What promota.de does

promota.de GmbH is a German HR services company headquartered in Potsdam, founded in 2001 by Dr. Rainer Opitz and led by CEO Raik Scheffler. The company operates as the parent of the Promota Group, comprising eight wholly-owned subsidiaries — ISP Deutschland (retail staffing), Careso (healthcare, medical, and pedagogical staffing), IMPULS One (retail and logistics services), Weco (inventory services across the DACH region), PEP Service and PEP Solar (DGUV electrical inspections and photovoltaic installations), Pflegeschatz (care-sector staffing), scs supply chain solutions (intralogistics), and RPG Unternehmensgruppe (facility services including cleaning, landscaping, winter services, and pest control). Promota directly delivers four service lines to German staffing and HR service firms: full-cycle recruiting with CPC-driven social candidate acquisition, full-service payroll processing for approximately 8,300 employees, Personalmarketing (HR marketing encompassing employer branding, creative production, social media, PR, and SEO), and the proprietary Eliot HR-ERP platform. The company employs 72 staff at its Potsdam headquarters, housed in a renovated 1872 heritage villa, and is bound to iGZ/DGB collective bargaining tariffs through ISP. The business is privately held, founder-influenced, and operates without disclosed institutional investor ownership or external funding rounds.

Name

promota.de

Legal name

promota.de GmbH

Website

https://promota.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

promota.de GmbH is a Potsdam-based HR services group founded in 2001, providing recruiting, payroll processing for ~8,300 employees, HR marketing, and the proprietary Eliot HR-ERP platform to German staffing firms, operating through eight subsidiaries spanning retail, healthcare, logistics, electrical, and facility services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

HR Services and Staffing

NAICS

Employment Services (5613), Office Administrative Services (5611), Advertising Agencies (54181)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Management Services (8741), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Benefits Administration & Total Rewards Outsourcing (BPACAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Recruiting Administration Outsourcing (Recruitment Support, Scheduling, Onboarding Ops) (BPACAKAG), HR Compliance & Policy Administration Outsourcing (incl. regulatory reporting) (BPACAKAK), Employer Brand & Recruitment Marketing Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAM)

Keywords

• HR outsourcing services
• Staffing services
• Payroll processing
• HR marketing
• Workforce solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Potsdam

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Recruiting Services: Placement of permanent staff and temporary workers across multiple sectors including retail, healthcare, logistics, and skilled trades. Revenue generated through placement fees or ongoing contingent worker margins.
2. Payroll Processing (Personalabrechnung): Full-service payroll administration handling master data, tax/legal compliance, social security filings, and digital personnel files. Billed as a managed service.
3. Personalmarketing (HR Marketing): Employer branding, social media marketing, creative advertising production, public relations, SEO, and event marketing services for HR clients.
4. HR-ERP System (Eliot): Proprietary HR-ERP software licensing and management for document management, time tracking, and reporting. Offered as part of bundled service or standalone managed service.
5. Temporary Staffing Operations: Operational temporary staffing businesses across subsidiaries ISP (retail), Careso (healthcare), Impuls One (trade/logistics), Weco (inventory services), PEP Solar, and PEP Service (electrical/DGUV inspections). Revenue through worker margin on deployed temps.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

promota.de GmbH is a service-oriented partner for personnel service companies (Personaldienstleistungsunternehmen), providing full-service recruiting, payroll processing (Personalabrechnung) for approximately 8,300 employees, HR marketing (Personalmarketing) including employer branding and SEO, and a proprietary HR-ERP software platform called "Eliot" for digital document management, employment contracts, applicant management, and time tracking.

Product overview

promota.de is an HR services company operating as a group structure with its parent company and multiple specialized subsidiaries. The core services offered directly by promota.de include Recruiting (CPC-recruiting, job portals, social recruiting, applicant management), Personalabrechnung (payroll processing for ~8,300 employees), Personalmarketing (creative advertising, social media, PR, SEO), and their proprietary HR-ERP system called Eliot. The Promota Group subsidiaries include ISP (retail staffing since 2005), Careso (healthcare/education staffing), IMPULS One (retail/logistics services), Weco (inventory services), and PEP Group (electrical safety inspections and solar installations). The Eliot HR-ERP platform serves as the technological backbone offering document management, digital contracts, and reporting capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ISP Deutschland: Personaldienstleister für Handel mit über 17 Jahren Erfahrung und bundesweiter Flächenpräsenz.
• Careso
• IMPULS One
• Weco
• PEP Service
• PEP Solar
• Pflegeschatz
• Eliot

