What BrainGuide does

BrainGuide AG, founded in 2003 and headquartered in Pöcking, Germany, operates brainguide.de, a B2B expert portal and directory marketplace serving the German-speaking (DACH) business community. The platform aggregates and categorizes 11,495 individual experts, 17,278 companies, 93,264 publications, and 35,318 events across six major domains: management, legal, IT/EDV, tax, finance, and health. Users browse a structured topic taxonomy to discover consultants, lawyers, tax advisors, IT specialists, coaches, trainers, and other professional service providers, while experts and firms create profiles that accumulate historical engagement metrics such as profile view counts. The technology stack is a standard web-based portal with categorized listings, expert and company profile pages, a Q&A community feature (brainGuide Answers), and premium content tiers.

The company monetizes through three revenue streams: (1) annual subscription-based premium listings for experts, companies, publications, and events offering enhanced visibility in featured portal sections; (2) online advertising sold exclusively through a partnership with businessAD (Business Advertising GmbH, Düsseldorf); and (3) an affiliate-style publication marketplace linking to external book and content purchases. The go-to-market is primarily direct-to-consumer via the self-serve website, supplemented by a network of seven named Kompetenzpartner (competence partners) who co-brand with BrainGuide and serve as referral channels into their respective professional networks. A media partnership with WELT provides additional content syndication and audience reach. Pricing for premium listings is not publicly disclosed and requires direct inquiry.

Despite a 20-plus-year operational history and a large aggregated content footprint, BrainGuide remains a lean organization with 1-10 employees, no external funding, no disclosed revenue, no parent company, and no subsidiaries. The company is a private German public limited company (AG) that has not pursued public listing. Its strategic posture is that of a mature, steady-state niche portal operator rather than a growth-stage venture, with no disclosed moves toward AI integration, geographic expansion beyond DACH, or significant product diversification.

Name

BrainGuide

Legal name

brainGuide AG

Website

https://brainguide.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

BrainGuide AG operates brainguide.de, a B2B expert directory and marketplace serving the DACH region with 11,495 experts, 17,278 companies, 93,264 publications, and 35,318 events across management, legal, IT, tax, finance, and health domains. It monetizes via premium listing subscriptions and online advertising sold through businessAD.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Pocking

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Premium Expert/Company Listings: BrainGuide offers tiered premium listings for experts and companies, providing enhanced visibility, profile features, and placement in premium sections of the portal (Premium Experten, Premium Unternehmen, Premium Publikationen, Premium Veranstaltungen). This is the primary revenue driver.
2. Online Advertising: BrainGuide sells online advertising placements through its partner businessAD (Business Advertising GmbH). The portal reaches highly educated, high-income business audiences, particularly decision-makers. Media data and ad formats are managed by businessAD.
3. Publication Marketplace: The platform lists publications (books, audiobooks, e-books) with pricing information, linking to external purchase options. While transactions occur off-platform, the listing and visibility of premium publications drives commercial outcomes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

brainGuide operates a B2B expert directory portal that catalogs and connects experts, companies, publications, and events across management, law, IT, tax, finance, and health domains in the DACH region. The core paid offering is recurring premium listings (Premium Experten, Premium Unternehmen, Premium Publikationen, Premium Veranstaltungen), which provide enhanced visibility and featured placement within the portal's category-organized topic tree.

Product overview

brainGuide is a B2B expert portal platform operating as a directory marketplace. The core offering is the brainGuide Portal, which aggregates and connects experts (11,495), companies (17,278), publications (93,264), and events (35,318). The platform includes a supplementary Q&A feature called brainGuide Answers. The platform is designed for business professionals seeking expert knowledge, consulting services, and professional development content across management, legal, IT, finance, and health topics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• brainGuide Answers: Q&A platform for expert answers on business topics

Products and services

• brainGuide Portal A B2B expert directory and listing platform serving the DACH market. It catalogs and connects experts, companies, publications, and events across management, law, IT, tax, finance, and health categories, offering premium listing subscriptions for enhanced visibility.
• brainGuide Answers A Q&A community platform where professionals ask and answer business questions across expert knowledge topics (e.g., negotiation, salary renegotiation, separation management), serving as an engagement and SEO layer for the parent brainGuide Portal.

Quantifiable outcome

• 11,495 experts listed across all categories
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 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

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• businessAD (Business Advertising GmbH)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerBusiness Advertising GmbH serves as the exclusive online advertising reseller for BrainGuide. Through its channel (businessAD.de), BrainGuide offers digital advertising placements to brands targeting high-income business audiences and decision-makers. BusinessAD manages all media data, pricing, and ad format information for the BrainGuide channel. Contact: Tersteegenstraße 30, 40474 Düsseldorf, Tel: +49-211-179347-50.
• WELT (Medienpartner)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerWELT serves as a media partner, publishing articles featuring BrainGuide expert content on business and economic topics. This syndication arrangement extends BrainGuide's reach into the WELT readership audience, which includes business decision-makers.
• Arbeitsrechtskanzlei Groll & PartnerminorGTM or Marketing PartnerListed as a Kompetenzpartner (competence partner) on the BrainGuide portal. Specializes in labor law for companies. Featured in the partner logo section, driving mutual visibility and referral traffic between the two platforms.
• IfS Institut für Story-Marketing GmbHminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCompetence partner specializing in storytelling and sales. Listed as Kompetenzpartner on the BrainGuide portal with a branded presence.
• IFU Institut für Unternehmensführung und Beratung mbHminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCompetence partner offering continuing education services. Featured in the BrainGuide Kompetenzpartner section.
• CPS Schließmann | WirtschaftsanwälteminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCompetence partner providing strategic management and legal consulting. Listed as Kompetenzpartner on BrainGuide.
• FORUM · Institut für Management GmbHminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCompetence partner specializing in management training and conferences. Featured as Kompetenzpartner on the BrainGuide portal.
• frankfurter gruppe unternehmensentwicklungminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCompetence partner specializing in change management, leadership development, and post-merger integration. Featured in the Kompetenzpartner section with a branded logo presence.
• BIESALSKI & COMPANY GmbHminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCompetence partner specializing in brand value management. Listed as Kompetenzpartner on BrainGuide.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/brainGuide
• Facebookfacebook.com/brainGuide

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 BrainGuide