W. Bernhard

What W. Bernhard does

W. Bernhard AG is a privately held Swiss wholesale distribution company headquartered in Worb, Switzerland, founded in 1922 by the Bernhard family in Bern as a traditional saddlery business. The company supplies upholsterers, interior decorators, saddlers, and furniture upholsterers across Switzerland and broader Europe with imitation and genuine leather, coated tarpaulin fabrics for automotive and boat upholstery, Sunbrella outdoor fabrics, Sonnhaus furniture fabric collections, Batyline technical textiles, padding materials, specialty tools, and accessories. The core product portfolio spans over 10 categories, with materials sold in full rolls or cut to customer-specified length, supported by a bilingual (German/French) website and a protected B2B customer login area for accessing current price lists.

The company operates a sales-led, direct-wholesale business model serving professional trade buyers through two strategic locations — Worb, Switzerland and a secondary location in Germany — enabling rapid and reliable delivery to Swiss and European markets. Revenue mechanics are based on one-time wholesale transactions with undisclosed pricing distributed via the protected login portal to verified business customers. Distribution is reinforced by supplier partnerships with Serge Ferrari (Batyline), Sonnhaus, Monteiro Fabrics, and Miederhoff, and by memberships in Swiss industry associations (VLTS, Interior Suisse, Verkaufschweiz, Handel Schweiz). The Board of Directors comprises Johanna Saner, Sandro Ghirardin, and Pablo Bordon; no external investors, parent company, or subsidiary structure is disclosed.

The underlying technology is conventional wholesale distribution infrastructure rather than a proprietary platform — the company maintains a product catalog website, third-party analytics (Google Analytics), and standard mapping integrations (Google Maps). Recent product activity includes the 2025 launch of Sunbrella outdoor furniture fabric collections and the planned Sonnhaus Spring 2026 furniture fabric collection, indicating continued assortment refresh within the existing Swiss and European trade channel rather than expansion into new verticals or geographies. No AI/ML capabilities, proprietary models, mobile applications, or developer APIs are present in the product surface.

Name

W. Bernhard

Legal name

W. Bernhard AG

Website

https://bernhardw.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1922

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

W. Bernhard AG is a privately held Swiss wholesale distributor, founded in 1922, supplying leather, synthetic leather, fabrics, and upholstery materials to professional upholsterers, interior decorators, and saddlers across Switzerland and Europe from locations in Worb and Germany.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Worb

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Wholesale Sales: W. Bernhard AG operates as a wholesale company supplying high-quality products to upholsterers, interior decorators, and saddlers. The company offers a balanced assortment of specific articles meeting the qualitative requirements of today's market, including coated canvas fabrics for auto and boat upholstery, artificial and genuine leather in various colors and qualities, and fabrics with focus on international trends and technical requirements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

W. Bernhard AG is a Swiss wholesale distributor of textile and leather materials supplying upholsterers, interior decorators, and saddlers. The portfolio spans genuine leather, synthetic (artificial) leather, coated canvas fabrics for automotive and boat upholstery, indoor and outdoor fabrics (including Sunbrella outdoor fabrics and Sonnhaus furniture fabric collections), Batyline technical fabric, padding materials, specialty tools, and accessories. Materials are offered as full rolls or cut to any desired length, with two strategic locations in Worb (Switzerland) and Germany enabling rapid delivery across Swiss and European markets.

