skillaware

What skillaware does

Skillaware is a Basel-based competence development platform for the Swiss banking sector, founded in 2018 and operated as a non-commercial initiative by three banking-sector social partners: Employers in Banking, the Swiss Bank Employees Association, and the Association of Commercial Employees Switzerland. Its core product is the Competence-Compass methodology, which guides users through a four-step process: an anonymous online self-reflection questionnaire of 80 questions covering 16 interdisciplinary skills, optional 360-degree external feedback delivered via partner ValueQuest, orientation meetings with a nationwide network of career coaches, Deep Dive training sessions, and a course finder routing users to partner platforms Everlearn and Eduwo. Beyond the core journey, the platform distributes free content products including a multilingual wiki, factsheets in four languages, a weekly podcast (skills@home) with more than 112 episodes, and webinars and keynotes.

The business model is freemium but operationally non-commercial: the self-reflection tool, podcast, factsheets, wiki, articles, keynotes, webinars, and orientation meetings are provided to bank employees at no cost, with the initiative funded by its three founding social partner organizations. Distribution is entirely domestic within Switzerland and is multilingual across German, French, and Italian. Marketing is content-led, with a dedicated 'For employers' route addressing HR and management buyers, an annual Skilly Award program recognizing outstanding competence development initiatives across Swiss banks, and intranet distribution to bank HR departments. Notable enterprise participants include Zürcher Kantonalbank, Graubündner Kantonalbank, Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank, Julius Bär, BNP Paribas Suisse, and Societe Generale Private Banking Suisse, which function as case studies and award recipients rather than paying customers. The organization operates with 1-10 employees, has no disclosed revenue, and has not raised external funding.

Name

skillaware

Legal name

skillaware

Website

https://skillaware.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Skillaware is a Basel-based competence development platform for Swiss banking sector employees, offering a free self-reflection questionnaire covering 16 interdisciplinary skills, orientation meetings with career coaches, multilingual content, and the annual Skilly Award, operated as a non-commercial initiative by the sector's three social partner associations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Basel

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Free Platform Services: The majority of skillaware's offerings are provided free of charge to users, including the self-reflection questionnaire, podcast episodes, articles, factsheets, keynotes, and wiki content. The platform is funded by its social partner organizations (Employers in Banking, Swiss Bank Employees Association, and Association of Commercial Employees Switzerland) as a industry-wide employability initiative.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

skillaware provides a free digital competence development platform for employees of the Swiss banking sector. Its core offering is the Competence-Compass, a four-step service comprising an anonymous online self-reflection questionnaire (80 questions across 16 interdisciplinary skills), optional external 360-degree feedback via ValueQuest, orientation meetings with career coaches, and a course finder that directs users to training on partner platforms Evrlearn and Eduwo. The platform also publishes supporting content products including factsheets, a wiki glossary, a weekly podcast (skills@home), and runs the annual Skilly Award program recognising excellence in competence development.

Product overview

skillaware is a competence development platform for the Swiss banking sector, built as a unified offering centered on its Competence-Compass methodology. The core product consists of a four-step journey: (1) Self-Reflection via an online questionnaire assessing 16 interdisciplinary skills with 80 questions, supplemented by optional External Feedback from colleagues; (2) Consultation through orientation meetings with career coaches; (3) Deep Dive sessions; and (4) a Course Finder linking to partner platforms Evrlearn and Eduwo. Beyond the core Competence-Compass, skillaware provides free content products including Factsheets (downloadable PDFs on competence topics), a Wiki glossary of skills/employability terminology, and a Podcast (skills@home) with over 112 episodes. The platform also runs the Skilly Award, an annual recognition program for excellence in competence development. The initiative is supported by Switzerland's banking sector social partners: Employers in Banking, the Swiss Bank Employees Association, and the Swiss Commercial Association.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Skilly: The skillaware mascot, an alpaca character that accompanies users through the self-reflection process and motivates them to stay engaged with their competence development journey.

