaking editors, subject matter expert review, formatting according to journal guidelines, and provision of a certificate of editing.
• Scientific and Technical Editing Advanced editing focusing on logical coherence, structure, and overall presentation of papers, including structural review, cover letter, detailed editorial report, and 365-day free re-editing.
• Publication Support Services Full-service publication assistance including journal selection, plagiarism check via iThenticate, preliminary expert peer review, and journal submission management.
• Consulting Services Consulting services for educational institutions and businesses including university consulting for efficiency and competitiveness enhancement, business consulting for strategic market positioning, and individual expertise analysis for organizational improvement.
• Webinars and Training Online training webinars on academic writing, publication activity, English article writing, journal publication stages, research metrics, peer review, and open access publishing, delivered by expert instructors with 20+ years of experience.
• Basic Partnership Package Entry-level publisher partnership including collecting services (payment collection, invoice processing, conversion services, hedging, payment transfers), consulting (sales evaluation, legal and tax advisory), and marketing support for international publishers entering or operating in target markets.
• Sales Partnership Package Diversified sales activities including market research, sales services with sales forecasts, marketing services with trial access arrangements and marketing campaigns, and customer support for promotion of publisher resources on agreed markets.
• Publisher Representation Full-service publisher representation package where MA Group AG acts as the publisher's legal representative on the market, including exclusive sales, marketing, and customer services across agreed markets on a consolidated wide-range basis.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 60 international scientific publishers as partners (2022)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

27 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• IEEEcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWorld's most trusted source for engineering, computing, and technology professionals providing access to publications, conferences, educational resources, and standards development.
• SAGE PublishingcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGlobal publisher of textbooks, influential journals, and innovative resources in psychology and related areas with high-quality content covering wide range of disciplines.
• McGraw HillcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGlobal pioneer in educational content offering products and services in more than 60 languages in 130 countries, including Access Medicine and Access Engineering platforms.
• ACS (American Chemical Society)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLeading scientific publishing institution in chemistry established 1876, with membership of over 173,000 spanning 140 countries, publishing high-impact journals.
• American Mathematical SocietycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOrganization of professional mathematicians committed to advancing mathematical research and scholarship through publications, meetings, advocacy efforts, and MathSciNet.
• Duke University PressmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNon-profit scholarly publisher releasing around 120 books and 50+ journals annually in humanities, social sciences, and mathematics with open-access initiatives.
• EDP SciencesmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPublisher covering Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, Engineering, Mathematics, Health, Life Sciences, and Social Sciences with 50+ academic journals including Astronomy & Astrophysics.
• Future Science GroupmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIndependent London-based publisher with expanding group of journals in cutting-edge areas of postgenomic scientific and medical information, indexed on MEDLINE and major databases.
• GalemajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorWorldwide provider of research and digital learning resources part of Cengage, known for complete magazine and newspaper databases and multi-volume reference works.
• Optica Publishing GroupcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLeading society for optics and photonics with around 488,000 customers in 183 countries, providing journals, conferences, and membership with nearly 300 companies.
• SIAMcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGlobal community with over 14,000 individual members and nearly 500 institutional members in applied mathematics and computational science.
• Begell HousecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPublisher of high-impact engineering and biomedical journals developed over 30 years, including hundreds of research books and reference materials.
• SPIEcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGlobal community for optics and photonics bringing together engineers, scientists, and industry leaders, having invested over $22 million in past five years.
• Taylor & FranciscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPublisher for over two centuries with imprints including Routledge, CRC Press, F1000 Research, and Dovepress. Published over 145,000 book titles and 2,700 journals.
• The Company of BiologistsmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNon-profit publishing organization operating journals including Development, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, supporting biological community.
• ASMEcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNon-profit membership organization with over 110,000 members spanning 150 countries, managing extensive technical publishing including prestigious journals and conference proceedings.
• FIZ KarlsruhemajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLeibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure providing researchers worldwide access to patent and research information through databases and e-research solutions.
• SAE InternationalmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOrganization connecting mobility sector professionals with membership exceeding 128,000 engineers in aerospace, automotive, and commercial vehicle industries.
• World ScientificcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPublisher since 1981 publishing about 600 new books and 140 journals annually, with over 12,000 books published and Nobel Lecture series distribution.
• CitelinemajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNorstella Company providing business intelligence tools for health science professionals including clinical, commercial, and regulatory decision-making tools.
• Bentham Science PublishersmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPublisher in science, technology, and medicine with over 130 journals in electronic and print formats reaching millions of researchers globally.
• BMJcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLeading global healthcare knowledge provider and scholarly publisher of academic journals including BMJ and influential specialty journals across medical disciplines.
• AIP PublishingcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNot-for-profit subsidiary of American Institute of Physics managing peer-reviewed journals in physical sciences including Applied Physics Letters and Physical Review journals.
• Wolters Kluwer HealthcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProvider of clinical technology and evidence-based solutions through Ovid Technologies offering over 6,000 e-books, 1,400 peer-reviewed journals, and 100+ databases.
• KargermajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPublisher in health sciences with over 100 peer-reviewed journals, 200 editors-in-chief, and 9,000+ book titles focusing on Smart Solutions and Open Access.
• GeoScienceWorldmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNon-profit collaborative providing access to over 50 Earth science journals, 2,200+ eBooks, and 4.5 million GeoRef records for geological research.
• Mark Allen GroupminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFamily-owned media company providing professional content and services with collections including MAH Core for healthcare education in further education institutes.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Copyright Clearance Center: Copyright Clearance Center provides content licensing, rights management and document delivery for publishers and institutions. Comparable to MA Group's content access and rights-related services, though at materially larger scale and scope.

Emerging players

• DeepDyve: DeepDyve offers rental-style access to scientific and scholarly articles. Partial overlap with MA Group's subscription/database access model for institutions, though positioned as an end-user rental service rather than a publisher representation business.

Direct peers

• Charlesworth Author Services: Charlesworth provides scientific editing, translation, illustration and publication support for researchers, particularly in China and Asia. Comparable peer given similar service portfolio to MA Group's publication support suite.
• MPS Limited: MPS Limited provides content technology, publishing services and platform solutions for scholarly publishers. Comparable peer offering publishing services and distribution support similar to MA Group's Publisher Representation tier.
• Silverchair: Silverchair builds platforms and content delivery systems for scholarly and professional publishers. Comparable peer serving similar scientific publisher clients with content delivery and platform services.
• Atypon (Wiley): Atypon operates Literatum, a publishing platform and content distribution infrastructure used by scholarly publishers. Comparable as a technology-driven content aggregator/distributor serving scholarly publishers, akin to MA Group's distribution and access layer.
• Ingenta: Ingenta provides publishing services, content hosting, and access management for academic and professional publishers. Similar to MA Group's content aggregation, distribution and publisher representation model for scientific publishers.
• American Journal Experts (AJE / Springer Nature): AJE is a leading scientific editing and translation service owned by Springer Nature, providing manuscript preparation, editing, and translation for researchers. Directly comparable to MA Group's author-side publication support services.
• Editage (Cactus Communications): Editage offers scientific editing, translation, publication support and researcher services globally. Closely matches MA Group's author-side services including translation, editing, journal selection, and submission support, serving similar academic and corporate R&D clients.
• Enago (Crimson Interactive): Enago provides scientific editing, translation, publication support and researcher training. Directly competes with MA Group's editing, translation and publication preparation offerings for individual researchers and academic institutions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/magroupag
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ma-group-ag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 MA Group