Product overview

W. Bernhard AG operates as a wholesale distribution company for textile materials, serving upholsterers, interior decorators, upholsterers, and saddlers with high-quality products. The portfolio includes coated tarpaulin fabrics for automotive and boat upholstery, synthetic leather and genuine leather in multiple colors and qualities, fabrics focused on international trends and technical requirements, and necessary supplies for processing. The company offers materials sold in full rolls or cut to customer-specified lengths, with two strategic locations in Worb, Switzerland and Germany enabling rapid delivery service.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Leder (Genuine Leather) Genuine leather products supplied in multiple colors and quality levels for upholstery, automotive, and boat applications; sold to professional upholsterers and saddlers.
• Kunstleder (Synthetic Leather) Artificial (synthetic) leather materials available in various colors including white, beige, yellow, gold, orange, red, pink, and purple, with bi-elastic variants, for upholstery and craft use.
• SUNBRELLA Stoffe (Sunbrella Outdoor Fabrics) High-quality outdoor furniture fabrics that are UV-resistant, colorfast, water-repellent, dirt-resistant, and mold-resistant; designed for balconies, terraces, and gardens, with three collections: Timeless, On the Road, and Endless Stories.
• Stoffe (Fabrics) Interior and exterior fabrics with a focus on international trends and technical requirements, including indoor-outdoor options for residential and contract use.
• Sonnhaus Furniture Fabric Collections Furniture fabric collections for modern living environments, featuring chenille, velour, and easy-care structured fabrics in diverse colors and textures; targeted at demanding residential and contract areas.
• Blachenstoffe (Tarpaulin Fabrics) Coated tarpaulin fabrics for automotive and boat upholstery applications.
• Batyline Technical Fabric Technical outdoor fabric distributed through partnership with Serge Ferrari, used for outdoor furniture and architectural applications.
• Polstermaterialien (Upholstery Materials) Materials for upholstery processing and padding, supplied for furniture manufacturing and reupholstery work.
• Werkzeuge (Specialty Tools) Specialty tools for upholsterers and saddlers, including equipment for processing leather and fabric materials.
• Zubehör (Accessories) Furnishings and accessories required for processing the offered products, including supplies used in leather and fabric work.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Serge FerraricoreTechnology or IntegrationSerge Ferrari is listed as a partner on the network page. The company offers Serge Ferrari products as part of their portfolio, serving upholsterers and interior decorators with high-quality textile solutions.
• SonnhauscoreTechnology or IntegrationSonnhaus is a partner offering furniture fabric collections. W. Bernhard AG distributes Sonnhaus products including the Spring 2026 collection featuring elegant chenille and velvet fabrics as well as easy-care structured fabrics.
• VLTS (Verband Leder Textil Schweiz)minorOthersVLTS (Leather Textile Switzerland Association) is listed as an association partner, representing the leather and textile industry in Switzerland.
• Interior SuisseminorOthersInterior Suisse is listed as an association partner, representing the interior design industry in Switzerland.
• VerkaufschweizminorOthersVerkaufschweiz is listed as an association partner, representing the sales/trade industry in Switzerland.
• Handel SchweizminorOthersHandel Schweiz is listed as an association partner, representing commerce and trade in Switzerland.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Christian Fischbacher: Swiss textile company offering premium interior fabrics and home textiles through wholesale channels. Comparable as a fellow Swiss specialty textile distributor with overlapping customer base of interior decorators and upholsterers.
• Lantal Textiles: Swiss textile manufacturer and wholesaler producing interior and contract textiles for transportation and hospitality. Comparable as a fellow Swiss specialty textile company with overlapping upholstery and interior end-markets.
• Halbach + Meinberg: German textile wholesaler specializing in decorative and upholstery fabrics for furniture manufacturers and interior decorators. Directly comparable as a DACH-region specialty textile distributor serving the same professional upholstery customer base.
• Création Baumann: Swiss textile manufacturer and wholesaler producing high-end interior, contract, and upholstery fabrics. Directly comparable as a Swiss-based textile specialist serving interior decorators and professional customers in similar end-markets.
• Wollsdorf Lederfabrik: Austrian leather manufacturer and wholesaler producing upholstery and automotive leather. Directly comparable as a DACH-region leather supplier serving similar upholstery, automotive, and furniture trade customers.
• Curt Bauer GmbH: German textile manufacturer offering upholstery and decorative fabrics through wholesale channels. Comparable as a DACH textile specialist serving furniture and interior customers.

Others

• Sonnhaus: Austrian fabric supplier offering furniture fabric collections (including Spring 2026). Functions as a supplier partner to W. Bernhard and is comparable as a European specialty fabric producer distributing through trade channels.
• Serge Ferrari: French manufacturer of technical textiles (including Batyline) for outdoor, architectural, and industrial applications. Functions as a key supplier partner to W. Bernhard and is comparable as a textile producer feeding into the same upholstery and outdoor furniture value chain.

Broad incumbents

• Continental AG (Skai brand): Global manufacturer of synthetic leather materials under the Skai brand, serving automotive, furniture, and consumer goods industries. Comparable as a major producer of artificial leather products that compete with W. Bernhard's kunstleder category, though at much larger industrial scale.
• JAB Anstoetz Group: Large German wholesaler of decorative and upholstery fabrics, carpets, and home textiles. Comparable as a DACH-region textile wholesaler serving furniture manufacturers and interior decorators, though at significantly larger scale than W. Bernhard.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/w-bernhard-ag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 W. Bernhard