Deutsche Vernetzungsstelle Ländliche Räume

What Deutsche Vernetzungsstelle Ländliche Räume does

Deutsche Vernetzungsstelle Ländliche Räume (DVS) is a German federal government networking agency that operates as the official national contact point for the EU Common Agricultural Policy (GAP/CAP), operating under the Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and administered by the Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE). Its core function is to broker information, networking, and knowledge transfer across three horizontal stakeholder groups — rural development practitioners (LEADER regions, local action groups, municipalities), farmers and agricultural advisors, and federal/state public administrators — for topics spanning rural development, agricultural innovation, biodiversity, climate measures, renewable energy in rural areas, and the German implementation of the EU CAP 2023-2027 framework.

The agency's product surface is a content and service suite rather than a technology platform: an information portal (dvs-gap-netzwerk.de) with funding guides and state-by-state directories, the GAP-Rechner (CAP funding calculator), the EIP-Projekt-Datenbank (searchable agricultural-innovation project database), curated Projektsammlungen, the quarterly LandInForm magazine (print and digital), and the landaktuell newsletter (up to eight issues per year). Underlying technology is not a proprietary stack; the organization is explicitly classified as a "government networking and information service, not a technology product company," with no disclosed APIs, SDKs, or AI components. Channels are free-of-charge digital and event-based, including national conferences (bundesweites LEADER-Treffen), AKIS workshops, transfer visits, and organic social presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X.

Commercially, DVS has no revenue model: it does not sell products or services and does not disclose revenue, instead being funded through German federal budgets and EU agricultural policy programs as a public-sector cost center. The organization's competitive position is structurally protected by its statutory mandate, giving it exclusive access to the EU CAP Network hub role in Germany and to the long-running content archive it maintains. In 2023/2024 DVS rebranded with a new logo to reflect the post-2023 CAP mandate and currently operates with approximately 9 employees and a forward event calendar through 2026.

Name

Deutsche Vernetzungsstelle Ländliche Räume

Legal name

Deutsche Vernetzungsstelle Ländliche Räume – für die Gemeinsame Agrarpolitik der EU

Website

https://netzwerk-laendlicher-raum.de

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Deutsche Vernetzungsstelle Ländliche Räume (DVS) is the official German federal networking and information hub for rural development and the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). It provides free information services, publications, project databases, funding guides, and event coordination for rural development stakeholders across Germany. Core deliverables include the GAP-Rechner (CAP funding calculator), the quarterly LandInForm magazine, the landaktuell newsletter, the EIP-Projekt-Datenbank, and curated project collections (Projektsammlungen).

Product overview

Deutsche Vernetzungsstelle Ländliche Räume (DVS) operates as an informational networking portal for rural development and EU agricultural policy, rather than a traditional tech product. The organization provides a suite of information services including the GAP-Rechner (CAP Calculator) for EU funding calculations, the LandInForm quarterly magazine and landaktuell newsletter for disseminating rural development knowledge, the EIP-Projekt-Datenbank (EIP Project Database) for exploring agricultural innovation projects, and Projektsammlungen (Project Collections) showcasing successful rural development initiatives. These services are interconnected through DVS's role as the national networking hub connecting stakeholders across agriculture, environment, village development, and regional planning sectors under the EU Common Agricultural Policy framework.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• GAP-Rechner (CAP Calculator) An online calculator tool that helps farmers, advisors, and regional managers understand and compute EU Common Agricultural Policy (GAP) funding calculations and allocations under the 2023-2027 CAP framework.
• LandInForm Magazine Quarterly professional magazine focused on rural development topics, providing in-depth coverage of agricultural policy, regional development, LEADER programs, and rural innovation initiatives, distributed in print and digitally.
• landaktuell Newsletter Newsletter published up to eight times per year covering current topics, projects, funding opportunities, and developments in German rural areas and EU agricultural policy.
• EIP-Projekt-Datenbank (EIP Project Database) Searchable database of European Innovation Partnership (EIP) Agri projects allowing users to search and explore agricultural innovation initiatives across Germany for knowledge transfer and replication.
• Projektsammlungen (Project Collections) Curated collections of rural development projects showcasing successful initiatives in agricultural and regional development, used for knowledge sharing and inspiration among rural development practitioners.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Bundesinformationszentrum Landwirtschaft (BZL): The German federal agricultural information center, also administered by the BLE under the BMEL. Broader in scope (covering all German agriculture rather than rural development specifically) but operationally adjacent, sharing the same parent body and federal mandate for agricultural information dissemination.
• Thünen Institute: Germany's federal research institute for rural areas, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and food, operating under BMEL. Wider research-and-policy mandate but adjacent in subject matter, producing rural-development evidence base and policy analysis that DVS channels into practitioner-facing information services.

Direct peers

• EU CAP Network (European Network for Rural Development successor): The EU-level networking and knowledge exchange hub for the Common Agricultural Policy that DVS feeds into at the German national level. Operates the same networking-and-information model across all 27 member states, making it the closest direct functional peer and the body that defines the framework DVS implements domestically.
• Rete Rurale Nazionale (Italy): Italy's national rural network under the EU CAP, performing parallel networking, project dissemination, and CAP information functions for Italian rural stakeholders. Same statutory role under the same EU regulation, with comparable scope of activities including publications, events, and project databases.
• Réseau Rural National (France): France's national rural network under the EU CAP framework, providing the same networking, information, and project-database functions for French rural development stakeholders as DVS does for Germany. Operates as a structural peer under the same EU regulations and serves a comparable role in CAP implementation.
• Red Rural Nacional (Spain): Spain's national rural network mandated under the EU CAP framework, providing CAP information, LEADER coordination, and rural development networking for Spanish stakeholders. Closely parallel in mandate, structure, and service mix to DVS at the national member-state level.
• EIP-AGRI Service Point: The European Innovation Partnership Service Point that supports agricultural innovation networking across the EU, including managing the EIP-Agri project portfolio. Directly comparable to DVS's EIP-Projekt-Datenbank function and operates at the EU level above DVS.

Regional players

• Kompetenzzentrum Ländliche Entwicklung (KomLE): A competence center for rural development in Germany that supports practitioners with training, materials, and project support. Operates in the same rural development knowledge-transfer space as DVS but with a narrower, training-focused mandate rather than DVS's CAP-networking focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dvs_land
• Facebookfacebook.com/dvs.laendlicher.raum
• Instagraminstagram.com/dvs_land
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/deutsche-vernetzungsstelle-l%C3%A4ndliche-r%C3%A4ume

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Deutsche Vernetzungsstelle Ländliche Räume