Xelios Consult

What Xelios Consult does

Xelios Consult GmbH is a Frankfurt-based B2B professional services firm that provides recruitment research and candidate identification support to HR consultants, executive search firms, and corporate Talent Acquisition teams across the DACH region (Germany, Switzerland, Austria). The company's core offering is a five-module research architecture — (I) Target Company List, (II) Telephone Identification, (III) Initial Contact, (IV) Social Media Sourcing via LinkedIn Recruiter and Xing Talent Manager, and (V) Contact Details Research — that clients can book individually or in combination, with supplementary services including reference collection, discreet individual outreach, combined direct searches, complex company mappings, and longlist preparation for pitches.

Underlying technology is a hybrid of telephone-based candidate identification, internet and database research, AI-supported research (KI-Recherchen) within Module I, and structured social media sourcing. The firm's differentiator is a "value-based appreciation" methodology: experienced interviewers conduct personalized phone outreach that the company positions as a deliberate counterpoint to mass impersonal electronic communications, combined with hierarchical structure mapping that surfaces candidates across management levels within target organizations.

The business model is sales-led B2B professional services with project-based, customized pricing and no public rate card. Revenue is generated through modular engagements to HR professionals, with new client inquiries handled personally by Head of Research/Partner Thorsten Zeidler. The firm operates as a subsidiary within the HuntingBrains GmbH corporate structure, holds approximately 20 research professionals, and reports an institutional track record of roughly 10,000 research projects over more than 20 years. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed, and no external funding rounds or institutional investment are indicated.

Name

Xelios Consult

Legal name

Xelios Consult GmbH

Website

https://xeliosconsult.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Xelios Consult GmbH is a Frankfurt-based B2B recruitment research services firm that provides telephone-based candidate identification, direct search support, and social media sourcing to HR consultants, executive search firms, and corporate Talent Acquisition teams across the DACH region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recruitment Research Services

NAICS

Executive Search Services (561312), Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Data, Analytics & AI Consulting (BPAHAEAF)

Keywords

• Executive search research
• Candidate identification services
• Talent acquisition support
• Direct search research
• Recruitment research services

Headquarters

HQ city

Frankfurt

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Research Services - Modular B2B Offering: Xelios Consult generates revenue through modular professional services billed to HR consultants, recruiters, and Talent Acquisition teams. Services include five core modules (Target Company List, Telephone Identification, Initial Contact, Social Media Sourcing, Contact Details Research) that can be booked individually or in combinations. Additional services include reference collection, discreet individual outreach, combined direct searches, complex company mappings, and longlist preparation for pitches.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Xelios Consult provides modular recruitment research services to HR consultants, executive search firms, and corporate Talent Acquisition teams. The offering consists of five core modules: target company list generation via industry analyses and AI/database research, telephone-based candidate identification, personalized telephone initial contact, social media sourcing through LinkedIn Recruiter and Xing Talent Manager, and contact details research. Modules can be booked individually or in combination to support direct search mandates across all hierarchy levels and industries.

Product overview

Xelios Consult operates as a unified recruitment research platform with a modular service architecture consisting of five interconnected core modules. The modules work sequentially: MODUL I (Target Company List) identifies promising organizations through AI-enhanced research, MODUL II (Telephone Identification) locates candidates within those companies, MODUL III (Initial Contact) conducts personalized outreach, MODUL IV (Social Media Sourcing) expands reach via LinkedIn and Xing platforms, and MODUL V (Contact Details Research) provides missing communication data. Clients can select individual modules or the complete suite to suit their executive search requirements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MODUL I - Target Company List (Zielfirmenliste)

Quantifiable outcome

• Reaches candidates unavailable through standard internet, social media, or network searches
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search and leadership advisory firm with significant DACH presence. Comparable because they perform end-to-end candidate identification and research that Xelios supplies to other firms; Xelios is a potential supplier and adjacent competitor in the research layer.
• Egon Zehnder: Global executive search and leadership advisory firm with strong DACH footprint. Comparable because they execute direct search mandates using in-house research teams performing work that Xelios sells as outsourced modules to smaller search firms.
• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with large executive search and RPO practice. Comparable because their talent acquisition arm provides research, sourcing, and candidate identification services at scale that compete with Xelios's offering for enterprise mandates.
• Spencer Stuart: Global executive search firm with European operations. Comparable because their research associates perform candidate identification and market mapping that mirrors Xelios's five-module offering, representing both a potential customer and competitor.

Direct peers

• Stanton Chase: Global executive search firm with DACH offices (Munich, Düsseldorf, Vienna). Comparable because they perform direct search and candidate identification across mid-to-senior management levels in industries overlapping with Xelios's coverage.
• Hays: Global specialist recruitment firm with substantial German operations. Comparable because they deliver candidate identification and direct search research services to similar enterprise and SME clients across overlapping industry verticals.
• Michael Page: PageGroup-owned recruitment firm with deep DACH presence. Comparable because they perform direct search, candidate sourcing, and recruitment research for clients across the same industries and hierarchy levels Xelios serves.
• Odgers Berndtson: Global executive search firm headquartered in London with German operations (Odgers Berndtson Germany). Comparable because they perform end-to-end candidate identification and direct approach work that overlaps with Xelios's modular research offering.
• Robert Walters: UK-headquartered recruitment firm with strong DACH operations (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). Comparable because they serve similar HR consultant and talent acquisition clients with candidate identification, sourcing, and research services across the same geography.

Emerging players

• Cielo: Global Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) provider. Comparable because they handle end-to-end talent acquisition including candidate sourcing and research for enterprise clients, representing an emerging alternative model to Xelios's project-based research support.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/xelios-consult-gmbh

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 Xelios Consult