JWS

What JWS does

JWS GmbH is a privately held German software distributor and IT-services provider headquartered in Nürnberg that has operated continuously since 1986 and was incorporated as a GmbH in 1990. The company is the German distributor for SierraSoft's infrastructure-planning suites — LAND (surveying and digital terrain modeling), ROADS (BIM-enabled road design), RAILS (railway alignment), and HYDRO (hydraulic infrastructure) — supplemented by BIM-Exchange, BIM-Modeling, and BIM-Checking extensions that support IFC 4x3, IDS, and bsDD interoperability standards. Beyond SierraSoft, JWS distributes BricsCAD (Bricsys) for general CAD and BIM, the KobiLabs family (Kobi Toolkit for BricsCAD/AutoCAD/Civil 3D/Revit, Signs & Stripes, Swept Path, Reporting) for CAD productivity and traffic-infrastructure planning, and ACCA Software for full building-lifecycle BIM.

The company sells primarily through consultation-based, sales-led direct engagement: prospective customers request demos or test versions via contact form, email, or phone, and JWS supports them with FastViewer remote-maintenance tooling and on-site trade-show presence at digitalBAU, InterGeo, and BIM World. Customer-facing content includes German- and English-language video walkthroughs of SierraSoft modules and downloadable brochures and PowerPoint presentations for BIM workflows, including material authored by JWS's in-house BIM-Spezialist Roland Schneider.

Revenue is generated across four streams: software distribution and licensing (notably KobiLabs at €215–€495 per user per year in annual subscription), hardware sales (servers, network components, printers, telephone systems), network-administration and IT-support services for SMB business customers, and consulting for network planning, IP telephony, and internet-presence deployment. The customer base is domestic (Germany only) and concentrated in engineering and planning offices serving surveying, road, railway, and hydraulic projects, plus construction companies executing public or private contracts and SMB clients seeking IT-infrastructure support. The firm operates with up to 8 employees and freelancers under managing director Judith Werner-Schneider and is structured as a closely held German Mittelstand business with no disclosed external investors or funding rounds.

Name

JWS

Legal name

JWS GmbH

Website

https://jws-gmbh.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

JWS GmbH is a Nürnberg-based German software distributor and IT-services provider that resells SierraSoft, BricsCAD, KobiLabs, and ACCA Software for surveying, road, rail, hydraulic, and BIM-based infrastructure planning, serving German engineering offices and construction companies with subscription licensing, hardware, and network-administration services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

CAD/BIM Software Distribution

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413)

SIC

Wholesale-Computers & Peripheral Equipment & Software (5045), Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Building Information Modeling (BIM) & Digital Design Services (BPAHAKAK)

Keywords

• CAD software distribution
• BIM infrastructure design
• Civil engineering software
• AEC software reseller
• IT services Germany

Headquarters

HQ city

Nuremberg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Software Distribution and Reselling: JWS GmbH acts as a German distributor for SierraSoft software products (LAND, HYDRO, RAILS, ROADS) and distributes BricsCAD, KobiLabs, and ACCA Software products, generating revenue through software licensing and distribution.
2. Hardware Sales: Sale of hardware products including servers, network components, printers, and telephone systems from brand manufacturers, including installation and training services.
3. Network Administration and IT Services: Network administration, server management, and technical support services for business customers, including management services, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
4. Consulting Services: Consulting services for network planning, IT solutions, IP telephony, and internet presence creation, with individualized advice to find optimal solutions for customers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

JWS GmbH distributes CAD and BIM software for civil infrastructure planning—including SierraSoft products (Land, Roads, Rails, Hydro, BIM Extensions), BricsCAD, KobiLabs tools (Kobi Toolkit, Kobi Signs & Stripes, Kobi Swept Path, Kobi Reporting), and ACCA Software—to engineering, surveying, and architecture firms. The company also supplies hardware and provides IT services and network administration to small businesses in the Nürnberg region.

Product overview

JWS GmbH operates as a German distributor and solution provider for infrastructure planning software, offering a multi-vendor portfolio organized around CAD-based design tools. The core offering centers on SierraSoft products (Land, Roads, Rails, Hydro) for surveying, road/railway design, and hydraulic infrastructure planning, supplemented by BIM-Modeling, BIM-Checking, and BIM-Exchange add-on modules that enable BIM-compliant workflows using IFC, IDS, and bsDD standards. The KobiLabs product family provides specialized CAD productivity tools (Kobi Toolkit for BricsCAD/AutoCAD/Civil 3D/Revit), traffic infrastructure modules (Kobi Signs & Stripes, Kobi Swept Path), and reporting tools (Kobi Reporting) that integrate directly into BricsCAD, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D platforms. The company also distributes BricsCAD as a standalone CAD solution and ACCA Software for architecture and engineering BIM applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SierraSoft Land
• SierraSoft Roads
• SierraSoft Rails
• SierraSoft Hydro
• SierraSoft BIM Extensions
• BricsCAD
• Kobi Toolkit
• Kobi Signs & Stripes
• Kobi Swept Path
• Kobi Reporting
• ACCA Software products
• IT services
• Hardware supply
• Network administration

Quantifiable outcome

• BIM information automatically updates when project changes occur through dynamic linking

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, major, minor and supporting.

• SierraSoftcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorJWS GmbH is the German distributor for SierraSoft software products including LAND, HYDRO, RAILS, and ROADS for surveying, road/railway design, and hydraulic infrastructure planning. The partnership includes BIM extensions (BIM-Exchange, BIM-Modeling, BIM-Checking) and support for IFC, IDS, and bsDD standards.
• KobiLabscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorJWS distributes KobiLabs products including Kobi Toolkit for BricsCAD/AutoCAD/Revit/Civil 3D, Kobi Signs & Stripes, Kobi Swept Path, and Kobi Reporting for CAD productivity and infrastructure planning tasks.
• BricsysmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorJWS distributes BricsCAD software for 2D/3D construction drawings, parametric modeling, sheet metal modeling, and BIM applications. Previously served as a Competence Center in Bavaria for MegaCAD.
• ACCA SoftwaremajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorJWS distributes ACCA Software products for architects and civil engineers, providing innovative software solutions for the entire building lifecycle from planning through sustainable maintenance, supporting BIM standards.
• StarFaceminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorJWS GmbH is a certified dealer for StarFace software-based VoIP telephone systems, providing installation and support for digital communication solutions.
• FastViewersupportingTechnology or IntegrationJWS uses FastViewer remote maintenance tool for comprehensive customer support, allowing technicians to provide remote assistance to customers.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Bricsys (Hexagon): Publisher of BricsCAD, the core general-purpose CAD platform JWS distributes. Comparable as the upstream vendor for a major part of JWS's portfolio and as a broader CAD incumbent targeting AEC/infrastructure.
• Nemetschek Group: Leading European AEC/BIM software group (Allplan, Graphisoft, Vectorworks) with strong DACH presence. Comparable as a broad incumbent whose BIM-first AEC software competes for the same engineering office budgets that JWS targets.
• Hexagon Geosystems: Surveying, geospatial and infrastructure software/hardware provider (HxGN SDx, Leica). Comparable as the dominant European supplier to the same surveying and infrastructure engineering customers JWS serves in Germany.
• Autodesk: Global CAD/BIM incumbent whose AutoCAD and Civil 3D platforms are deeply entrenched in German engineering offices. KobiLabs modules (distributed by JWS) target AutoCAD and Civil 3D directly, making Autodesk the dominant adjacent competitor for infrastructure-design software spend.
• Trimble Inc. Major surveying and infrastructure software/hardware vendor (Trimble Civil Engineering, Novapoint, Quantm). Comparable as a broad incumbent in the same surveying-and-infrastructure design category that SierraSoft Land targets.
• Bentley Systems: Infrastructure-software incumbent (OpenRoads, OpenRail, OpenUtilities) competing head-on with SierraSoft's LAND/RAILS/HYDRO for road, rail and hydraulic design wins. Comparable because JWS's flagship SierraSoft portfolio directly contests Bentley's infrastructure design tooling in Germany.

Direct peers

• Mensch und Maschine Software SE: German-headquartered CAD/BIM value-added reseller and software developer serving AEC and infrastructure customers across DACH. Closest direct peer to JWS given overlapping product portfolio (including BricsCAD distribution) and similar Mittelstand customer base.
• ACCA Software: Italian BIM/AEC software publisher of Edificius, PriMus, and Solibri-integrated building lifecycle tools. Comparable because JWS is the German distribution channel for ACCA's BIM-compliant portfolio serving architects and civil engineers.
• SierraSoft: Italian developer of LAND, ROADS, RAILS, HYDRO and BIM extensions - JWS's flagship principal. Comparable as the engineering-content source for the infrastructure-niche products JWS resells in Germany, including BIM/IFC tooling.

Emerging players

• KobiLabs: Developer of Kobi Toolkit, Signs&Stripes, Swept Path, and Reporting plug-ins for BricsCAD/AutoCAD/Civil 3D/Revit. Comparable as both a partner JWS resells and an emerging niche player in CAD productivity tooling that competes in the same engineering-office workflows.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/j-w-s-gmbh-software-und-hardware

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 JWS