Project Factory

Name

Project Factory

Legal name

PROJEKTFABRIK gGmbH

Website

https://projektfabrik.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Workforce Development and Social Integration Services

NAICS

Performing Arts Companies (7111), Other Performing Arts Companies (71119)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Workforce Development, Employment Readiness & Job Placement (BPADAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Career Readiness & Employability Skills (Resume, Interview, Networking) (EDAMAKAG), Performing Arts (Acting, Improv, Theater) (EDAAAGAE), Technical & Vocational Education & Training (TVET) (BPADAKAD), Provider-Run International Internship Programs (Multi-Country/Multi-Industry) (EDAIAFAA)

Keywords

• Workforce development programs
• Arts-based education
• Youth employment services
• Social integration programs
• Theater pedagogy training

Headquarters

HQ city

Witten

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government-Funded Measures via Jobcenters: The primary revenue stream comes from funded employment measures (Maßnahmen) financed by German public job centers (Jobcenter) under SGB II and SGB III frameworks. These are long-term contracted social integration programs.
2. EU and Foundation Grants: Project-based funding from European programs (Erasmus+, ESF), private foundations (Ashoka, J.P. Morgan, Kurt und Maria Dohle Stiftung, Private Equity Foundation, Randstad Stiftung, Advocate Europe/Mercator Stiftung, Drosos Stiftung, Bosch Stiftung), and institutional donors for specific programs and international expansion.
3. Donations and Private Philanthropy: Individual donations and charitable contributions, with a public donation button on the website encouraging support for spreading JobAct®.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Project Factory delivers theater-based educational and employment-integration programs built on its proprietary JobAct® methodology, which combines theater pedagogy, biographical work, and career planning for long-term unemployed youth and adults. Programs run over several months and culminate in public theater productions, delivered as funded employment measures via German Jobcenters and EU/foundation grants across more than 40 German cities and several European countries.

Product overview

Project Factory (Projektfabrik) is a social enterprise operating primarily in Germany that runs a portfolio of theater-based educational and employment programs. The core product is JobAct®, which uses performing arts as a methodology to help unemployed youth and young adults develop skills and find employment. The JobAct family includes variants: JobAct® to Connect (with job search support), JobAct® Family (family-oriented), JobAct® Sprachkultur (language integration), :JobAct_solo (individual coaching), and JEPP! (European partner program). Supporting programs include FREDERICK Ensemble (community theater), Summercamp Art Experience (international youth camp), ViSAS (digital art stage), ArtE (employability focus), and Quartiers-Bühne (neighborhood theater). The organization also operates Die Schule for staff training, Café Leye as a cultural venue, and ATELIER der sozialen Kunst as a discussion series. The organization is headquartered in Witten, Germany, and conducts projects across multiple German cities and European countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• JobAct: Theater-based educational program combining theater pedagogy, social work, biography work and career planning for unemployed youth and adults
• FREDERICK Ensemble
• JobAct to Connect
• JobAct Family
• JobAct School
• JobAct Sprachkultur
• Quartiers-Bühne
• SCHULE für Kunst, Kommunikation und Wirtschaftsgestaltung

Products and services

• JobAct® Theater-based educational program for unemployed youth and young adults, using performing arts as a pathway to employment and personal development over several months, culminating in a public premiere.
• FREDERICK Ensemble

Quantifiable outcome

• ~2,900 participants across 145+ premieres in 40+ cities in 11 German states
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and major.

