What Zermelo does

Zermelo Software B.V. is a Leiden-based private company founded in 1999 that sells subscription-based timetabling and formation management software exclusively to Dutch secondary schools (voortgezet onderwijs). The platform automates the construction of complex weekly schedules, student grouping and cluster assignment, teacher staffing (formatie), package choice workflows, test scheduling, and parent evening rosters, using proprietary "Roosterautomaten" (scheduling automata) and "Clusterautomaten" (clustering algorithms) that encode 25+ years of Dutch education domain rules. The core product is augmented by the Zermelo Portal for staff, the WebApp for mobile access by teachers and students, and the Atlas cloud service that runs optimization jobs across 80 servers even when the school's own systems are offline.

The company sells primarily through a consultative direct-sales motion: on-site demos at the school, structured training courses capped at 8 participants across three regional locations (Leiden, Deventer, Eindhoven), dedicated implementation days, and a support desk handling 100-200 phone calls per day. Revenue is generated via annual software subscriptions priced at a €7,000 base fee (with a surcharge for schools exceeding 2,000 students), module upsells at €860 and €2,760 per module, and a meaningful services stream from implementation, training, working days, and inspection services (RoosterAPK and FormatieAPK). Zermelo is integrated natively with the dominant Dutch student information systems (Magister, Somtoday) and the AFAS HR/payroll platform, and is GDPR- and ROSA-certified.

Zermelo holds more than 60% market share of Dutch secondary schools, serving 1,050 institutions covering 780,000 students and 80,000 teachers. The company operates without external venture capital or private equity ownership, remains founder-influenced despite a recent leadership transition from founders Bernard van Kesteren and Trudy van Rijn to successors Dennis and Fleur, and confines its geographic footprint to the Netherlands with no disclosed international expansion.

Name

Zermelo

Legal name

Zermelo Software B.V.

Website

https://zermelo.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Zermelo provides subscription-based timetabling, formation management, and student grouping software for Dutch secondary schools, serving over 1,050 institutions covering 780,000 students via proprietary scheduling automata and Atlas cloud optimization.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Leiden

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: Annual software licensing fees for the Zermelo scheduling platform, with pricing tiered by school size (students over 2000)
2. Training and Education: Courses for application administrators, schedulers, staffing managers, and deans, as well as working days and certification programs

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Zermelo provides integrated scheduling, formation (staffing), and student package selection software for Dutch secondary schools (voortgezet onderwijs). The platform combines constraint-based scheduling automata with formation management, test scheduling, parent evening scheduling, management reporting, and integrations with student administration systems (Magister, Somtoday) and HR/finance platforms (AFAS). It is delivered alongside implementation services, training courses, and ongoing support to Dutch secondary education institutions.

Product overview

Zermelo is a Dutch educational software company offering a unified platform for secondary school management in the Netherlands. The core product consists of the Zermelo scheduling software, the Zermelo Portal for school staff, and the Zermelo WebApp for mobile access, supported by the cloud-based Atlas optimization service. The company provides a comprehensive suite of services including implementation, professional training courses, custom training programs, working days with expert support, and specialized inspection services (RoosterAPK and FormatieAPK). The product ecosystem is complemented by the Mijn Zermelo customer portal and extensive documentation resources. With over 25 years of experience and serving more than 1,050 schools with 780,000 students and 80,000 teachers, Zermelo is the market leader in scheduling software for Dutch secondary education.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Zermelo Scheduling Software Comprehensive scheduling software (rooster) for Dutch secondary education that helps schools organize their educational process, create optimal schedules, manage formation, and handle package choices in one unified system. For Dutch secondary schools (voortgezet onderwijs).
• Zermelo Portal

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,050 schools use Zermelo in the Netherlands
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• MagistercoreTechnology or IntegrationStudent administration system integration that allows information to be easily linked and schedules to be automatically imported, including for customized configurations.
• SomtodaycoreTechnology or IntegrationStudent administration system integration that allows information to be easily linked and schedules to be automatically imported.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Microsoft Education (School Data Sync): Microsoft's education platform offers rostering, class scheduling and SIS sync features as part of a broader productivity stack; an indirect substitute that could displace point solutions like Zermelo if deepened.
• Google Workspace for Education: Google's education offering includes Classroom rostering and Google Calendar scheduling; while not a direct timetabling replacement, schools may consolidate on Google's bundle to reduce vendor count.

Direct peers

• Untis: Austria-based Untis is the leading European provider of school timetabling software (Gruber & Petters), directly comparable to Zermelo in product category and customer type (K–12 schools), and a logical cross-border competitor.
• EduPage: Slovak school information system with built-in timetable generation; overlaps with Zermelo in core scheduling functionality while also providing SIS features that compete with Magister/Somtoday integrations.
• aSc Timetables: Czech-founded aSc Timetables sells automated school scheduling software to K–12 institutions internationally; offers a near-identical core product to Zermelo with broader geographic reach.
• Schoolmaster: German provider of school scheduling and administration software; directly comparable in product scope and target customer (European secondary schools).

Others

• Moodle: Open-source LMS widely used in European education; not a direct scheduling competitor but a platform-level adjacent technology schools may choose to extend with scheduling plugins, narrowing Zermelo's footprint.

Emerging players

• Magister (Schoolmaster): Dutch student information system widely used in Dutch secondary schools and a current Zermelo integration partner; a potential bundling threat if native scheduling capabilities are added.
• It's Learning (Sana): European K–12 LMS provider with presence in the Netherlands; adjacent to Zermelo in the school software stack and a potential bundling or integration-driven threat.
• Somtoday (Topicus): Topicus-owned Dutch SIS used across secondary education; tightly integrated with Zermelo today, but a logical competitive entry point if Topicus expands into native timetabling.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zermelo-roostermakers

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Zermelo