Products and services

• Recruiting Services Full-service recruitment offering including CPC-recruiting on social networks, partnerships with major job boards, targeted campaigns, and software-assisted applicant management. Services cover permanent employment, temporary staffing, and student positions.
• Personalabrechnung (Payroll Processing) Complete payroll processing service handling master data for approximately 8,300 employees, including tax classification, social security registration, digital personnel files, and legal contract management. Supports IGZ-tariff-based temporary employment and work contracts.
• Personalmarketing (HR Marketing) HR marketing services including brand identity development, creative advertising material creation, social media marketing, public relations, and SEO optimization. Offers comprehensive marketing strategy packages with multi-channel approaches.
• Eliot HR-ERP System Proprietary HR-ERP software developed by promota offering document management, digital employment contracts, applicant management, powerful reporting and analytics, digital time tracking, database management, digital personnel files, and a virtual employee portal for paperless employee self-service.
• ISP Deutschland — Retail Staffing
• Careso — Healthcare & Education Staffing
• IMPULS One — Trade and Logistics Services
• Weco — Inventory Services
• PEP Group — DGUV Electrical Inspections & Solar

Quantifiable outcome

• Processes ~8,300 employees through payroll services
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ISP Deutschland GmbHcoreOthersPart of the promota Group. ISP is a tariff-bound (iGZ/DGB) staffing company specializing in retail workforce solutions, operating since 2005 with nationwide coverage and over 1,000 deployed workers.
• CaresocoreOthersPart of the promota Group. Careso is a staffing specialist for healthcare, nursing, and educational sectors, matching workers with facilities based on individual needs.
• Impuls OnecoreOthersPart of the promota Group. Impuls One is the #1 service provider for retail and logistics, offering flexible employment in full-time, part-time, and mini-job arrangements.
• WecocoreOthersPart of the promota Group. Weco is an innovative inventory counting service provider serving customers across the entire DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).
• PEP Group (PEP Service / PEP Solar)coreOthersPart of the promota Group. PEP Group provides DGUV-certified electrical inspections, solar/PV installations, and building electrical services across 2,100+ customer locations nationwide. Managed by CEO Sven Petersen.
• scs supply chain solutions GmbHminorOthersPart of the promota Group. SCS provides in-house and intralogistics services, adapting to customer requirements and finding individual solutions for logistics operations.
• RPG UnternehmensgruppeminorOthersPart of the promota Group. RPG operates in building cleaning, garden and landscaping, winter services, and pest control, with multiple locations across Germany.
• PflegeschatzminorOthersPart of the promota Group ecosystem. Pflegeschatz specializes in care sector staffing and services.
• Kanu Club Potsdam (KCP)minorOthersActive sponsor of the Potsdam Canoe Club for over 10 years. Financially supports the club and holds sponsorship of two young canoe athletes to promote youth sports in the city.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Personio: Venture-backed German HR SaaS platform offering HR management, payroll, recruiting, and people analytics for SMBs and mid-market. Comparable as a direct competitor to promota's Eliot HR-ERP in the German market, but operates as a pure-software player without staffing operations.
• HRworks: German HR software provider offering payroll, time tracking, and personnel management for SMBs. Comparable as a competitor to promota's Eliot and payroll processing services in the German mid-market segment, though without staffing operations.

Direct peers

• Tempton Personaldienstleistungen: German mid-market staffing group providing temporary, permanent, and on-site workforce solutions across technical, commercial, healthcare, and aviation verticals. Comparable in scale, multi-vertical subsidiary structure, and German tariff-bound operations.
• Persona Service: One of Germany's largest staffing groups, providing temporary staffing, permanent placement, and on-site workforce management across industrial, commercial, and healthcare verticals. Directly comparable as a German tariff-bound multi-vertical staffing operator with similar subsidiary-style regional structure.
• DIS AG: Major German staffing and HR services provider focused on permanent placement and temporary staffing across multiple verticals. Closely comparable in business model, target customer base (mid-market and enterprise German employers), and bundled back-office HR service delivery.

Broad incumbents

• Haufe Group: Established German provider of HR, tax, legal, and compliance content and software for businesses and accounting firms. Comparable as an HR services and software provider in Germany, but operates at much larger scale with a content-plus-software model rather than staffing.
• Adecco Germany: German operations of Adecco, the Swiss-based global staffing group, providing temporary staffing, permanent placement, and workforce solutions. Comparable in offering and target verticals (retail, logistics, healthcare) but operates at significantly larger scale.
• ManpowerGroup Deutschland: German subsidiary of global staffing leader ManpowerGroup, delivering staffing, talent resourcing, and workforce solutions. Comparable in core services but operates as part of a much larger global portfolio with broader geographic and vertical reach.
• Randstad Deutschland: German arm of global staffing leader Randstad, offering temporary staffing, permanent placement, and HR solutions across all major German verticals. Comparable in scope and services but significantly larger and broader than promota's focused mid-market positioning.

Regional players

• GULP (part of Randstad): German specialized staffing platform focused on IT, engineering, and professional temporary placement. Comparable as a German tech-enabled staffing specialist, though GULP concentrates in IT while promota's verticals skew toward retail, healthcare, and trades.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

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• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/promota.de-gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries8 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 promota.de