LEAD Academy

What LEAD Academy does

LEAD Academy, operating commercially as LEAD Forward GmbH, is a Berlin-based management consulting firm founded in 2013 that specializes in culture change, organizational transformation, leadership development, and strategy activation. The company serves a horizontally diversified client base spanning Fortune 500 multinationals, family-owned hidden champions, public sector organizations, startups, and NGOs, with named engagements across market research (GfK), science/research (Leibniz Gemeinschaft), automotive, semiconductors, fashion, recruitment, engineering, manufacturing, and sustainability. Its underlying delivery model is human-centered and co-creative, combining experiential learning design, digital transformation support, and proprietary tools including the Leadership Compass assessment and a Dynamic Learning Community Platform natively integrated into Microsoft Teams.

The firm's go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales, engaging C-level executives and leadership teams on quote-based, multi-year consulting engagements, augmented by thought-leadership events (LEAD & FEED executive dinners, Learning Festivals) and content marketing (white papers on performance culture and gender equality). A distinct non-profit lineage persists through the LEAD Forward Impact Fund, which subsidizes up to 75% of service costs for EU-based nonprofits, and the LEAD Academy sub-brand, which maintains a cross-sectoral leadership community of 1500+ leaders supported by 40+ coaches.

Commercially the company generates revenue primarily through professional-services fees, with a small subscription component from the paid Leadership Compass assessment and a freemium tier for lead generation. The firm is B Corp certified, operates from Berlin-Kreuzberg with regional hubs in Nuremberg, Cologne, and the Rhine-Main area, and is owned and led by its founders and partners (notably Dr. Tobias Leipprand) without disclosed external institutional investment.

Name

LEAD Academy

Legal name

LEAD Forward GmbH

Website

https://lead.berlin

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

LEAD Academy (operating as LEAD Forward GmbH) is a Berlin-based management consulting firm founded in 2013 that delivers culture change, transformation, leadership development, and strategy activation services to Fortune 500 companies, family-owned hidden champions, public sector bodies, and NGOs across the DACH region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Executive Leadership & C-Suite Development (EDABAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Innovation Leadership & Leading Growth (EDABAAAO), C-Suite & Senior Executive Coaching (EDABANAA)

Keywords

• Management consulting
• Leadership development
• Organizational transformation
• Strategy activation
• Culture change

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Management Consulting Services: Core revenue stream from providing culture change, transformation, leadership development, and strategy activation consulting services to enterprise clients across various sectors.
2. LEAD Impact Fund (Subsidized Services): Subsidized professional services for NGOs, covering up to 75% of costs for qualifying nonprofit organizations. The Impact Fund is designed to help nonprofits build capacity and unlock their full potential.
3. Leadership Compass Assessment: Full version of the Leadership Compass assessment is offered as a paid product with personalized access. Demo version is free for lead generation purposes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

LEAD Academy (operating commercially as LEAD Forward GmbH) provides culture change, business transformation, strategy activation, and leadership development consulting services to enterprise, public sector, family-owned, startup, and NGO clients. Offerings are delivered via customized co-creative engagements led by partners and senior consultants, supported by the Leadership Compass assessment tool, executive dinner formats, and a subsidized Impact Fund for nonprofits.

Product overview

LEAD Academy operates as a comprehensive leadership development ecosystem with its core offering being the LEAD Academy platform—a cross-sectoral leadership community established in 2013 featuring over 40 coaches. The portfolio includes three primary service lines: Business Transformation, Strategy Activation, and Leadership Development. Supporting offerings include the Leadership Compass assessment tool, LEAD & FEED executive dinner conversations, the LEAD Forward Impact Fund (covering 75% of costs for eligible nonprofits), and thought leadership resources including white papers on performance culture and gender equality. The services are designed to work co-creatively with clients across various sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• LEAD Academy: A non-profit and social business initiative focused on cross-sectoral leadership development, fostering diverse perspectives and transformative experiences. Created a vibrant community of over 1500 leaders with an extraordinary faculty of more than 40 leadership coaches, transformation enthusiasts and change-makers.
• LEAD Forward Impact Fund
• LEAD & FEED

