What Bertelsmann Education Group does

Bertelsmann Education Group is the education division of German media and services conglomerate Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA. The group invests in and operates a portfolio of healthcare training, medical education, and workforce performance companies spanning the United States, Brazil, and Europe. Core operating subsidiaries include Afya, Brazil's largest ecosystem for physicians and medical students (35+ campuses, 16,000+ enrolled students, 247,000+ digital health users, with sub-products Medcel, clique Rx, and WhiteBook); Relias, a US-based workforce enablement platform serving 12,000+ healthcare organizations and 4.5 million caregivers across Learning, Performance, Compliance, Quality, and Recruiting modules, together with its family of brands (Nurse.com, Wound Care Education Institute, Relias Academy, FreeCME, Relias Media); Alliant International University, a California-based professional practice higher education institution with 30% market share of state clinical psychology students; and Teach US, a teacher accreditation and recruitment program. The group is headquartered in Gütersloh with operational offices in New York, Research Triangle (North Carolina), and Berlin.

The underlying technology stack is built around digital learning infrastructure, healthcare workforce management software, and clinical decision support systems. Afya's 6-Pillar Digital Health Solution integrates practice management (patient scheduling, EHR, billing), telemedicine, and the clique Rx electronic prescription platform covering 27,000+ pharmaceutical products. WhiteBook provides diagnostic, treatment, and pharmaceutical guidance alongside a clinician discussion forum. Relias's connected platform spans learning, performance, compliance, quality, and recruiting, underpinned by Microsoft cloud technology pursuant to the 2021 Bertelsmann-Microsoft strategic partnership. Bertelsmann holds a controlling 57% voting stake in Afya (Nasdaq: AFYA) and wholly owns Relias, Alliant University, Nurse.com, and Teach US.

Business model is overwhelmingly subscription-recurring across all four revenue streams: annual enterprise subscriptions to Relias from healthcare organizations, annual tuition at Afya's campus-based and digital medical education programs, SaaS subscriptions to Afya's digital health solutions (including B2B arrangements with pharmaceutical companies), and monthly/annual continuing-education subscriptions via Nurse.com. Pricing is largely quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The group is in active consolidation mode, having closed multiple Brazilian higher-education acquisitions through Afya in 2022-2024 and extending Relias into patient experience via the Feedtrail acquisition in January 2025.

Name

Bertelsmann Education Group

Legal name

Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA

Website

https://bertelsmann-education-group.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bertelsmann Education Group is the healthcare and education division of Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, operating a portfolio of medical education (Afya, Brazil), healthcare workforce enablement (Relias, US), professional higher education (Alliant University), and nursing career (Nurse.com) and teacher (Teach US) platforms serving healthcare organizations, clinicians, and students.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Workforce Education and Training

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (61131), Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Medical Schools (MD/DO Granting) (EDAHAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Healthcare & Life Sciences (EDAAAPAA), Online Healthcare & Nursing Universities (Allied Health, RN-to-BSN, etc.) (EDAHALAF), Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) & Teaching Hospitals (HLAFAAAA)

Keywords

• Healthcare workforce training
• Medical education services
• Healthcare compliance learning
• Workforce enablement software
• Continuing education platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Medical Education Tuition and Fees: Revenue from medical school programs, preparatory courses for residency, specialization programs, and continuing education at Afya's 35+ campuses across Brazil. Includes fees from medical degree programs and residency exam prep courses.
2. Healthcare Workforce Software Subscriptions: Relias provides workforce enablement solutions for 12,000+ healthcare organizations through subscription-based platform access including Learning, Performance, Compliance, Quality, and Recruiting modules.
3. Digital Health Services for Physicians: Software-as-a-service revenue from Afya's digital solutions including practice management, electronic health records, telehealth services, and digital prescriptions. Also includes B2B revenue from pharmaceutical company partnerships.
4. Online Education and Continuing Education: Revenue from Nurse.com's accredited continuing education for nurses, Alliant's online programs (40% of revenue), and professional licensing programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Bertelsmann Education Group invests in and operates healthcare training and education businesses through portfolio companies including Afya (Brazilian medical education ecosystem with 35+ campuses and digital health services), Relias (US healthcare workforce enablement platform serving 12,000+ organizations and 4.5 million caregivers), Alliant University (California-based higher education in health and human sciences with 30% California clinical psychology market share), Nurse.com (online nursing career platform reaching nearly 3 million nurses monthly), and Teach US (teacher accreditation and recruitment programs addressing US teacher shortages).

Product overview

Bertelsmann Education Group operates a multi-brand portfolio focused on healthcare training, medical education, and workforce performance optimization. The portfolio includes: Afya (Brazil's leading medical education group with digital health services including Medcel residency prep, clique Rx e-prescriptions, and WhiteBook clinical decision support); the Relias Platform (a connected workforce enablement ecosystem for healthcare comprising Learning, Performance, Compliance, Quality, and Recruiting modules, alongside sub-brands Nurse.com, Wound Care Education Institute, Relias Academy, FreeCME, and Relias Media); Alliant University (California-based professional practice higher education institution); and Teach US (teacher accreditation and recruitment program). The portfolio companies serve medical students, practicing physicians, nurses, and healthcare organizations across the workforce value chain.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Afya: Largest ecosystem of physicians and medical students in Brazil, offering education and digital services throughout their careers including medical school, preparatory courses, specialization programs, and continuing education.
• Relias
• Nurse.com
• Alliant University (Alliant International University)
• Teach US
• Wound Care Education Institute
• Relias Academy
• FreeCME
• Relias Media

