Verlag Heinz Heise Gmbh & Co. Kg

What Verlag Heinz Heise Gmbh & Co. Kg does

heise group (Verlag Heinz Heise GmbH & Co. KG) is a privately held, family-controlled German diversified media company headquartered in Hannover, founded in 1949 and currently led by managing partner Ansgar Heise. The company operates four business divisions: heise content (independent IT journalism across flagship publications c't, iX, Mac & i, Make, Telepolis, t3n, and the German edition of MIT Technology Review, plus the heise online portal); heise connect (local marketing services for German SMBs under the heise regioconcept brand, sold through a direct Medienberater sales force and including directory properties Das Telefonbuch, Gelbe Seiten, and Das Örtliche); heise compare (price comparison portals Geizhals and guenstiger.de); and heise commerce (online hardware and gaming retail via Mindfactory.de). The company also operates heise academy (digital continuing education for IT professionals) and heise conferences (events covering IT security, digitalization, HR, developer topics, AI & data science, and medical technology).

The underlying technology is a diversified digital media and commerce platform — content management for the publishing brands, e-commerce frontends for Mindfactory and price comparison, and event/training registration systems for academy and conferences — but no proprietary AI models, public APIs, or SDKs are documented. Revenue is generated across multiple streams: recurring print and digital subscriptions, advertising across the media portfolio, transaction-linked fees from price comparison and e-commerce, direct sales of local marketing products to SMBs, and ticket/training fees from events and professional education. Geographic focus is primarily DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), with Austrian-specific brands including tarife.at and wohnnet.at. The company also maintains a flagship sponsorship of Bundesliga football club Hannover 96, extended through the 2029/2030 season.

The customer base is structurally fragmented: IT professionals and tech enthusiasts (subscription and conference audiences), mass-market German consumers (price comparison and Mindfactory shoppers), and thousands of SMB clients purchasing local marketing services. No enterprise anchor customers, public funding rounds, M&A, or revenue disclosures are available in the input sources; the company operates as a closed, founder/family-controlled entity without external institutional investors identified.

Name

Verlag Heinz Heise Gmbh & Co. Kg

Legal name

Heise Gruppe GmbH & Co. KG

Website

https://heisegroup.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1949

Operating status

Operating

Short description

heise group is a privately held, family-controlled German diversified media company (founded 1949) operating four business divisions: IT journalism (c't, iX), SMB local marketing and directories, price comparison (Geizhals), and e-commerce (Mindfactory), serving IT professionals, consumers, and SMBs across the DACH region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Hannover

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Multi-stream media and commerce revenue: The company operates diverse revenue streams including magazine subscriptions and digital subscriptions, advertising across its media portfolio, transaction fees from online shopping portals, hardware sales through Mindfactory.de, and professional services through events and training (heise academy, heise conferences).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Heise Gruppe is a diversified German media company that publishes independent IT journalism (c't, iX, Mac & i, Make, Telepolis, t3n, MIT Technology Review German edition and the heise online news portal), operates price comparison portals (Geizhals.de, guenstiger.de), runs the Mindfactory.de online shop for gaming and PC hardware, provides local business marketing services under heise regioconcept, and delivers professional IT training and conferences through heise academy and heise conferences. The portfolio also includes established German directory brands (Das Telefonbuch, Das Örtliche, Gelbe Seiten) and selective publishing brands such as Rheinwerk Verlag and Hinstorff Verlag.

Product overview

Heise Gruppe operates a diversified multi-brand media company organized into four business segments: heise content (high-quality independent journalism across magazines and online portals), heise connect (local marketing services under heise regioconcept), heise compare (price comparison through geizhals.de and guenstiger.de), and heise commerce (online hardware retail via Mindfactory.de). The portfolio includes flagship IT publications such as c't, iX, Mac & i, Make, Telepolis, and t3n, alongside digital education platforms (heise academy, heise conferences), the AI-focused heise AI brand, and various directory services including Das Telefonbuch, Das Oertliche, and Gelbe Seiten. The company serves IT professionals and technology enthusiasts with editorial content, marketing services, e-commerce, and educational offerings across Germany and Austria.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• heise online: News portal with IT journalism
• c't
• iX
• Mac & i
• Make
• heise academy
• heise conferences
• heise regioconcept
• heise content
• heise compare
• heise commerce
• Telepolis
• t3n
• MIT Technology Review
• secIT by heise
• Horizons by heise
• mindfactory
• Geizhals
• guenstiger
• Das Örtliche
• Das Telefonbuch
• Gelbe Seiten
• Rheinwerk Verlag
• Hinstorff Verlag
• techconsult
• heise AI
• heise jobs
• c't Fotografie
• Maker Faire
• tarife.at
• wohnnet.at

Products and services

• heise online (news portal) Flagship German-language IT news portal delivering daily independent technology journalism, news, analysis and product reviews to IT professionals, developers and tech enthusiasts.
• c't magazine Leading German IT magazine covering technology, hardware, software and digital trends with in-depth articles and product tests, distributed via subscription and newsstand.
• iX magazine German magazine focused on IT infrastructure, enterprise technology, IT security and professional IT management, targeting IT professionals and enterprise IT decision-makers.
• Mac & i magazine German magazine dedicated to Apple products, macOS, iOS and the broader Apple ecosystem, distributed via subscription and newsstand.
• Make magazine German magazine covering maker culture, DIY electronics, 3D printing and creative technology projects, distributed via subscription and newsstand.
• Telepolis German online magazine focusing on net politics, digital society and technology culture.
• t3n digital magazine German digital magazine covering web technologies, startups and digital business trends.
• MIT Technology Review (German edition) German edition of the renowned technology magazine covering emerging technologies, innovation and science.
• heise academy Digital continuing education platform offering IT training courses, webinars and professional development events for IT professionals and enterprise teams.
• heise conferences Conference and events division organizing conferences, workshops and webinars on IT security, digitalization, HR, developer topics, AI/data science and medical technology, sold as ticketed events to individual and enterprise attendees.
• heise regioconcept Local marketing services offering online marketing products and optimized visibility in industry portals and directories for German local businesses (Gewerbetreibende), sold through a dedicated media consultant sales force.
• Mindfactory.de Online retail storefront (Mindfactory.de) selling gaming hardware and PC components to consumers, enthusiasts and small system builders in Germany.
• Geizhals (price comparison portal) Price comparison portal (Geizhals.de) bringing transparency to online shopping by aggregating offers across multiple third-party electronics retailers for German-speaking consumers.
• guenstiger (price comparison portal) Price comparison portal (guenstiger.de) covering offers from online retailers to bring transparency to consumer price discovery in the German market.
• Das Telefonbuch (telephone directory) German telephone directory brand providing residential and business listings, distributed in print and online as part of the heise connect directory portfolio.
• Das Örtliche (local directory) German local directory service (Das Örtliche) providing regional listings for residents and businesses, sold to local businesses via the heise regioconcept sales motion.
• Gelbe Seiten (business directory) German business directory brand (Gelbe Seiten) sold to local businesses as part of heise regioconcept's local marketing solutions.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Hannover 96flagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 June 2024heise group serves as main partner (Hauptpartner) of Hannover 96 football club starting from the 2024/25 season. The partnership invests in brand visibility and reach beyond traditional IT audiences, including logo placement on team shirts, season kickoff events, and community activities. In May 2026, heise extended the partnership for three additional years until the 2029/2030 season.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 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 Verlag Heinz Heise Gmbh & Co. Kg