Gefak

What Gefak does

GEFAK Gesellschaft für angewandte Kommunalforschung mbH is a privately held German consulting and software company headquartered in Marburg, founded in 1990, operating exclusively in the German market. The company serves municipalities, districts (Kreise), regional economic development agencies, and inter-municipal cooperation bodies through two integrated business lines: (1) professional consulting services for sustainable economic and employment promotion, including company surveys (Unternehmensbefragungen), commercial space strategies (Gewerbeflächenstrategien), new work location strategies, and organizational consulting; and (2) the proprietary KWIS (Kommunales Wirtschafts-Informations-System) software suite, which the company describes as the nationwide market-leading CRM for German municipal economic development.

The KWIS suite is built on three integrated modules: KWIS.net (core CRM for company relationship management, commercial space marketing, location marketing, and project management), KWIS.public (a public-facing web portal with polygon-based mapping and multimedia integration for investor attraction, including a specialized data exchange interface with Wirtschaftsförderung Sachsen), and KWIS.mobil (mobile access module for field documentation). The 2026-1 release migrated the system to the new WZ 2025 industry classification standard. The software integrates with German administrative data flows (e.g., Gewerbeämter trade office imports) and is supported by a dedicated technical support and user hotline with named staff.

GEFAK operates a sales-led, inside-sales B2B go-to-market with direct phone/email engagement, supported by annual regional user meetings organized by German state (Baden-Württemberg, Hessen, Brandenburg-Berlin, Bayern), webinars at EUR 50 per participant, and conference participation (WiföLAB-Tagung, COWORK 2026). The company is managed by two Geschäftsführer (Christian Worm and Dr. Ulrich Dewald), has been certified four times as a Gemeinwohl-Unternehmen (achieving 595 points in 2026), added four new municipal customers in 2026, and hired four new team members in early 2026.

Name

Gefak

Legal name

GEFAK Gesellschaft für angewandte Kommunalforschung mbH

Website

https://gefak.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

GEFAK is a German consulting and software company providing the KWIS CRM suite (KWIS.net, KWIS.public, KWIS.mobil) and professional consulting services exclusively to German municipalities, districts, and regional economic development agencies for sustainable economic and employment promotion.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Municipal Economic Development Software

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

CRM Managed Services & Support (BPAEAGAD)

Keywords

• Municipal CRM software
• Economic development consulting
• Location marketing software
• Commercial space management
• Business information systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Marburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Software Licensing (KWIS Suite): KWIS software products are offered as licensed solutions to municipal and regional economic development agencies. The suite includes KWIS.net (core CRM), KWIS.public (public portal), and KWIS.mobil (mobile module). Pricing appears to be subscription-based with annual licensing, as implied by version numbering (2026-1) and regional user meetings.
2. Consulting Services: Professional consulting services for sustainable economic and employment promotion, including company surveys (Unternehmensbefragungen), commercial space strategies (Gewerbeflächenstrategien), new work location strategies, and strategy/organizational consulting. These consulting engagements often lead to software adoption.
3. Online Seminars: Online training sessions on KWIS.net functionality offered at 50 EUR per participant (excluding VAT). Topics include company visit documentation, filtering functions, and getting started with documentation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

GEFAK develops and licenses the KWIS software suite (KWIS.net CRM, KWIS.public web portal, KWIS.mobil mobile module) specifically designed for German municipal and regional economic development agencies, complemented by professional consulting services including company surveys (Unternehmensbefragungen), commercial area strategies (Gewerbeflächenstrategien), new work location planning, and strategy/organizational consulting. KWIS.net is positioned as the nationwide market-leading CRM software for professional municipal economic development in Germany.

Product overview

GEFAK offers a portfolio of KWIS software products centered around a core CRM system (KWIS.net) designed specifically for municipal and regional economic development agencies. The product suite consists of three integrated modules: KWIS.net as the primary customer relationship management platform for business support and commercial real estate management; KWIS.public as a public-facing web portal and mapping module that displays KWIS data externally for citizens and investors; and KWIS.mobil as a mobile access module for field work. In addition to its software offerings, GEFAK provides complementary consulting services including company surveys, commercial area development strategies, new work location planning, and organizational strategy consulting. The software and services work together to support the complete workflow of sustainable economic and employment promotion for municipalities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• KWIS.net: CRM system for economic development - the Kommunales Wirtschafts-Informations-System described as the nationwide market-leading software for municipal and regional economic development
• KWIS.public
• KWIS.mobil

