Wheelup

What Wheelup does

WHEELUP! is a school-based prevention program focused on rolling sports — inline-skating, scooter, waveboard, longboard, and Surfskate — delivered to secondary schools in the German federal state of Hessen. It is operated by BANDUKABEAT GmbH & Co. KG, a private limited partnership headquartered in Schlüchtern-Ramholz, Germany, with 21 employees. The program is funded by AOK Hessen, the largest statutory health insurer in Hessen, which positions WHEELUP! as its flagship school prevention initiative.

The product stack is composed of the core WHEELUP! Program (on-site workshops delivered via mobile trailers loaded with equipment), the WHEELUP! Akademie (accredited teacher training including Mentorenfortbildung, Studienseminar, and university programs), the WHEELUP! App (mobile tutorials with AR-parcours and PLAY features), the WHEELUP! Lernbox (digital scripts, posters, and teaching materials), an equipment sponsorship (Förderung) backed by suppliers Micro Mobility, K2, Streetsurfing, and MTS Sport, and the Aloha Fortbildung outdoor training event. The program reports 221 school days delivered and over 5,200 students reached since 2021. Content has expanded from pure movement promotion into a mental-health track (WHEELUP! Mental), with associated partnerships with Irrsinnig Menschlich e.V. and HAGE.

Revenue is generated through a single-payer grant model rather than transactional sales: AOK Hessen funds the prevention program, schools receive the curriculum, app access, teacher training, and equipment sponsorship at no cost, and teacher Fortbildungen are free and accredited through the Hessische Lehrkräfteakademie. The geographic and payer scope is strictly bounded to Hessen and AOK Hessen, with no disclosed pricing for ancillary events or commercial offerings.

Name

Wheelup

Legal name

BANDUKABEAT GmbH & Co.KG

Website

https://wheelup.de

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

WHEELUP! is a school-based rolling-sports prevention program in Hessen, Germany, operated by BANDUKABEAT GmbH & Co. KG and funded by AOK Hessen. It serves secondary schools through on-site workshops, accredited teacher training, a mobile app, and equipment sponsorship.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

School Sports & Physical Education Programs

NAICS

Sports and Recreation Instruction (61162)

akta.pro primary industry

Outdoor Fitness & Park Bootcamps (HSADABAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cycling/Spin Classes (HSADABAE)

Keywords

• School sports programs
• Physical education
• Rolling sports training
• Teacher professional development
• School health prevention

Headquarters

HQ city

Schlüchtern-Ramholz

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. AOK Hessen Förderung (AOK Hessen Funding): Wheelup is a funded prevention program sponsored by AOK Hessen, a German health insurance provider. Schools receive the program and equipment funding at no cost, suggesting the revenue model is grant/government-funded prevention program rather than direct sales.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Wheelup delivers WHEELUP!, an AOK Hessen-funded school prevention program for secondary schools (grade 5+) in Hessen, Germany. The program combines on-site rolling-sports workshops (inline-skating, scooter, waveboard, longboard, Surfskate), accredited teacher training, a mobile learning app with AR features, digital teaching scripts, and equipment sponsorship for participating schools. The offering is free to schools and centers on promoting physical activity and mental-health resilience among students.

Product overview

WHEELUP! is a unified prevention program for secondary schools in Hesse, Germany, sponsored by AOK Hessen. The program centers on a core school sports program that promotes movement through rolling sports (inline skating, scooter, waveboard, and similar rolling sports). The offering comprises the WHEELUP! Program as the central initiative, supplemented by the WHEELUP! Akademie providing educational training (mentor training, study seminars, university courses), the WHEELUP! App featuring tutorials with AR-parcours and PLAY features, the WHEELUP! Lernbox providing digital learning materials, Equipment Sponsorship for participating schools, and the Aloha Fortbildung as a specialized training event for educators. All components work together to advance movement promotion and physical activity among students.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WHEELUP! Akademie: Educational programs with high practical content for innovative school sports, including mentor training, study seminars, and university courses.
• WHEELUP! Medien

Products and services

• WHEELUP! Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 221 school days implemented across Hessen since 2021
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered primary, core and minor.

