ACES - The Association of Central European IB Schools

What ACES - The Association of Central European IB Schools does

ACES (The Association of Central European IB Schools) is a non-profit membership association founded on March 30, 2015 and registered in the Czech Commercial Registry as Association of Central European Schools, z.s. The organization serves IB World Schools across Central Europe and beyond, currently comprising 47 member schools spanning 14 countries including Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. ACES provides professional development, networking, and collective advocacy for IB education, addressing the gap in regional peer support for IB coordinators and schools seeking to enhance IB program delivery and government recognition.

The association operates a community-led, event-driven model. Its core product is a corporate membership program priced at EUR 650 per 12 months, available in two tiers — Member Schools (full voting) and Associate Members (non-voting, for schools in IB authorization process). Each member school may register up to 10 staff as Individual Members. ACES also generates revenue through event registration fees for its professional development programming, including the ACES Teaching and Learning Symposium, IB Day Central Europe, and recurring Coordinator Connection sessions (DP, PYP, University & Careers Counsellors, Extended Essay). The underlying technology stack is built on Glue Up, a third-party event management and membership platform that powers event registration, membership processing, and a mobile app for iOS and Android; ACES itself does not develop proprietary technology.

The association is governed by a 7-member Board of Directors elected from member schools for three-year terms, with current Board Chair Brett Gray of The Ostrava International School. Day-to-day operations are run by a single paid coordinator (Paul Ahuja) and a small staff of approximately 7. ACES distributes its services directly through its website (aces-ib.org), email newsletter, and LinkedIn presence, with no channel partners or resellers. The association has not raised external funding, has no subsidiaries, and is not subject to acquisition or exit dynamics typical of for-profit entities.

Name

ACES - The Association of Central European IB Schools

Legal name

Association of Central European Schools, z.s.

Website

https://aces-ib.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ACES is a non-profit membership association founded in 2015 that supports 47 IB World Schools across 14 Central European countries through annual memberships (EUR 650/year), professional development events, and regional advocacy for IB education.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Prague

HQ country

Czechia

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Corporate Membership Fees: Schools pay annual membership fees to join ACES. Corporate Member Schools (full members with voting rights) pay EUR 650 per 12 months and can register up to 10 staff as Individual Members. Associate Members (non-voting, for schools seeking IB authorization) also pay EUR 650 per 12 months.
2. Event Registration Fees: Revenue generated from professional development events, symposia, and connection sessions organized for member schools and IB educators.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ACES is a non-profit membership association serving International Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools across Central Europe. It sells annual corporate memberships (Member Schools and Associate Members) to IB schools and provides professional development events, coordinator connection sessions, symposia, and a mobile app (powered by Glue Up) to support IB educators and program coordinators across 14 countries.

Product overview

ACES (The Association of Central European IB Schools) is a membership-based association offering a unified portfolio of services to support IB educators and schools across Central Europe. The core offerings consist of membership programs (Corporate Membership for schools and Individual Membership for staff), professional development events and programming (including coordinator connections, symposia, and regional conferences), and a newsletter subscription service. The association also provides a mobile app powered by Glue Up for members to access resources on mobile devices. ACES does not operate as a technology platform product but rather as a professional network and advocacy organization for IB schools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ACES Membership Programs
• Events and Programming
• ACES Mobile App

Quantifiable outcome

• Grown from initial handful of schools in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary to 47-member association
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers49 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Glue UpcoreTechnology or Integration · 30 March 2015Glue Up provides the event management and membership platform powering ACES operations. This includes event registration, membership management, mobile app delivery, and the Glue Up integration used for ACES website functionality.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Central and Eastern European Schools Association (CEESA): Regional association serving international schools in Central and Eastern Europe with student events, teacher workshops, and administrator networks. Closest geographic peer to ACES with a structurally analogous operating model.
• European Council of International Schools (ECIS): Membership association for international schools across Europe offering professional development, conferences, and advocacy. Operates the same dues-plus-events model as ACES and overlaps on Central European member schools.
• Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA): Regional membership association for international schools in Africa running conferences, professional development, and crisis-support services. Functionally analogous dues-and-events model serving the same international school customer.
• Association for the Advancement of International Education (AAIE): Membership association focused on international school leadership, governance, and head-of-school professional development. Comparable member base and services orientation even though its scope is narrower than ACES's.
• East Asia Regional Council of Schools (EARCOS): Regional membership association for international schools across East Asia offering workshops, conferences, and leadership development. Closely comparable organizational architecture to ACES at larger regional scale.
• Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools (NESA): Regional association providing professional learning, conferences, and support for international schools across the NESA region. Same membership-plus-events model for an international school audience; useful regional benchmark.
• Mediterranean Association of International Schools (MAIS): Regional association for international schools across the Mediterranean. Same operating model — annual dues, in-person conferences, and coordinator networks — for a neighboring geographic cluster of international schools.
• Tri-Association (Asia International Schools): Regional membership association serving international schools across Southeast Asia with annual conferences and professional development. Closely comparable dues-and-events operating model for an analogous international school customer base.

Broad incumbents

• Council of International Schools (CIS): Global membership and accreditation body for international schools with university counseling and higher-education admissions services. Larger scale but operates an overlapping member-services and events portfolio for the same school customer base.

Emerging players

• Globeducate (international schools group): Network of premium international schools with overlapping curriculum philosophies and European presence. Partial overlap as a peer institution network (not a membership association) and a potential partner or comparator for IB-aligned Central European schools.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-association-of-central-european-schools

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about ACES - The Association of Central European IB Schools