• European Union / Erasmus+ ProgrammecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEU Erasmus+ funding supports multiple Project Factory programs including JobAct Europe, ViSAS (Virtual Social Art Stage), and ArtE (Art of Employability), enabling international training, partnership, and digital innovation across European countries.
• ViSAS European PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVirtual Social Art Stage (ViSAS) is a European partnership transforming artistic social methods into digital formats for inclusion of disadvantaged youth. Partners from multiple EU countries collaborate on digital methodology development.
• Jobcenter Märkischer KreiscoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPublic employment agency financing FREDERICK Ensemble Iserlohn, one of Project Factory's flagship ongoing programs. Provides ongoing contractual relationship for social integration services.
• Jobcenter Kreis PaderborncoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPublic employment agency financing JobAct to Connect Paderborn, supporting unemployed adults in theater-based reintegration programs.
• Jobcenter WilhelmshavencoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPublic employment agency financing FREDERICK Wilhelmshaven ensemble, supporting integration of long-term unemployed individuals through ongoing theater work.
• Jobcenter UckermarkcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPublic employment agency financing ACTIV Prenzlau (Activation, Coaching, Theater, Integration, Placement) program.
• Deutsche Angestellten-Akademie (DAA) ParchimcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerDAA Parchim is the implementing education provider (Bildungsträger) for JobAct to Connect Parchim, providing career management services alongside the theatrical program, in cooperation with Jobcenter Ludwigslust-Parchim.
• Sozialpsychiatrische Initiative Paderborn e.V. (SPI)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSPI Paderborn is a cooperation partner in JobAct to Connect Paderborn, providing psychosocial support services in addition to the theater program.
• TFA-Trainings- und Fortbildungsakademie GmbH PrenzlaucoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerTFA Prenzlau is a cooperation partner in ACTIV Prenzlau project, providing training and education infrastructure alongside the theatrical integration program.
• Vivamo GmbHminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerVivamo GmbH, specialized in 3D brand communication, supported the renovation and construction of the Café Leye venue for the SCHULE der Projektfabrik, under the construction management of Marcel Drache.
• MitOst e.V. / Liquid DemocracymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganizations running the Advocate Europe challenge. MitOst is a network for European cultural exchange, and Liquid Democracy is an advisory non-profit. They selected Project Factory as Advocate Europe winner.
• La tête de l'emploi (France)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench partner in JobAct Europe project, invited to multiplier events and representing the French perspective in the European social arts network.
• Vivaio per l'Intraprendenza (Italy)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerItalian partner in JobAct Europe and IMPULSO projects, implementing artistic social methods in Florence and representing Italy in the European partnership.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung (DKJS): National German foundation running large-scale programs for youth education, transition to work, and participation. Overlaps with Project Factory in the youth-to-employment transition space, with similar federal-state and EU funding models, but as a foundation-led initiative rather than a delivery non-profit.
• Diakonie Deutschland: Germany's nationwide Protestant welfare association providing social services including employment programs, refugee support, and youth services. Comparable in target populations (long-term unemployed, migrants, families) and dependence on public funding, but operating at vastly larger scale across many service lines.
• Caritas Germany: Germany's largest Catholic welfare organization operating nationwide across unemployment services, refugee integration, family support, and social welfare. Overlaps with Project Factory in serving long-term unemployed and migrant populations through publicly funded programs, but as a much broader social-services portfolio player.

Emerging players

• Tandemploy: Berlin-based social-impact tech company offering a digital platform for workplace mentoring, job matching, and refugee-into-employment programs. Comparable in the integration-to-employment outcome space and in serving refugees, but delivers via software rather than arts-based in-person methodology.
• ArrivalAid: German non-profit focused on mentoring and integration programs for newly arrived refugees, connecting them with local volunteers for orientation and labor-market entry. Comparable in target segment and volunteer-driven delivery, but narrower in scope (mentoring only) and earlier in its maturity.

Direct peers

• JOBLINGE: German non-profit initiative that supports young people with difficult access to the labor market (NEETs, migrants) into vocational training and employment. Directly comparable in target population, German public-funding reliance, and B2G program model, though its pedagogical method is mentoring/apprenticeship rather than theater.
• ReDI School of Digital Integration: Berlin-based non-profit providing digital-skills education and career integration to refugees and migrants in Germany. Comparable in target segment (migrants, NEET-adjacent), public-and-philanthropic funding model, and outcome focus on labor-market integration, though the delivery vehicle is tech education rather than performing arts.
• Hemayat: Austrian non-profit offering psychosocial and trauma-focused support to refugees, including arts- and music-based therapeutic programs. Closely comparable methodologically (arts as social integration tool) and in target population, though it is regionally Austria-focused rather than Germany-wide.
• Bühnenwerkstatt (Kultur & Theaterwerkstatt): Munich-based theater and cultural education organization running arts-based youth and social projects, including productions and community work. Comparable in using theater as a social-inclusion tool for disadvantaged youth, though without the same labor-market reemployment outcome focus as JobAct®.

Others

• Ashoka Germany: German arm of the global Ashoka Fellowship network, which has personally backed Sandra Schürmann since 2009. Not a competitor but the broader ecosystem and capital partner for social entrepreneurs operating in the same field, including Project Factory.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Projektfabrik.mit.JobAct
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/projektfabrik-ggmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Project Factory