Board of European Students of Technology

What Board of European Students of Technology does

Board of European Students of Technology (BEST) is a non-profit, politically unaffiliated student organization founded in April 1989 in Berlin and registered as an AISBL (Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif) in Brussels, Belgium. BEST operates a pan-European network of 79 Local BEST Groups across 29 countries, coordinated by a volunteer workforce of more than 3,300 students and an annually elected International Board (currently the XXXVIII Board for 2025-2026). The organization delivers complementary education, career services, and engineering-education advocacy to European students of technology.

BEST's core offerings are service programs rather than technology products: BEST Courses (technology, career-related skills, and applied engineering, with ECTS credit recognition), BEST Symposia on Education (6-10 day academic events producing position papers), BEST Career Support Events (company presentations, recruitment fairs, and networking), and flexible Local Events organized by each LBG. Supporting platforms include best.eu.org (event applications, accounts, course catalog) and career.best-eu.org (career services). The underlying technology is a web-based application system with account management, motivational-letter workflows, and season-based event catalogs — not a differentiated technology stack.

Revenue is generated through capped event participation fees (maximum €10/day, €100/event, with reduced tiers by country and some free events), corporate sponsorships and in-kind university support, and Erasmus+ project funding (e.g., A-STEP 2030, IN-4-STEM). As a non-profit, BEST does not distribute profits and is governed by a General Assembly. Go-to-market is event-driven, with student recruitment handled through local university groups, the web platform, and grassroots word-of-mouth; corporate customers are acquired through sponsorship outreach enabled by the LBG network.

Name

Board of European Students of Technology

Legal name

Board of European Students of Technology AISBL

Website

https://best.eu.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Board of European Students of Technology (BEST) is a Brussels-based non-profit running 79 university Local Groups in 29 European countries, delivering complementary engineering courses, career events, and education-policy symposia to technology students through 3,300+ volunteers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Student Educational and Career Services (Non-Profit)

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGADAE

College Access, Scholarships & Student Success Nonprofits

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Education & Youth Development Nonprofits

Keywords

• Engineering student exchange
• Educational course programs
• Student career services
• Symposia on education
• European student network

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Event Participation Fees: BEST charges participation fees for courses and events, with a maximum fee structure of 10 Euro per day (up to 100 Euro maximum). Fees vary by event and country, with some events being free. Reduced fees are available based on students' country of studies.
2. Corporate Partnerships and Sponsorships: Companies sponsor events through company presentations, guest lectures, and company visits during BEST events. Universities co-operate by providing venues and support. The organization partners with companies to give them access to European-minded students.
3. Project Funding: BEST participates in European projects like Erasmus+ (A-STEP 2030, IN-4-STEM) as a partner, receiving funding to support educational initiatives and student involvement in engineering education improvement.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

BEST is a non-profit student organisation that organises and delivers educational courses, symposia on engineering education, and career support events for European technology students. The offerings are run through 79 Local BEST Groups at universities across 29 countries, supported by an online application platform and a dedicated career centre, with corporate partners, universities, and European projects (such as Erasmus+) providing funding, venues, and content.

Product overview

Board of European Students of Technology (BEST) is a non-profit student organization, not a technology product company. It operates as a network of 79 Local BEST Groups across 29 countries providing educational and career services to engineering students. The core offerings consist of BEST Courses (educational events), BEST Symposia on Education (academic conferences), BEST Career Support Events (networking with employers), and BEST Local Events (flexible group-organized activities). The organization also runs an Educational Involvement Department that conducts surveys and publishes research on engineering education. These are service programs rather than technology products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BEST Courses Educational events for technology students covering technology fields, career-related skills, and applied engineering; participants can earn ECTS credits recognised by their home universities. Events are attended by 20-30 engineering and technology students each.
• BEST Symposia on Education (BSE) Symposia lasting around 6 days that gather European technology students and professors to evaluate higher education, identify problems and solutions, and produce reports presented at international education conferences.
• BEST Career Support Events Events connecting technology students with industry leaders, including company presentations, recruitment fairs, skill-building workshops, and networking sessions for students seeking international career opportunities.
• BEST Local Events Flexible events organised by individual Local BEST Groups at their universities, tailored to engage local students with topics reflecting the interests of the organising group.
• BEST Career Centre International career centre platform connecting European technology students with employers, offering job listings, career events, and company profiles (including featured partners such as Atos).
• Educational Involvement Department Department focused on improving engineering education through surveys, symposia, conferences, and scientific publications, providing students with a voice in European engineering education policy.

