CELIS Institute

What CELIS Institute does

CELIS Institute is an independent, non-profit organization incorporated in Berlin as a gUG (haftungsbeschränkt) and recognized as charitable under German tax law, dedicated to investment screening and economic security policy. Founded in 2019 with the inaugural CELIS conference in Gothenburg, the institute convenes EU officials, national regulators, diplomats, private practice lawyers, in-house counsel, academics, business leaders, and civil society through the flagship CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS) — an invite-only Chatham House Rule forum capped at roughly 60 speakers and 60 attendees — alongside the regional CELIS Thought Leaders series and the CELIS Leaders dialogues held in Washington DC, Singapore, and Tokyo. Its product portfolio spans curated events, multi-jurisdiction Country Reports, CELIS Non-Papers, the CELIS Blog, a dedicated Centre on Investment Security in Investment Arbitration, and technical advisory services on screening framework design for governments and practitioners.

The underlying "technology" is research and knowledge production in international economic law: comparative legal analysis, policy commentary, and expert convening supported by a network of country reporters and academic partnerships with the University of Southern Denmark, University of Gothenburg, Springer Heidelberg, SIEL, ESIL, and Verfassungsblog.de. The institute has no proprietary software product or AI/ML capability; value is delivered through human expertise, written publications, and high-trust convenings.

The business model combines four revenue streams: charitable donations and sponsorship (including a paypal donation facility on the website), event fees and corporate sponsorships from law firms and industry associations (notably BDI and Arnold & Porter), technical advisory services delivered directly to governments and practitioners on screening framework design, and public/philanthropic foundation funding — most prominently core funding from the Swedish Riksbanken Jubileumsfond. By statute, any surplus is reinvested in the mission, and the organization explicitly operates without general core funding or donor agendas. With 34 employees and operations spanning Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, CELIS functions as a small, mission-driven policy institute rather than a scalable commercial enterprise.

Name

CELIS Institute

Legal name

CELIS Institute gUG (haftungsbeschränkt)

Website

https://celis.institute

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CELIS Institute is an independent, non-profit policy organization in Berlin that convenes regulators, law firms, investors, and academia through invite-only forums, comparative legal research, and technical advisory on investment screening and economic security.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Policy Research & Advisory Services

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Educational Services (8200), International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Law School Research Centers & Institutes (e.g., Law & Economics, Human Rights) (EDAHAIAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Financial Services & Insurance (FINRA, CFP, IAR, Insurance CE) (EDAAALAJ)

Keywords

• Investment screening policy
• Foreign investment regulation
• Economic security advisory
• Policy research forums
• Regulatory framework consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable donations and sponsorship: CELIS Institute is a non-profit charitable organization recognized under German tax law. Donations are received and reinvested in the organization's mission. The institute operates without general core funding or donor agendas and has no profit motive - by statute, any surplus is reinvested in the mission.
2. Event fees and sponsorships: Revenue generated from attendance fees for CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS) and other events, along with corporate sponsorships from law firms, corporations, and industry associations.
3. Technical advisory services: The institute delivers comparative research, tailored training for governments and practitioners, and technical advisory services on the design and implementation of screening frameworks and foreign investment-related regulation.
4. Public funding and foundations: EU/German public funding and philanthropic foundation fundraising for core and project funding, including proposal development and post-award grant management.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

CELIS Institute is an independent, non-profit organisation that organises invite-only Chatham House Rule forums on investment screening (flagship CFIS, plus Thought Leaders and Leaders dialogues), produces multi-jurisdiction research publications (Country Reports, Non-Papers, Blog), and delivers technical advisory and tailored training to governments and practitioners on the design and implementation of foreign investment screening frameworks. It operates a dedicated Centre on Investment Security in Investment Arbitration and is recognised as charitable under German tax law.