Products and services

• KWIS.net Core CRM software (Kommunales Wirtschafts-Informations-System) for German municipal and regional economic development agencies. Serves as customer relationship management for business support, an instrument for commercial real estate management, quality assurance, and knowledge management. Marketed as the nationwide market-leading CRM for professional municipal economic development in Germany.
• KWIS.public Cartographic add-on module that displays KWIS.net data on the public internet via interactive web maps and portals. Enables municipalities and regions to present economic and location data, commercial areas, and business information to citizens, investors, and other stakeholders.
• KWIS.mobil Mobile access module that enables field workers and economic development officers to access and update KWIS.net data, document company visits, and manage contacts while on location.
• Consulting Services for Sustainable Economic and Employment Promotion Professional consulting services for municipalities and regions, including company surveys (Unternehmensbefragungen), commercial real estate strategies (Gewerbeflächenstrategien), new work location strategies (Neue Arbeitsorte), and strategy and organizational consulting (Strategie- und Organisationsberatung). Often serves as the entry point that leads to KWIS software adoption.

Quantifiable outcome

• Company satisfaction rating of 2.1 (scale 1-5) achieved in Fürth survey - described as the best value GEFAK has measured in comparable cities in recent years
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• CoWorkLand eGminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperation partner for coworking and new work location projects. GEFAK has conducted multiple projects on local coworking and jointly organizes events with CoWorkLand. The two companies co-hosted a professional event (Fachtag) in advance of COWORK 2026 conference on April 23, 2026 in Düsseldorf, focused on new models for work, community, and local services in municipalities.
• German Coworking Federation (GCF)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for coworking and new work concepts in municipalities. Jointly organized Fachtag with GEFAK and CoWorkLand on April 23, 2026 in Düsseldorf, focused on coworking and MehrWertOrte (multi-value places) as tools for municipal development.
• Hochschule Harz (Harz University of Applied Sciences)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner for WiföLAB-Tagung conference series. GEFAK participates in and sponsors the annual WiföLAB-Tagung event. Also presented a cooperation project with DataCharts and Wirtschaftsförderung Region Göttingen-Northeim GmbH at the 2026 event.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• AKDB (Anstalt für Kommunale Datenverarbeitung in Bayern): Bavarian municipal IT service provider offering software and processing services for Bavarian Kommunen. Directly comparable as a dedicated municipal-IT software/services vendor serving the same German local-government customer base as GEFAK.
• PROSOZ Herten: German software and consulting vendor focused on public administration, social services, and municipal workflows. Comparable to GEFAK in combining proprietary vertical software with consulting services for German municipalities.
• MACH AG: German vendor of public-sector ERP and process software used by municipalities and administrations. Closest like-for-like to KWIS in delivering specialized software platforms for German Kommunen, though broader in scope beyond economic development.
• regio iT gesellschaft für informationstechnologie mbh: Municipal IT provider for cities, Kreise, and Zweckverbände in North Rhine-Westphalia. Directly comparable as a regional municipal-IT vendor delivering software and services to the same type of German local-government customers as GEFAK.

Broad incumbents

• Dataport: Public-sector IT service provider for the northern German state administrations (Trägerländer Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). Comparable as a public-sector IT incumbent offering software, consulting, and managed services to German government entities.
• msg systems AG: Large German IT consulting and software group with a dedicated public-sector practice serving ministries, agencies, and social insurers. Comparable as a much larger incumbent offering overlapping consulting + software to German public-sector clients.
• Haufe Group: Large German provider of business software, compliance content, and tax/specialist information with significant public-sector and municipal reach. Comparable as a broader incumbent selling packaged software to German administrations and businesses.
• DATEV eG: German cooperative providing accounting, tax, and business software to SMEs and their advisors, with adjacent public-sector interfaces. Comparable as a much larger packaged-software incumbent with deep German regulatory integration.

Emerging players

• Esri Deutschland GmbH: German arm of Esri, providing GIS and location-analytics platforms widely used by German municipalities for location marketing and commercial-area visualization — the same use case KWIS.public addresses. Comparable as an enabling/overlapping technology player in the municipal location-marketing stack.

Others

• Vitako GmbH: Federal association of municipal IT service providers in Germany. Adjacent peer — not a direct competitor but shapes the standards, procurement frameworks, and ecosystem that GEFAK's KWIS customers participate in.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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 Gefak