Products and services

• Competence-Compass A four-step methodology guiding employees through competence development: (1) self-reflection via online questionnaire, (2) consultation with career coaches, (3) Deep Dive training sessions, and (4) course finder to browse training programs from partner platforms. Designed for Swiss bank employees across hierarchical levels.
• Self-Reflection (Online Questionnaire) An anonymous online self-evaluation tool offering 80 questions to assess competence fitness across 16 different interdisciplinary skills or basic competences, producing a clear final report for self-reflection. Available to Swiss bank employees free of charge.
• External Feedback Optional 360-degree feedback feature that supplements self-evaluation with input from colleagues, supervisors, friends, or other personal contacts (approximately 7 minutes per questionnaire). Conducted in partnership with ValueQuest.
• Orientation Meetings Meetings with career coaches or skills advisors available after completing self-reflection, enabling reflection and classification of self-reflection results and discussion of further competence development steps. Available free of charge through a nationwide network of independent career coaches.
• Course Finder Step 4 of the Competence-Compass methodology, allowing users to browse courses offered by partner platforms Evrlearn (evrlearn.ch) and Eduwo (eduwo.ch), as well as course recommendations from the skillaware network.
• Factsheets Downloadable PDF factsheets offering tips and small guidance on competence training topics including Digital Collaboration, Knowledge vs. Skills, Homeoffice, Stress Management, and Resilience. Available in German, French, Italian, and English.
• Wiki (Glossary) Comprehensive online lexicon covering terms related to skills management, competence development, and employability including World of Work 4.0, New Work, Resilience, employability, and interdisciplinary skills.
• Podcast (skills@home) Podcast show covering competence development, employability, and lifelong learning topics, featuring expert interviews, development stories, and trend topics. Over 112 episodes produced, available in German, French, and Italian.
• Skilly Award Annual award program recognising special initiatives in competence and HR development. Awards are given in multiple categories including Development Hero, Team Project Competence Development, and Overall Bank Development Program.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 8,000 bank employees have completed the self-evaluation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Employers in Banking (Arbeitgeber Banken)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018One of three founding social partners of skillaware initiative. The Employers in Banking association represents banks and is the registered legal entity for the skillaware platform. Director Dr. Balz Stückelberger serves as key spokesperson for the initiative. Located at Barfüsserplatz 3, Basel.
• Swiss Bank Employees Association (sbpv.ch)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of three founding social partners representing employee interests in Swiss banking sector. Director Natalia Ferrara has been a co-initiator of skillaware since 2018, advocating for employee awareness and development offers.
• Association of Commercial Employees Switzerland (kfmv.ch)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of three founding social partners representing commercial employees. Head of Social Partnership Pascal Lamprecht has been involved since the beginning, championing competence development concerns since the association's foundation.
• Dr. Franca BurkhardtcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChange expert and banking sector specialist who works with the skillaware core team to further develop the portfolio of services. Authored Bruno's story and contributed to Banking Operations Future-Fit course development. LinkedIn: dr-franca-denise-burkhardt
• Everlearn (evrlearn.ch)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner course platform recommended to skillaware users for finding suitable training courses after completing the self-reflection process.
• Eduwo (eduwo.ch)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner course platform recommended to skillaware users for finding suitable training courses after completing the self-reflection process.
• Banking Advisory Center St. GallenminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProvider of course recommendation 'Achieving success in negotiations and discussions' - a 2-day on-site program for specialists and managers.
• Bandy AnalyticsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorProvider of Banking Operations Future-Fit course - a 4-month program strengthening employees at Banking Operations with practical training on 3 real cases.
• CYPminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner in developing the Banking Operations Future-Fit course in cooperation with Dr. Franca Burkhardt, training employees for future job profiles in banking operations.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Questionmark: Questionmark provides enterprise assessment platforms for certification, compliance and skills measurement. It shares skillaware's DNA of structured questionnaires producing competency insights, though its go-to-market is assessment-led rather than employability-led.

Broad incumbents

• Skillsoft: Skillsoft is a long-established corporate learning and talent development provider offering content, assessments and compliance training. It competes with skillaware's blended content + assessment model at enterprise scale across all sectors.
• Workday Learning: Workday Learning is an enterprise LMS embedded in the Workday HCM suite, used by large banks to deliver and track employee development. It is a substitute buyer option for skillaware's B2B HR proposition.
• Cornerstone OnDemand: Cornerstone offers a talent management suite including learning, performance and competency management. It addresses the same HR buyer as skillaware's enterprise proposition but with broader functionality and global scale.
• LinkedIn Learning: LinkedIn Learning provides on-demand courses and skill assessments tightly integrated with LinkedIn's professional graph. It overlaps with skillaware's course finder and skill development value proposition, particularly for corporate L&D buyers.

Direct peers

• iMocha: iMocha provides skills and competency assessment solutions for enterprises, with self-assessment and external feedback workflows similar to skillaware's Competence-Compass self-reflection and 360-degree feedback steps.
• Degreed: Degreed is a learning experience platform that aggregates skills content and provides personalised development pathways. It overlaps directly with skillaware's combination of skill assessment, content library and course recommendations.
• 365Talents: 365Talents is a skills management and internal mobility platform that helps organisations map employee competencies and recommend career moves. It is a direct peer to skillaware's competence-assessment and development positioning, though it operates globally rather than banking-specific.
• TestGorilla: TestGorilla offers skills-based assessment tools used by employers to evaluate candidates and employees. While primarily pre-hire, its assessment architecture is comparable to skillaware's questionnaire-based skill diagnostic.

Regional players

• Cegos: Cegos is a major European corporate training provider offering professional development programmes and competency-based learning. It is a regional peer to skillaware's Swiss banking competence development proposition, particularly in France, Germany and the wider DACH market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/skillaware
• Xx.com/skillaware1
• Facebookfacebook.com/skillaware

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 skillaware