Sdbb

What Sdbb does

SDBB (Schweizerisches Dienstleistungszentrum Berufsbildung | Berufs-, Studien- und Laufbahnberatung) is the Swiss national competence center for vocational education and career guidance, operating as a public-sector specialized agency (Fachagentur) of the cantons under the Conference of Cantonal Education Directors (EDK) with federal support from SBFI. Headquartered in Bern with a distribution center in Zollikofen and approximately 100 specialized staff in education, editorial, ICT, and administration, SDBB serves Switzerland's 26 cantons, approximately 100 Organizations of Working Life (OdA), vocational schools, training companies, and individuals seeking career guidance, with content delivered in German, French, Italian, Romansh, and English.

The organization operates an interconnected portfolio of national platforms: berufsberatung.ch (the official Swiss career guidance portal with nearly 14 million visits in 2024, undergoing comprehensive renewal under Project RIO with go-live July 2026), berufsbildung.ch (vocational education portal), the Lehrstellenregister (LSR) national apprenticeship registry fed by 22 cantons plus Liechtenstein, the sedex domain for secure inter-cantonal data exchange, DBLAP2 for centralized grade collection, the Profession Service REST API for federally regulated professions, the Register Berufsfachschulen (RBS), the Online-Test-Plattform (OTP) for psychodiagnostic testing, and the trilingual Swissdoc classification system. SDBB Verlag publishes over 600 print media products and coordinates qualification procedures for 100+ professions. The relaunched berufsberatung.ch will incorporate a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) AI chatbot compliant with Swiss DSG and GDPR.

SDBB is funded primarily through cantonal and federal government mandates under a four-year EDK performance mandate (currently 2025-2028), with a secondary revenue stream from publication sales through shop.sdbb.ch; since January 2026, most publications are also available as free PDF downloads. The organization is not a commercial enterprise — it has no external investors, no funding rounds, no subsidiaries, and no M&A history — and operates as an inter-cantonal operational arm governed by the EDK and supported by the federal government through SBFI.

Name

Sdbb

Legal name

Schweizerisches Dienstleistungszentrum Berufsbildung | Berufs-, Studien- und Laufbahnberatung (SDBB)

Website

https://sdbb.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Short description

SDBB is a Swiss public-sector Fachagentur of the cantons (EDK) and federal government (SBFI), providing national coordination, information portals, data management systems, publishing, and career guidance services for vocational education across Switzerland's 26 cantons and approximately 100 Organizations of Working Life.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Career Guidance Services

NAICS

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (54), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Architecture, Construction & Building Codes Reference (Design, BIM, Safety Codes) (EDAGAGAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Developer Portals, SDKs & Documentation Platforms (BPAMADAG), Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) & BI (HDAEAMAG)

Keywords

• Vocational education services
• Career guidance
• Education information portals
• Apprenticeship resources
• Educational publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Bern

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: SDBB is a specialized agency of the cantons (EDK) and is supported by the federal government (SBFI). Services for vocational education and career counseling are performed on behalf of the cantons. Core operations are funded through cantonal and federal government mandates.
2. Publication Sales (Webshop): SDBB Verlag publishes over 600 print media articles for career, study and career counseling. Products are sold through the web shop (shop.sdbb.ch) and include career choice magazines, brochures on basic professions, study prospect series, and career media for adults. Since January 2026, most products are available as free PDF downloads alongside paid print versions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sdbb runs the cantonal service centre for vocational education, training and career guidance in Switzerland, operating multilingual information portals (berufsberatung.ch, berufsbildung.ch, panorama.ch), publishing printed and digital reference materials, distributing them through a Zollikofen logistics centre, providing a public REST API of occupation data, and planning an AI chatbot for automated user assistance. It serves cantonal administrations, schools and individual citizens through two divisions — Berufsbildung (vocational education) and BSLB (career, study and career guidance) — with more than 100 specialised professionals headquartered in Bern.

Product overview

SDBB operates as a service center for vocational education and career guidance in Switzerland, organized into two main divisions: Berufsbildung (Vocational Education) and Berufs-, Studien- und Laufbahnberatung (BSLB - Career, Study, and Career Guidance). The Berufsbildung division encompasses the SDBB Verlag publishing house, the berufsbildung.ch information portal, qualification procedures coordination for 100+ professions, and data management services including the Lehrstellenregister (LSR), Profession Service, sedex domain, DBLAP2, and Register Berufsfachschulen (RBS). The BSLB division operates the berufsberatung.ch portal (being comprehensively renewed under Project RIO), print and online media (600+ products), the Online-Test-Plattform (OTP), continuing education coordination, Euroguidance Switzerland, and the Panorama information portal. Key technology offerings include public REST APIs for Profession Service and Register Berufsfachschulen, and an AI chatbot powered by RAG technology launching with the new berufsberatung.ch platform in 2026.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• sedex-Domäne Berufliche Grundbildung: Secure data exchange domain for vocational education partners operated by SDBB
• DBLAP2
• Lehrstellenregister (LSR)
• Profession Service
• Register Berufsfachschulen

