news aktuell

What news aktuell does

news aktuell (Schweiz) AG is a Swiss PR and communication services company headquartered in Zürich (Prime Tower), operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), Germany's leading independent news agency. Founded in 2002, the company has served the Swiss market for over 20 years with PR distribution, media-contact management, native advertising, and out-of-home placements. Its core products are ots, a press-release distribution service that delivers content directly into Swiss editorial systems via the KEYSTONE-SDA news agency network, and renteria, a SaaS PR tool built around a database of 612,000 journalist and media professional contacts maintained by a 14-15 person in-house research team. Supporting modules include ots-international for global distribution, Native Ads for guaranteed placements on premium Swiss media partner sites (including Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Südostschweiz, and Tagblatt), and ots Display Ads for distribution through 650+ DOOH screens operated by displayactive. The company's self-serve stack — my.newsaktuell.ch and renteria-online.ch — is complemented by direct sales and account management for enterprise clients.

The company's revenue model combines subscription-based pricing for renteria (priced per concurrent user with packages ranging from CHF 243/month for a 6-month test tier to CHF 472/month for a 24-month media-push bundle) with transaction-based fees for ots distribution, Native Ads placements, and partner-executed translation services. Tiered package offerings (Test, PR Pro, Media Push) can be configured for DACH, European, or worldwide reach. GTM is hybrid: self-serve digital channels and quote-based individualized pricing for SMB and mid-market accounts, combined with personal account management and free consultation for enterprise clients. Customer segments span SMEs needing efficient media relations, large corporations and DAX-listed companies requiring ongoing corporate communications, communications agencies reselling PR distribution, and associations/institutions handling stakeholder communications. Named enterprise customers include Sanitas, Dormakaba, HPlus, FBC, Ricola, Terre des hommes, and Zürich Tourismus.

The platform is anchored by Presseportal.ch, which hosts 6,000 company newsrooms, attracts approximately 6 million annual visits, and provides SEO-indexed publishing of all distributed content. Press releases are delivered to editorial systems, published on the portal for organic visibility, and tracked via an analytics reporting module. Marketing distribution runs through the company's owned blog and podcast, monthly newsletter, an active social presence on LinkedIn (3,000+ followers), Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter/X, and XING, the news aktuell Academy (workshops and WebSessions), and the PR-Bild Award community initiative. The company is managed by Eldi Nazifi (Geschäftsführer) and operates with a small core team supplemented by an in-house research function; no external funding, M&A, or public listing activity is disclosed in the source material.

Name

news aktuell

Legal name

news aktuell (Schweiz) AG

Website

https://newsaktuell.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

news aktuell (Schweiz) AG is a Zürich-based PR distribution and media-database SaaS company, wholly owned by Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), serving Swiss enterprises, SMEs, and agencies with wire-based press release distribution, a 612,000-contact journalist database, native advertising, and DOOH placements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

PR Distribution Services

NAICS

Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Media Representatives (541840), Other Services Related to Advertising (54189)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

PR, Reputation Management & Earned Media Platforms (BPAMALAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

News Agencies & Wire Services (General & Specialized) (MPAJADAE)

Keywords

• PR distribution services
• Media database software
• Press release distribution
• Native advertising platform
• Journalist contact database

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. ots PR Distribution Services: Subscription and per-use fees for PR content distribution through news agency networks, media portals, and digital channels. Pricing is individualized based on distribution scope, geographic reach, and add-on services.
2. renteria PR Software License: Annual subscription license for access to journalist database and mailing tool. Registration is based on number of concurrent users. License terms auto-renew unless terminated with 3-month notice.
3. Native Advertising: Fee-based native ad placement on partner media websites with guaranteed positioning in editorial environments
4. Translation Services: Partner-executed translation services for international PR distribution, charged per language and word count

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

news aktuell is a Swiss PR and communications solutions provider that distributes press releases via the KEYSTONE-SDA news agency network directly into editorial systems of relevant Swiss media, and publishes them on its high-reach Presseportal.ch. Its two core products are ots (Originaltextservice) for PR distribution and renteria, a PR software platform with an integrated journalist database of 612,000+ contacts. Supplementary offerings include ots-international for global distribution through partner networks, ots Display Ads for digital out-of-home advertising on 650+ screens, Native Ads for guaranteed placement on partner media sites, and the Presseportal as a public-facing newsroom platform with SEO/GEO optimization.

