What Care21 does

Care21 is a specialized healthcare and nursing staffing agency based in Zug, Switzerland, operating as a product brand of the Prime21 AG holding. The company recruits and places nurses, physicians, medical-technical personnel, and medical-therapeutic professionals from Switzerland and the EU into Swiss hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and Spitex (home care) organizations, covering both permanent and temporary engagements. Its service model is free for candidates, with healthcare institutions paying recruitment and placement fees; consultants also handle SRK (Swiss Red Cross) credential recognition, work permit navigation, and relocation logistics on behalf of candidates, an unusually end-to-end scope for a Swiss agency of its size.

The core technology stack is a job portal (care21.ch/jobportal) supporting filtered search by profession, location, and employment type, combined with personal-consultant-led matching. Adjacent platforms within the Prime21 AG portfolio extend the offering: GetTemp manages a temporary employee pool with availability tracking, and Payflow provides payroll services, allowing Care21 to participate in downstream placement economics beyond the initial recruitment fee. Marketing relies on inbound content (blog, downloadable brochure 'Leben wo andere Ferien machen') and professional networks (XING, LinkedIn) to attract EU healthcare candidates.

The go-to-market is sales-led and direct: enterprise relationships with healthcare institutions across German-speaking Switzerland, segmented regionally across Zürich, Bern, Basel, Innerschweiz, Ostschweiz/Liechtenstein, and Mittelland (AG & SO). Care21 is privately held with no disclosed funding rounds; it sits within a multi-brand group (Prime21, Construction21, HR21, GetTemp, Payflow) that suggests strategic operating support from the parent rather than venture capital backing. Headcount of 11–50 and active job listings indicate an operating, growth-stage staffing firm rather than a startup.

Name

Care21

Legal name

Care21

Website

https://care21.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Care21 is a Swiss healthcare staffing agency that recruits and places nurses, physicians, and medical-technical professionals from the EU and Switzerland into hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and Spitex organizations across German-speaking Switzerland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Staffing & Recruitment Services

NAICS

Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Healthcare Clinical Direct Hire (Nursing/Allied/Physicians) (BPACAFAH)

Keywords

• Healthcare staffing
• Nursing recruitment
• Medical personnel placement
• Healthcare job portal
• Permanent and temporary staffing

Headquarters

HQ city

Zug

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

Revenue model

1. Recruitment/Staffing Fees: Care21 charges healthcare institutions (hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, Spitex) for placing qualified healthcare professionals. The company provides both permanent and temporary staffing solutions. Services are free for job-seeking candidates.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Care21 is a specialized personnel recruitment agency for healthcare and nursing professions in Switzerland, connecting qualified professionals (nurses, physicians, medical-technical and medical-therapeutic staff) from the EU and Switzerland with Swiss healthcare institutions. The company facilitates both permanent and temporary placements for hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and home care (Spitex) organizations, with services including credential recognition support (SRK), relocation assistance, and personalized consultant support. Services are free for candidates, with healthcare institutions as paying clients.

Product overview

Care21 operates as a specialized staffing agency for healthcare and nursing professions in Switzerland, offering a unified service combining a job portal (Care21 Jobportal) for job seekers and employers, alongside placement services for permanent and temporary positions. The company maintains a network of specialized brands including Prime21 (healthcare staffing), GetTemp (temporary employee pool management), and Payflow (payroll services), all operating under the parent company Prime21 AG. The core offering centers on connecting EU and Swiss healthcare professionals with hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and home care services (Spitex) throughout German-speaking Switzerland.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Prime21: Specialized brand operating under Care21's parent company Prime21 AG
• Construction21
• HR21
• GetTemp
• Payflow

Products and services

• Care21 Jobportal

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Prime21 AGcoreOthersCare21 is a brand of Prime21 AG, a staffing and recruitment group with multiple specialized brands including Prime21 (temporary staffing), Construction21 (construction sector), HR21 (HR services), GetTemp (temporary staffing platform), and Payflow (payroll services).

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• SwissMedical Staffing (specialty healthcare recruiter): Boutique Swiss healthcare recruiter focused on nursing and physician placements, mirroring Care21's specialist niche but typically smaller in scale and single-region.
• Medi24 / medical corporates recruiting in-house: Swiss healthcare organizations increasingly operate internal talent acquisition to recruit EU healthcare staff directly, representing an emerging structural threat to Care21's external recruiter model.

Direct peers

• Manpower Switzerland: ManpowerGroup's Swiss franchise recruits nurses and healthcare professionals for hospitals and care institutions, functioning as another direct competitor in healthcare permanent and temporary placements in the same Swiss geography.
• Adecco Medical: Adecco's Swiss healthcare division providing permanent and temporary staffing for nurses, physicians, and allied health professionals — the most direct head-to-head competitor to Care21 across hospitals, clinics, and care facilities in Switzerland.
• Randstad Switzerland (Healthcare): Randstad's Swiss unit operates a dedicated healthcare vertical staffing nurses, physicians, and medical-technical personnel, directly competing with Care21's core placement business across German-speaking Switzerland.

Broad incumbents

• Kelly Services Switzerland: International staffing provider with Swiss operations covering healthcare, scientific, and technical placements, with similar permanent/temp mix but at broader scale and cross-vertical scope.
• Robert Half: Global staffing and consulting firm with a Swiss footprint recruiting across professional and administrative healthcare support roles, overlapping with Care21's permanent placement market.
• Michael Page Healthcare: PageGroup's Swiss subsidiary recruiting across healthcare and life sciences, with comparable permanent placement economics to Care21 but a broader multi-sector service portfolio.
• Hays: Global specialist recruiter with a Swiss presence in life sciences and healthcare, competing for specialized medical and physician placements while also serving broader professional staffing verticals.

Regional players

• JobCloud (jobs.ch): Switzerland's largest generalist job board; while not a healthcare specialist, it competes indirectly for healthcare candidate traffic and employer branding in the same Swiss language regions as Care21.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/care21life
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/care21

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Care21