StudentKelner

What StudentKelner does

StudentKelner is a Dutch two-sided hospitality staffing marketplace founded in 2017 by Lars de Goede and Pepijn de Vos and headquartered in Enschede, Overijssel. The company recruits students seeking flexible part-time work and matches them with hospitality, sports, and festival employers across the Netherlands — including marquee accounts such as FC Twente's Grolsch Veste stadium and major Dutch festivals (Zwarte Cross, Lowlands, Defqon, Awakenings, Down the Rabbit Hole, Freshtival). Its core product is a mobile application that allows workers to browse available shifts and self-schedule, backed by a tiered role structure (entry-level Horeca Topper, FC Twente Crew, Festival Medewerker, advancing to supervisory Kioskleider, Barhoofd, and Projectleider roles) and employer-facing matching services.

The underlying technology stack is a lightweight shift-management app rather than a sophisticated algorithmic matching platform; the source materials disclose no AI/ML capabilities, APIs, SDKs, or integrations. Worker acquisition relies on direct recruitment, event presence, and word-of-mouth referral, while employer acquisition uses consultative direct sales with post-event evaluation.

Revenue is generated on a transaction-fee basis: employers (opdrachtgevers) are charged for pre-screened, flexible staff placements ranging from single shifts to extended engagements, while student workers are paid per hour worked (e.g., approximately €228 gross monthly at 18 hours/week for age 18). StudentKelner is privately held with no external venture capital, private equity, or institutional investment disclosed, and operates as a bootstrapped founder-owned business with approximately 188 employees.

Name

StudentKelner

Legal name

StudentKelner

Website

https://studentkelner.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

StudentKelner is a Dutch two-sided staffing marketplace, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Enschede, that connects students with flexible hospitality jobs at venues, stadiums (FC Twente), and festivals across the Netherlands via a self-serve mobile shift-booking app.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality Staffing Services

NAICS

All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

International Student Academic & Personal Support (case management, referrals) (EDALANAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Student Organizations & Club Administration (EDALAHAB)

Keywords

• Hospitality staffing
• Student employment
• Event staffing
• Flexible workforce
• Shift scheduling

Headquarters

HQ city

Enschede

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Staffing and recruitment services: StudentKelner charges employers (opdrachtgevers) for providing pre-screened, flexible hospitality staff. They handle the entire recruitment, selection, and placement process, offering staff for single shifts or extended periods.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

StudentKelner is a Dutch two-sided hospitality staffing platform that matches motivated students with flexible part-time jobs at venues, events, festivals, restaurants, hotels, and sports venues (notably FC Twente). The company provides employers with pre-screened, adaptable staff via a dedicated employer matching service, and provides students with a self-serve mobile app for shift browsing, matching, and scheduling.

Product overview

StudentKelner operates as a student-focused hospitality staffing platform that connects motivated students with part-time jobs at the largest events and best hospitality venues in Twente and across the Netherlands. The core offering is a matching service that enables students to work at diverse locations including FC Twente stadium, restaurants, hotels, and multi-day festivals. The platform centers on a proprietary app that allows students to manage their own schedules and select shifts. The product portfolio consists of three primary job categories (Horeca Topper, FC Twente Crew, and Festival Medewerker) that serve as entry points, with clear advancement pathways through supervisory roles (Kioskleider, Barhoofd, Projectleider). The platform also serves employers (opdrachtgevers) with a matching service that provides pre-screened, flexible hospitality staff for events, festivals, and hospitality venues.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• StudentKelner App

Named customers3 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

Feature1 record

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Indeed Flex: Indeed Flex is the on-demand staffing arm of Indeed, operating a shift-based staffing marketplace across multiple geographies. As a well-capitalized incumbent extension of a global job platform, it competes for both workers and employers in flexible hospitality staffing.
• ASA Student: ASA is a Dutch staffing network that places students and flexible workers across hospitality, retail, and administrative roles. It competes with StudentKelner for the same student-job-seeker audience in the Netherlands, though with a broader multi-sector focus.
• Randstad Nederland: Randstad is the largest staffing company globally with substantial Dutch operations across hospitality, events, and student placements. It is a broad incumbent that competes with StudentKelner for flexible horeca demand and the student-worker supply pool.
• Tempo-Team: Tempo-Team is one of the largest general staffing firms in the Netherlands, placing workers across hospitality, industrial, and administrative roles. It overlaps with StudentKelner on hospitality/event demand and competes for the broader flexible-worker pool.
• Olympia: Olympia is a Dutch staffing and HR services company serving SMB and mid-market clients across multiple sectors. While broader in scope than StudentKelner, it competes in horeca and event staffing and offers a more enterprise-oriented service model.

Direct peers

• StudentJob: StudentJob is a Dutch student-focused job platform offering part-time, seasonal, and internship listings. It overlaps with StudentKelner on the supply side (student job seekers) and on employer demand for student-friendly flexible roles.
• Coople: Coople is a European on-demand staffing platform headquartered in Switzerland, active in hospitality, events, and retail. It is comparable to StudentKelner in its self-serve shift marketplace model, though it operates at significantly broader geographic scale.
• Temper: Temper is a Netherlands-based on-demand hospitality staffing marketplace connecting flexible workers with bars, restaurants, and events. It is the closest direct competitor to StudentKelner in the Dutch horeca-staffing space, sharing a similar two-sided model and transaction-fee revenue approach.
• YoungCapital: YoungCapital is a major Dutch staffing agency focused on students and young professionals, placing them across hospitality, retail, and events. It directly competes with StudentKelner for the same student-worker supply pool and horeca/event demand clients in the Netherlands.

Emerging players

• JobToday: JobToday is a mobile-first job-matching platform focused on hospitality, retail, and hourly work in Europe. It is comparable to StudentKelner in its mobile-driven, self-serve approach to flexible staffing, particularly in hospitality venues.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/studentkelner

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 StudentKelner