Product overview

news aktuell is a PR and communication solutions company (100% subsidiary of dpa, Deutsche Presse-Agentur) operating primarily in Switzerland. The product portfolio is organized as a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on two core products: ots for press release distribution via news agency networks, and renteria for journalist database and media contact management. Supplementary modules include ots-international for global distribution, ots Display Ads for DOOH advertising, Native Ads for guaranteed editorial placements, and Presseportal as the public-facing PR content hub where every customer receives a branded Newsroom. Additional services include Analytics for reach reporting, the news aktuell Academy for educational workshops, and a Newsletter. Customers access all services through the password-protected my.newsaktuell.ch interface.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ots: PR distribution service that delivers content to news agencies and editorial systems
• renteria
• ots-international
• Native Ads
• ots Display Ads
• Presseportal

Products and services

• ots (Originaltextservice) Core PR distribution service that delivers press releases via the KEYSTONE-SDA news agency network directly to the editorial systems of all relevant Swiss media, and publishes them on Presseportal for SEO/GEO visibility.
• renteria PR software PR software featuring an integrated journalist and media professional database with 612,000+ global contacts; enables users to search by topic, region, and media type to build distribution lists and includes an HTML email mailing tool with delivery analytics.
• ots-international International PR distribution service that leverages news aktuell's global partner network to deliver press releases to media audiences worldwide, including translation services for cross-language distribution.
• ots Display Ads Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising service that displays ots press release images and headlines on 650+ DOOH screens across Switzerland via partner displayactive, with QR codes linking to full content on Presseportal.
• Native Ads Native advertising service that places PR content on media partner websites adjacent to editorial content, with guaranteed placement on national or regional media sites such as Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Südostschweiz, or Tagblatt, including Google indexing.
• Presseportal One of Switzerland's highest-reach PR portals where press releases are published; each customer receives a branded Newsroom within Presseportal that archives all distributed content and can be embedded on external websites.

Quantifiable outcome

• 6 million annual visits to Presseportal.ch
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• dpa (Deutsche Presse-Agentur)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partnernews aktuell (Schweiz) AG is a 100% subsidiary of the German Press Agency (dpa). This parent company relationship provides foundational credibility and access to dpa's news agency infrastructure and expertise in journalism and communications.
• KEYSTONE-SDAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKEYSTONE-SDA is described as a 'Netzwerk-Partner' (network partner) of news aktuell. The partnership enables exclusive distribution of PR content through the KEYSTONE-SDA news ticker to all Swiss editorial systems.
• displayactivecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributordisplayactive is the partner for ots Display Ads, providing access to their out-of-home screen network throughout Switzerland for displaying ots news content on DOOH screens.
• dpa-Custom ContentminorStrategic or Co-development Partnerdpa-Custom Content co-hosts webinars with news aktuell on content creation and distribution best practices, providing expertise on media releases and reach optimization.
• Native Ads Media PartnerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNews aktuell partners with online media sites for native advertising placement. Bookable partners include major Swiss publications such as Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Südostschweiz, and Tagblatt. Partner availability changes daily in the booking system.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cision: Global PR distribution and media intelligence company (parent of PR Newswire and Business Wire). Most direct global peer to news aktuell's PR wire, journalist database, and media monitoring stack.
• GlobeNewswire: International press release distribution wire (part of Notified). Competes with ots on global PR distribution, syndication to media and online portals, and analytics.
• Business Wire: Global press release distribution and regulatory disclosure wire (under Berkshire Hathaway). Direct competitor to ots for enterprise PR distribution and guaranteed media placement.
• pressetext: Austrian-headquartered PR and press release distribution service active across DACH. Closely comparable DACH peer offering newswire-style distribution, journalist databases, and media partner placements.
• news aktuell (Germany): German sister entity of news aktuell (Schweiz) AG under the dpa group, offering ots, renteria, Presseportal, and Native Ads across Germany. Same product portfolio and parent, making it the closest functional peer.

Emerging players

• Prowly: Modern PR software platform with journalist CRM, press release distribution, and analytics. Competes for SMB/mid-market PR budgets that news aktuell also targets via renteria.

Others

• Meltwater: Global media intelligence and PR software suite (monitoring, journalist outreach, analytics). Overlaps with renteria (journalist database) and news aktuell Analytics, but its primary value is monitoring versus distribution.
• Storyful: News Corp-owned content and PR intelligence agency focused on trusted content distribution to journalists. Adjacent service that overlaps with ots's premium placement value proposition.

Broad incumbents

• APA (Austria Presse Agentur / APA-OTS): Austrian national news agency with an OTS PR distribution arm that mirrors ots's wire-distribution model in Austria. Comparable in function but broader as a full-service news agency.
• KEYSTONE-SDA: Swiss national news agency formed from merger of Keystone and SDA. Network partner that supplies the editorial-system rail behind ots, but operates much more broadly across news production and syndication.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/news-aktuell-schweiz-ag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 news aktuell