Products and services

• berufsberatung.ch Multilingual online portal (DE/FR/IT/RM/EN) offering career-guidance, apprenticeship, study and occupational information, comparison tools and self-assessment resources for students, parents, job-changers and teachers in Switzerland.
• berufsbildung.ch Authoritative information portal on Swiss vocational education and training (VET) targeting cantonal authorities, vocational schools, teachers and partner organisations with regulations, statistics, news and reference material.
• panorama.ch Online portal publishing standardised occupational and educational profiles used in Swiss career-guidance contexts for exploring professions, training requirements and career pathways.
• shop.sdbb.ch Online shop where individuals, schools and institutions can purchase Sdbb's printed and digital publications, brochures and reference materials on vocational education and careers.
• Profession Service REST API Public REST API that exposes Sdbb's curated Swiss occupation, training and education data in machine-readable form for developers, edtech vendors, researchers and media organisations building third-party applications.
• Sdbb printed publication catalogue Printed reference publications (brochures, handbooks, occupational profiles) on Swiss vocational education, training and career options, produced by Sdbb and distributed through the Zollikofen distribution centre to schools, cantonal services and individuals.
• BSLB (Berufs-, Studien- und Laufbahnberatung) services Cantonal career, study and career-guidance (BSLB) service offering provided through Sdbb's BSLB division, supporting cantonal BSLB offices with tools, content and infrastructure used to advise students and adults on vocational and educational choices.

Quantifiable outcome

• berufsberatung.ch visited nearly 14 million times in 2024
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• EDK (Konferenz der kantonalen Erziehungsdirektorinnen und -direktoren)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEDK is the umbrella organization of Swiss cantons. SDBB is a specialized agency of the cantons operating under EDK's governance. EDK plenary assembly approved SDBB's statutes and the EDK board issues performance mandates.
• SBFI (Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal government body that supports SDBB. SDBB operates Euroguidance contact point and processes federal examination contributions on behalf of SBFI.
• SBBK (Schweizerische Berufsbildungsämter-Konferenz)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss conference of cantonal vocational education offices. SDBB performs services on behalf of or in consultation with SBBK. SBBK commissioned SDBB to operate Lehrstellenregister (LSR) and sedex domain.
• SK BSLB (Schweizerische Konferenz für Berufs-, Studien- und Laufbahnberatung)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss conference for career, study and career counseling. Represents cantonal BSLB offices and collaborates with SDBB on professional matters.
• Organisationen der Arbeitswelt (OdA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSDBB works closely with approximately 100 Organizations of Working Life, particularly for information services and coordination of qualification procedures. This collaboration enables creation of current, high-quality services.
• Abraxas Informatik AGcoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnical development, maintenance and operation of DBLAP2 including helpline is ensured by Abraxas Informatik AG on behalf of SDBB.
• MovetiaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIn collaboration with Movetia, the Euroguidance contact point supports individual mobility for cantonal career counselors for job shadowings, conferences and presentations, and promotes innovative exchange projects.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• VDAB (Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeidsbemiddeling en Beroepsopleiding): Flanders' public employment and vocational training agency runs career information portals, training databases, and apprenticeship pathways — a peer for SDBB's Berufsbildung and BSLB divisions within a comparable federal-subnational governance structure.
• Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA): Germany's federal employment agency operates Berufsinformationszentren (BiZ) — direct functional analogues of the Swiss BIZ that SDBB serves. Both agencies are statutory national bodies providing integrated career information, apprenticeship registries, and vocational education coordination in a federal system.
• France Travail (formerly Pôle Emploi): France's national employment agency operates career information, apprenticeship/job matching, and training pathways at national scale. SDBB's apprenticeship and qualification coordination functions are comparable, although France Travail is a much larger full-service employment insurer.
• AMS - Arbeitsmarktservice Österreich: Austria's public employment service combines job brokerage, apprenticeship guidance, and career information — closely mirroring SDBB's dual role in vocational education coordination and career/study counselling within a German-speaking federal system.
• ADEM (Agence pour le développement de l'emploi) Luxembourg: Luxembourg's national employment agency delivers career guidance, training information, and apprenticeship coordination for a small multilingual state — comparable to SDBB's mandate in scale-of-operations-per-capita terms, especially given that Liechtenstein is also within SDBB's reach.
• Forem (Office wallon de la Formation professionnelle et de l'Emploi): Wallonia's public vocational training and employment service provides career counseling, apprenticeship information, and qualification support — structurally similar to SDBB's blend of career guidance and vocational education data management in a multilingual context.
• Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB): Germany's federal institute for vocational education and training is the closest structural peer: a government-backed national authority that researches, coordinates, and publishes on Germany's 300+ recognized training professions — analogous to SDBB's coordination of 100+ qualification procedures across Swiss vocational education.

Broad incumbents

• Cornelsen Verlag GmbH: Major German educational publisher producing professional and vocational education materials, including career choice magazines and teacher/student resources — broad-incumbent analogue to SDBB Verlag's 600+ print media catalogue for Berufs-, Studien- und Laufbahnberatung.

Others

• Movetia: Swiss National Agency for exchange and mobility in education; SDBB's Euroguidance center collaborates with Movetia for mobility programs. Both serve Swiss educational stakeholders via publicly funded programs but with distinct functional remits.

Regional players

• Schweizerischer Verband für Berufsberatung: Swiss professional association for career counselors, providing professional development, networking, and conferences — complementary/adjacent to SDBB's Weiterbildung and Panorama services for the same Fachleute der BSLB persona.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sdbb-csfo

Compliance2 records

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 Sdbb