• BANDUKABEAT GmbH & Co. KGprimaryOthersBANDUKABEAT GmbH & Co. KG is the operating entity behind WHEELUP!, based in Schlüchtern-Ramholz, Germany. The company develops the program curriculum, runs the academy, manages the app, and delivers on-site school workshops with mobile trailers.
• Hessische LehrkräfteakademiecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Hessische Lehrkräfteakademie accredits WHEELUP! teacher training programs (Fortbildungen), enabling participating teachers to earn recognized continuing education credits. This accreditation is key to teacher adoption.
• Micro MobilityminorOthersListed as an equipment supplier (Ausstatter) for WHEELUP!, providing scooters and micro mobility equipment used in the program's rolling sports curriculum.
• K2 SportsminorOthersListed as an equipment supplier (Ausstatter) for WHEELUP!, providing inline-skates and related rolling sports equipment.
• StreetsurfingminorOthersListed as an equipment supplier (Ausstatter) for WHEELUP!, providing waveboard and board sports equipment.
• MTS SportminorOthersListed as an equipment supplier (Ausstatter) for WHEELUP!, providing sports equipment for the program's curriculum.
• ZFS / Schule & Gesundheit (Hessen)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerZentrum für Schulgesundheit (ZFS) / Schule & Gesundheit is a partner referenced on the WHEELUP! website footer, representing the school health network in Hessen that connects school sports with health promotion initiatives.
• Irrsinnig Menschlich e. V.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWHEELUP! blog features guest content from Irrsinnig Menschlich e. V., the organization behind the 'Verrückt? Na und! Seelisch fit in der Schule' (Crazy? So what! Mentally fit in school) prevention program. This program has been funded by AOK Hessen since September 2021 and aims to reduce stigma around mental illness among students.
• HAGE – Hessische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Gesundheitsförderung e.V.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince autumn 2022, AOK Hessen has funded a state coordination office (Landeskoordinierungsstelle) for the 'Verrückt? Na und!' prevention program at HAGE. WHEELUP! content links to related mental health programs in the Hessen school health ecosystem.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Lions-Quest: Internationally recognized youth-development curriculum active in German secondary schools, delivered through teacher training and classroom materials. Comparable to WHEELUP! in channel (accredited teacher training, school-based delivery) and target customer (secondary school teachers), though focused on life skills rather than physical activity.
• skate-aid e.V. German nonprofit that uses skateboarding and rolling sports as a development tool for children and adolescents. Comparable to WHEELUP! in the use of rolling-sports instruction as a youth-development vehicle, with overlapping activity types (skating, scootering) and target demographic (school-age youth).
• Fit4Future: Corporate-funded school health and fitness program active in German schools, combining physical activity, nutrition, and mental-health content. Directly comparable to WHEELUP! in delivery model (free, accredited, school-based curriculum), customer segment (secondary schools), and funding approach (corporate/insurer sponsorship).
• Verrückt? Na und!: School-based mental-health prevention program also funded by AOK Hessen since 2021 and already cited as a content partner of WHEELUP!. Directly comparable as a parallel AOK Hessen-sponsored Präventionsprogramm targeting the same secondary school audience in Hessen, but focused on mental-health stigma rather than rolling sports.
• Klasse2000: Germany's largest school-based health promotion program, funded by statutory health insurers and operating across multiple German states. Klasse2000 is the closest comparable to WHEELUP! in terms of funder structure (statutory health insurance), delivery channel (in-school curriculum), and target customer (secondary school teachers and students).

Regional players

• MindMatters (Australia): School-based mental-health promotion program originally developed in Australia and adapted for use in several European countries including Germany. Comparable to WHEELUP!'s mental-health curriculum layer, though delivered as a general SEL framework rather than rolling-sports-anchored content and active in different geographies.

Emerging players

• Skateistan: International nonprofit combining skateboarding/rolling-sports instruction with education for youth in underserved communities. Comparable to WHEELUP! in concept (rolling-sports-based youth education) but operates internationally rather than within a single funded insurance ecosystem.

Others

• Micro Mobility: Leading German scooter brand and existing WHEELUP! equipment supplier (Ausstatter). Comparable as a category participant whose brand visibility and school-channel distribution capabilities could either deepen WHEELUP!'s moat (as a partner) or enable a competing in-house school program.

Broad incumbents

• AOK-Präventionsprogramme (other regional AOK programs): Other regional AOK statutory health insurers (e.g., AOK Bayern, AOK Baden-Württemberg, AOK NordWest) fund their own school-based Präventionsprogramme. Comparable as the broader funder ecosystem that determines whether WHEELUP!'s Hessen model can be replicated nationwide; competing AOK programs represent the direct substitutes for prevention budgets that WHEELUP! would need to win.
• Rollerblade: Global leader in inline skating equipment and the dominant consumer brand in WHEELUP!'s core activity category. Comparable as a category-defining incumbent in rolling sports with the resources and instructor networks to launch competing school-based inline-skating curricula if the school channel becomes strategically attractive.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wheelup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Wheelup