Product overview

CELIS Institute is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to investment screening and economic security. The organization offers a unified portfolio of products and services centered on high-trust convenings, research publications, and advisory services. Its flagship offering is the CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS), an invite-only curated forum. Complementary offerings include the CELIS Country Reports (multi-jurisdiction investment screening analysis), CELIS Non-Papers (policy insights), the CELIS Blog (expert debate platform), and CELIS Technical Advisory services. Regional programs include CELIS Thought Leaders events and CELIS Leaders dialogues. The organization also operates a dedicated Centre on Investment Security in Investment Arbitration. All offerings serve regulators, investors, law firms, and academia in the investment security field.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CELIS Forum on Investment Screening (CFIS) Invitation-only Chatham House Rule forum (capped at roughly 60 speakers and 60 attendees) convening EU officials, national experts, diplomats, private practitioners, in-house counsel, academics, business leaders, think tankers and civil society for candid, outcome-oriented exchange on investment screening and economic security.
• CELIS Thought Leaders Regional high-level, trust-engineered convenings focused on legal and policy excellence in investment security, delivered in multiple cities across Europe, Latin America and beyond.
• CELIS Leaders Closed-door policy dialogues held in Washington DC, Singapore and Tokyo, bringing together senior figures from government, private practice, the investor community and academia for candid exchange on investment screening and economic security.
• CELIS Country Reports Open-access multi-jurisdiction analyses of foreign investment regulation with focus on investment screening, widely used by chambers of commerce, leading tech firms and regulators in the EU, US and beyond as a tool for cross-border screening-case analysis.
• CELIS Non-Papers Policy-ready insights and occasional papers on investment screening, supply-chain risks, foreign subsidies, sanctions, energy security and related economic security topics.
• CELIS Technical Advisory Direct delivery of comparative research, tailored training for governments and practitioners, and technical advisory services on the design and implementation of screening frameworks and other foreign investment-related regulation.
• Centre on Investment Security in Investment Arbitration Dedicated research centre within CELIS Institute focused on the intersection of investment security and investment arbitration.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and major.

• Arnold & PortersupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Partner hosting CELIS x Arnold & Porter London 2026 event, combining law firm expertise with CELIS policy dialogue format.
• BDI (Federation of German Industries)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025CELIS German Chapter collaborates with BDI to host the Investment Screening Konferenz in Berlin, addressing economic security as a central theme of European industrial, trade, and investment policy.
• Springer HeidelbergmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMedia Partner for CELIS conferences. Academic results of conferences are published in edited volumes with Springer Heidelberg, both electronically and in hardcover format.
• Society of International Economic Law (SIEL)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-Sponsor of CELIS activities, providing academic legitimacy and network support for international economic law discourse.
• ESIL International Economic Law Interest GroupsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-Sponsor of CELIS activities, supporting the academic and research dimensions of investment screening discussions.
• Verfassungsblog.desupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerMedia Partner providing a journalistic and academic forum for debate on investment screening topics, serving as interface between academic expertise and political public sphere.
• University of GothenburgmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost institution for the original CELIS 2019 conference. Partnered with University of Southern Denmark to organize the inaugural research conference on Common European Law on Investment Screening.
• University of Southern DenmarkmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost institution and co-organizer of CELIS events. Prof. Steffen Hindelang serves as professor at the university and key figure in CELIS leadership.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• World Economic Forum (WEF): International organization convening governments and businesses on global economic governance, including investment screening and economic security initiatives. Comparable as a high-level convening platform with economic security agenda, but much larger, broader, and operationally distinct from CELIS's specialized mandate.

Broad incumbents

• German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP): Berlin-based policy research institute advising the German government on international security and economic policy, including investment screening and supply-chain security. Comparable as a German-based policy research institute with deep government relationships, though funded primarily through federal budget rather than charitable donations.
• Bruegel: Brussels-based economic policy think tank producing research on European economic policy including investment, trade, and economic security. Comparable as a non-profit European policy research organization that convenes policymakers and produces influential publications, though broader in scope than CELIS's investment screening niche.
• European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR): Pan-European foreign policy think tank with a dedicated geo-economics programme covering economic security, investment screening, and sanctions. Comparable convening and publishing model, with stronger pan-European policy positioning but broader geopolitical scope than CELIS.
• Brookings Institution: Major US-based policy research organization with programmes on foreign investment, US-China economic relations, and economic security. Comparable as a convening and research-driven think tank producing policy analysis on investment screening and international economic law, though vastly larger and broader in scope.
• Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS): Brussels-based think tank covering EU economic, financial, and trade policy. Comparable as an established European policy research institute that convenes regulators and produces advisory work on EU regulatory matters, including investment-related topics, though with a much broader portfolio.

Emerging players

• Royal United Services Institute (RUSI): UK-based defense and security think tank that has expanded into economic security, investment screening, and resilience research. Comparable as a research institute producing reports and convening stakeholders on national security-economic intersections, with growing but less mature investment screening practice than CELIS.

Direct peers

• Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS): Berlin-based think tank focused on China-EU economic relations, including investment screening, outbound investment controls, and economic security. Direct peer due to overlapping mandate on European economic security and investment screening expertise, plus shared Berlin base and convening function for European policymakers.
• Rhodium Group: US-based research institute producing policy-oriented analysis on foreign direct investment, US-China economic relations, and investment screening (including data partnerships with the Federal Reserve). Direct peer given parallel focus on investment screening policy research and cross-border investment regulation analysis.
• Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center: US-based policy program focused on economic security, investment screening, sanctions, and supply-chain resilience. Direct peer given parallel focus on convening policymakers and producing policy research on investment screening frameworks, particularly transatlantic dimensions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/celis-institute

Compliance1 record

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 CELIS Institute