Kothes
Kothes is a privately held German full-service provider of technical documentation, offering consulting, content creation, specialist translation, and authoring-system provision for industrial and machinery manufacturers across 13 offices in six European and African countries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersKempen, Germany
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Kothes does
Kothes GmbH is a privately held German full-service provider of technical documentation, headquartered in Kempen (North Rhine-Westphalia) and operating through 13 offices across six countries — Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, and Cameroon. Founded in 2003/2004 and led by Managing Directors Lars Kothes, Lisa-Marie Baldus, and Manuel Welter, the firm employs 150 permanent experts augmented by a freelance translator bench, and has completed more than 30,000 projects since inception.
The company structures its offering around four integrated service modules: CONSULT (documentation process advisory, system selection, digitalization, CE conformity, machinery safety, and quality management), CREATE (technical editing and content production — operating instructions, user manuals, software documentation, spare parts catalogs, risk assessments, ignition source analyses, instruction videos, and language-neutral visual instructions), TRANSLATE (specialist translations, terminology management, machine translation, proofreading, and desktop publishing), and PROVIDE (authoring system licensing, content delivery portals, system consulting/implementation, and e-learning platforms). Tooling is tool-agnostic across major standards — COSIMA, SCHEMA ST4, Adobe FrameMaker, Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign — and increasingly augmented by AI capabilities for content generation, metadata automation, style/terminology checking, summarization, and chatbots. The proprietary smart space portal gives customers self-service access to documentation, terminology databases, and translation memories, while the Academy provides fee-based training and seminars on documentation methods, tools, and regulatory topics.
Kothes serves enterprise and mid-market industrial customers primarily in German-speaking markets, with named reference clients spanning packaging machinery (SIG), compressed air systems (Aerzen), supply chain (Körber), manufacturing (Hauser GmbH), sun protection (STOBAG), hydraulics (Taconova), and industrial coating (Krautzberger). Revenue is generated through custom project-based pricing on multi-year enterprise contracts, with services typically structured as Consult-Create-Translate-Provide bundles covering the full documentation lifecycle.
Kothes firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Kothes
- Legal name
- kothes GmbH
- Website
- https://kothes.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Kothes is a privately held German full-service provider of technical documentation, offering consulting, content creation, specialist translation, and authoring-system provision for industrial and machinery manufacturers across 13 offices in six European and African countries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Kothes is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Kempen
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices12 records
Markets served
Kothes business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Consulting Services: Advisory services for documentation processes including process optimization, documentation concepts, system selection and implementation, digitalization, CE conformity, machine safety, and quality management.
- Documentation Creation: Creation of technical documentation including operating instructions, user manuals, software documentation, spare parts catalogs, risk assessments, ignition source analyses, instruction videos, and language-neutral visual instructions.
- Translation Services: Specialist translations, translation technology, terminology management, foreign language proofreading, machine translation, and desktop publishing for technical content.
- System Provision: Sale of system licenses for redaction systems, content delivery portals, system consulting and implementation, development and support, and e-learning platforms.
- Academy / Training: In-house training and seminars on topics including documentation techniques, tools (SCHEMA ST4, COSIMA go!, Corel Draw), terminology, information design, quality management, machinery directive, and AI integration.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom project-based pricing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels8 records
Kothes product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Kothes provides full-service technical documentation for industrial manufacturers, covering the entire documentation lifecycle through four modules: CONSULT (advisory on documentation processes, CE conformity, machinery safety, quality management), CREATE (production of operating instructions, user manuals, software documentation, risk assessments, and visual instructions), TRANSLATE (specialist translation, terminology management, machine translation, and desktop publishing), and PROVIDE (sale of authoring system licenses, content delivery portals, and e-learning platforms). The company also runs an Academy training program and the smart space customer portal.
Product overview
Kothes is a full-service provider for Technical Documentation offering four integrated service modules: CONSULT (advisory and process optimization), CREATE (technical editing and content creation), TRANSLATE (specialist translation and terminology management), and PROVIDE (authoring systems, content delivery portals, and e-learning platforms). The PROVIDE module includes the smart space web portal for customer access. The Academy provides complementary training seminars on documentation tools and processes. The company creates documentation using standard authoring tools including Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign, Adobe FrameMaker, and XML authoring systems such as COSIMA and SCHEMA ST4. Kothes has developed AI capabilities for content generation, metadata automation, and intelligent help systems as part of its smart documentation approach.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- CONSULT Advisory service for optimizing information processes, including documentation and metadata concepts, system selection and implementation, digitalization, CE conformity, machinery safety, and quality management, targeted at enterprise industrial manufacturers.