Products and services

• Afya Brazil's largest ecosystem of physicians and medical students offering medical school education, preparatory courses for residency, specialization programs, continuing education, and digital health services including practice management, telemedicine, and electronic prescriptions. Serves 16,000+ medical students and 247,000+ students and physicians across 35+ campuses.
• Relias Platform Connected workforce enablement platform for healthcare organizations providing Learning, Performance, Compliance, Quality, and Recruiting solutions. Serves 12,000+ healthcare organizations and 4.5 million caregivers. Includes Relias family of brands: Nurse.com, Wound Care Education Institute, Relias Academy, FreeCME, and Relias Media.
• Nurse.com Online nursing career platform providing accredited continuing education, job opportunities, and professional community for nurses. Reaches nearly 3 million nurses per month. Part of the Relias family of brands.
• Alliant University Professional practice higher education institution in California preparing students for careers in health and human sciences, including medical training, nursing, psychology (30% of California clinical psychology students), and teacher education. Over 110 years of history with online and campus-based programs.
• Teach US Program addressing US teacher shortages through innovative accreditation and recruitment approaches, supporting teacher candidates pursuing accreditation and helping school districts with advanced placement capabilities. Targets the 200,000+ teachers exiting annually.
• Medcel Medical residency exam preparation course platform supporting young physicians preparing for Brazil's competitive residency programs. Part of Afya's offerings.
• clique Rx Electronic prescription solution enabling physicians to issue digital prescriptions listing 27,000+ registered pharmaceutical products and healthcare items. Part of Afya's 6-Pillar Digital Health Solution.
• WhiteBook Clinical decision support solution featuring diagnostic and treatment information, pharmaceutical guidance, and a clinician discussion forum used by physicians across Brazil. Part of Afya's digital ecosystem.

Quantifiable outcome

• Afya graduated more than 19,000 primary care physicians in 2021 across seven states, with 70% in underserved North and Northeast regions
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• AccentureminorOthers · 5 March 2024Accenture agreed to acquire Udacity, a digital education pioneer with expertise in proprietary technology courses, to accelerate capabilities of Accenture LearnVantage. Mentioned in Bertelsmann Education Group insights.
• FeedtrailcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 January 2024Relias acquired Feedtrail HealthcareXM, a company specializing in patient and employee experience and reputation management, to enhance workforce solutions with patient feedback capabilities.
• Restore Hyper WellnessminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 26 October 2022Restore Hyper Wellness and Nurse.com partnered to provide new opportunities for franchises and nurses in the U.S., promoting proactive health approach and offering continued education avenues and perks for Nurse.com's community.
• MicrosoftcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 November 2021Bertelsmann and Microsoft partnered to jointly develop cloud-based solutions using Microsoft's tech stack and comprehensive compliance and trust commitments to advance Bertelsmann's Tech & Data initiative, transforming consumer experiences in media and education.
• HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 September 2021Alliant International University partnered with HIMSS to strengthen the California School of Management & Leadership (CSML) Master's in Healthcare Analytics (MSHA) degree program.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• HealthStream: HealthStream is a US healthcare workforce learning, performance, and credentialing platform serving hospitals and health systems. It is the closest direct competitor to Relias, targeting the same healthcare organization buyers with compliance training, competency management, and staff development solutions.
• Wolters Kluwer: Wolters Kluwer operates healthcare education, clinical decision support (UpToDate), and compliance solutions that overlap directly with Afya's WhiteBook, Relias's compliance modules, and Alliant's medical training programs. It competes across both content and enterprise distribution.
• Elsevier (RELX): Elsevier provides medical education content, clinical decision support (ClinicalKey), and research platforms that compete with Afya's digital ecosystem and Relias's learning library. Its health sciences division targets many of the same medical students, physicians, and institutions.
• Adtalem Global Education: Adtalem operates medical and healthcare-focused higher education institutions (Ross University School of Medicine, Chamberlain University for nursing), directly comparable to Alliant's health sciences programs and Afya's medical school operations. Both groups focus on healthcare workforce education at degree level.
• Kaplan (Graham Holdings): Kaplan provides healthcare-focused test preparation and professional education (USMLE, nursing licensure, healthcare certifications), overlapping with Medcel's residency exam prep business and Relias's continuing education offerings for healthcare professionals.
• 2U: 2U partners with universities to deliver online degree programs and short courses, including healthcare specializations, competing with Alliant's online programs and Afya's digital learning offerings in continuing medical education and degree programs.
• Laureate Education: Laureate is a global for-profit higher education network with healthcare programs across Latin America, comparable in scale and international footprint to Afya. Both operate multi-campus, multi-country higher education businesses targeting workforce-oriented students.

Emerging players

• AMBOSS: AMBOSS offers a clinical knowledge and decision support platform for physicians and medical students, directly comparable to Afya's WhiteBook product. It has gained traction globally as a digital learning and point-of-care reference tool, making it a credible emerging competitor in clinical education.
• uPerform: uPerform provides digital learning and performance support for healthcare EHR users and clinical staff, partially overlapping with Relias's workforce enablement modules. It represents a more focused, emerging competitor in the healthcare training software category.

Broad incumbents

• Coursera: Coursera hosts healthcare-focused online courses, certificates, and degree programs from top universities, competing with Nurse.com's continuing education, Alliant's online programs, and Relias's broader learning catalog at the entry-level price point.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bertelsmann-education-group

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A1 record

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Bertelsmann Education Group