Products and services

• Business Transformation Management consulting service helping organizations cut tired processes, speed up operations, spark creativity, and boost entrepreneurship. Addresses market disruptions, workforce shifts, digitalization, and economic instability for enterprise clients.
• Strategy Activation Consulting service translating strategic goals into actionable day-to-day business outcomes. Helps organizations overcome resistance, generate excitement, define goals and KPIs, and celebrate success.
• Leadership Development Customized leadership journeys designed to nurture skilled leaders who own their success and drive organizational future. Programs address leaders at all levels from emerging to global executives, delivered by a faculty of 40+ leadership coaches.
• Leadership Compass Proprietary leadership assessment tool offered in both a free demo version and a paid full version. Provides personalized access links and codes for users to complete the leadership compass assessment; results are not stored persistently and are used to enable the individual experience.
• LEAD & FEED Intimate executive dinner concept transforming the firm's Berlin-Kreuzberg office into a conversational dinner space for executives. Creates a diverse sector-industry mixed executive leadership community for deepening needed conversations.
• LEAD Forward Impact Fund Subsidized professional services program covering up to 75% of consulting costs for qualifying EU-based nonprofits, providing access to team cohesion offsites, leadership development sessions, coaching, and co-creative formats to help NGOs build capacity and amplify their long-term impact.
• LEAD Academy Leadership Community Platform Cross-sectoral leadership development platform and community built since 2013, integrated with Microsoft Teams, offering micro-learning modules, peer learning, community learning, and self-paced learning options to a network of 1,500+ leaders.

Quantifiable outcome

• 73% average net promoter score for LEAD Academy programs
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• TED Talk BerlinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-hosting events with TED Talk Berlin as part of the LEAD Academy initiative, contributing to contemporary leadership practices and thought leadership visibility.
• Google (Search Inside Yourself)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-hosted events with Google's 'Search Inside Yourself' program as part of the LEAD Academy leadership development initiatives.
• LEAD Forward GmbHcoreOthersThe company operates as LEAD Forward GmbH, registered in the commercial register at Charlottenburg Local Court (HRB 139197 B).

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm spanning executive search, leadership development, and culture change, overlapping with LEAD Forward but at significantly larger scale.
• Egon Zehnder: Egon Zehnder is a global leadership advisory and executive search firm with culture and CEO transition practices, comparable to LEAD Forward's C-level transition work but serving a much broader client base.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Heidrick & Struggles combines executive search with culture transformation and leadership consulting, overlapping with LEAD Forward's culture-change and senior-team engagements.

Direct peers

• Mercuri Urval: Mercuri Urval provides leadership development, executive search, and talent advisory with European roots, comparable to LEAD Forward's enterprise leadership-development and family-business focus.
• DDI (Development Dimensions International): DDI provides leadership development, assessment, and culture transformation services to enterprises globally, comparable to LEAD Forward's flagship Business Transformation and Leadership Development lines.
• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL): CCL is a non-profit leadership development organization offering assessments, programs, and research, parallel to LEAD Academy's leadership community and faculty-of-coaches model.
• RHR International: RHR International is a global boutique firm focused on executive coaching and leadership development, closely matching LEAD Forward's senior-executive transformation and culture-change offering.
• BTS Group: BTS designs strategy activation and leadership development programs for enterprises, directly comparable to LEAD Forward's strategy activation and leadership journeys for Fortune 500 and mid-market clients.

Regional players

• Kienbaum: Kienbaum is a German HR and leadership consultancy offering executive search, coaching, and organizational consulting, comparable to LEAD Forward's services but with deeper German-market scale and incumbency.

Emerging players

• BetterUp: BetterUp is a digital coaching and leadership development platform competing for the same enterprise leadership-development budgets, but with a software-led rather than co-creative delivery model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/school/lead-berlin
• Xx.com/lead_berlin
• Facebookfacebook.com/leadacademyberlin

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 LEAD Academy