- CREATE Technical editorial service producing user-targeted information such as operating instructions, usage instructions, software documentation, spare parts catalogs, risk assessments, ignition source analyses, instruction videos, and language-neutral visual instructions for industrial manufacturers.
- TRANSLATE Translation service for technology and software documentation, including specialist translations, translation technology, terminology management, foreign-language proofreading, machine translation, and desktop publishing, targeted at manufacturers with multi-language documentation needs.
- PROVIDE Systems and software solutions including authoring systems, content delivery portals, system license sales, system consulting and implementation, development and support, and e-learning platforms, providing enterprise customers with the tooling infrastructure for technical documentation.
- Academy Training and seminar service covering documentation techniques, authoring tools (SCHEMA ST4, COSIMA go!, Corel Draw Technical Suite), terminology, translation processes, user-friendly information design, editorial guidelines, EU machinery regulations, risk assessments, and AI integration, delivered as in-house seminars for technical editorial teams.
- smart space Web-based customer portal where enterprise customers can access their technical documentation, terminology databases, and translation memories, providing self-service distribution and management of documentation resources.
Quantifiable outcome
- 30,000+ successfully completed projects
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Kothes
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Kothes technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability8 records
Feature3 records
Kothes partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Kothes competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Welocalize: Global language services provider with strong European presence offering translation, localization, and technical content services to enterprise and mid-market customers, overlapping with Kothes' core offering.
- Lionbridge: Large global translation and localization services provider with technical documentation capabilities; comparable in offering enterprise customers end-to-end content, translation, and digital delivery.
- SDL (now part of RWS Group): Language services and translation technology brand now consolidated under RWS; historically a peer to Kothes in translation memory, terminology, and enterprise content management offerings.
- RWS Group: Global leader in language services, translation technology, and technical documentation; competes directly with Kothes in enterprise technical content, translation, and multilingual documentation across European industrial customers.
- gds GmbH: German provider of technical documentation, software localization, and translation services; a direct regional competitor to Kothes serving industrial manufacturers in DACH markets.
- TransPerfect: World's largest privately held language services company offering translation, localization, and content management; directly comparable across enterprise technical documentation and multilingual service delivery.
- Acolad: European-headquartered language services group providing translation, localization, and content solutions; competes with Kothes particularly in the DACH and broader European industrial documentation market.
Others
- DOCUFY: Technical documentation and machine-safety software vendor whose tools Kothes explicitly trains on via its Academy; functions as both an ecosystem partner and an indirect competitor as customers may adopt DOCUFY in-house.
- tekom: Germany-based professional association for technical communication that sets industry standards, runs training, and convenes the market Kothes serves; not a competitor but a key ecosystem and thought-leadership channel.
Broad incumbents
- Quanos: Provider of technical documentation software (formerly SCHEMA, plus DOCUFY/Quanos suite) used by industrial manufacturers; an adjacent incumbent whose authoring tools Kothes implements and trains on, creating both partnership and substitution risk.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Kothes social profiles
Digital presenceKothes financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Kothes leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Kothes subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries5 records
Kothes funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Kothes M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Kothes
What does Kothes do?
Kothes provides full-service technical documentation for industrial manufacturers, covering the entire documentation lifecycle through four modules: CONSULT (advisory on documentation processes, CE conformity, machinery safety, quality management), CREATE (production of operating instructions, user manuals, software documentation, risk assessments, and visual instructions), TRANSLATE (specialist translation, terminology management, machine translation, and desktop publishing), and PROVIDE (sale of authoring system licenses, content delivery portals, and e-learning platforms). The company also runs an Academy training program and the smart space customer portal.
Is Kothes a public or private company?
Kothes is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Kothes founded?
Kothes was founded in 2004. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Kothes based?
Kothes is headquartered in Kempen, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Kothes make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Consulting Services are the primary driver. The others are documentation Creation, translation Services, system Provision and academy / Training.
Who are Kothes's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Welocalize, Lionbridge, SDL (now part of RWS Group), RWS Group, gds GmbH, TransPerfect and Acolad. Others are DOCUFY and tekom. Quanos is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Kothes have an API?
No public API is recorded for Kothes.