Quantifiable outcome

• ECTS credits issued for course completion
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SEFI (European Society for Engineering Education)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing educational partnership in which SEFI and BEST collaborate on engineering education improvement. BEST participates as equal partner in Thematic Networks and shares student perspectives on education policy.
• IEEEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational association partnership supporting BEST's mission to improve engineering education across Europe through technical society collaboration.
• UNESCOminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization supporting global education initiatives.
• EIT (European Institute of Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean Institute of Technology partnership supporting innovation in engineering education and entrepreneurship.
• AEGEE (European Students' Forum)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of five official partner student associations with cooperation plan for joint initiatives promoting student mobility and exchange.
• ESTIEM (European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial partner student association with cooperation plan for joint initiatives in industrial engineering and management education.
• EESTEC (Electrical Engineering Students' European Association)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial partner student association with cooperation plan for joint initiatives in electrical engineering education.
• CFES (Canadian Federation of Engineering Students)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational official partner from Canada with cooperation plan. Collaboration includes developing the concept of Engineering Competitions and organizing joint International Engineering Competition.
• ESU (European Students' Union)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudent association partnership supporting BEST's educational involvement activities and student representation.
• European Youth ForumminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with European Youth Forum supporting youth advocacy and student representation at European level.
• bonding Studenteninitiative e.VcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman student association partnership for developing BEST's internal training system. Long-standing cooperation since partnership began during the XV General Assembly.
• ENSTA Bretagne (Project Coordinator for A-STEP 2030)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA-STEP 2030 project coordinator. BEST contributes as committed partner representing STEM students across Europe to develop new ways to attract young people into STEM education.
• KU Leuven (IN-4-STEM Project)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerErasmus+ project led by KU Leuven in collaboration with SEFI, focusing on supporting social and academic integration of STEM students. BEST provides student perspectives through local groups.
• Engineers EuropeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Engineers Europe supporting the engineering profession and education standards in Europe.
• IFES (International Federation of Engineering Societies)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational federation partnership supporting BEST's engineering education activities at global level.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• AIESEC: AIESEC is a much larger and older global youth organization offering leadership development, international internships, and exchange programs across 100+ countries. Comparable in volunteer-driven, event-based model serving university students, but broader (not engineering-specific) and more commercially developed.
• SEFI (European Society for Engineering Education): SEFI is the European institutional counterpart to BEST in engineering education, convening universities, faculty, and industry on education policy. Comparable mission around European engineering education improvement; differs in being an institutional/professional society rather than a student-run association.

Emerging players

• ELSA (European Law Students' Association): ELSA is the largest independent law students' association in the world, with a similar local-group, event-driven, pan-European volunteer model to BEST but focused on law rather than engineering. Useful structural and operating-model benchmark for student-run professional associations.
• Engineers Without Borders (various national chapters): Engineers Without Borders is a network of student and professional chapters running engineering education and development projects. Comparable as a non-profit engineering education organization that engages students in extracurricular technical work, though more project-development focused and less career-services focused than BEST.

Direct peers

• Erasmus Student Network (ESN): ESN supports international students under the Erasmus+ programme across Europe through local sections and integration events. Peer to BEST because both run volunteer-driven, local-section-based, pan-European student support organizations with overlapping audiences in internationalized higher education.
• ESTIEM (European Students of Industrial Engineering and Management): ESTIEM is one of BEST's official partner associations and runs parallel events, local groups, and corporate interfaces for industrial engineering students across Europe. Highly comparable in structure, volunteer model, and event-driven GTM — both bridge students, universities, and companies.
• EESTEC (Electrical Engineering Students' European Association): EESTEC is another official BEST partner with the same volunteer/local-group/event-driven operating model, focused on electrical engineering students. Direct competitor for the same student volunteer and participation pool within the European engineering education ecosystem.
• AEGEE (European Students' Forum): AEGEE is one of BEST's five official partner associations and the largest interdisciplinary European student network. Operates a similar antenna (local group) structure across 40+ countries, focused on cultural exchange, education policy, and student mobility. Comparable in operating model and reach but broader than engineering.
• IAESTE (International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience): IAESTE operates paid international technical internships and exchanges for students across 80+ countries. Direct peer to BEST because both target engineering/technology students with international experience offerings, though IAESTE focuses on internships while BEST focuses on courses, symposia, and career events.

Regional players

• CFES (Canadian Federation of Engineering Students): CFES is BEST's official North American partner and operates an equivalent national federation of engineering student groups in Canada. Directly comparable in mission, structure, and event portfolio (including joint International Engineering Competition) but serves a different geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BESTorg
• Facebookfacebook.com/BESTorg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/best

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Board of European Students of Technology