Hf Partners Gmbh

What Hf Partners Gmbh does

HF Partners GmbH is a Swiss private research institute and consulting firm headquartered in Zürich, founded in 2021 by Dr. Franziska Hofer and Dr. Angela Bearth as an ETH Zürich spin-off. The firm applies human-centered design methodologies — combining decision research, cognitive psychology, behavioral economics, neuroscience, and systems theory — to consulting, applied research, and training engagements in security, safety, public health, and risk communication.

The company delivers services through four streams: human-centered consulting in security, safety, risk communication, and conflict management; collaborative research projects with universities and public funders; customized on-site and online training programs; and a "Rent a Researcher" offering for short- to medium-term methodological and data analysis support. Underlying methodologies include red teaming for aviation security, the Reaction Time Concealed Information Test (RT-CIT), and Swiss Cheese Model applications. Customers are concentrated in Swiss, German, Austrian, and European institutional and government buyers — including FOCA, the Federal Office of Public Health, the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection, the Zurich Cantonal Police, the Austrian Medical Association, and EFSA — alongside academic partners such as ETH Zürich, University of Zurich, and University of Nottingham.

The firm is privately held and founder-led, with no disclosed external funding rounds or institutional investors. Go-to-market is consultative and direct, leveraging academic publications, conference presence (notably SRA Europe), media appearances, and the founders' regulatory roles — including Angela Bearth's position on EFSA's Scientific Committee (2024-2029) — to win project commissions and training contracts.

Name

Hf Partners Gmbh

Legal name

HF Partners GmbH

Website

https://hfpartners.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

HF Partners GmbH is a Zürich-based, ETH Zürich spin-off research institute and consulting firm that delivers human-centered consulting, applied research, and training in safety, security, public health, and risk communication for government agencies, academic institutions, and healthcare organizations across Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Human Factors and Safety Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Sector & Policy Consulting (BPAHACAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Risk, Compliance & Internal Controls Consulting (BPAHACAJ)

Keywords

• Human factors consulting
• Safety research services
• Security design consulting
• Behavioral risk research
• User research training

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

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. Consulting Services: Human-centred consulting services in security, safety, public health, risk communication, and conflict management provided to organizations and individuals managing complex risks.
2. Research & Development: Research projects conducted in cooperation with universities, funded by various national and international bodies including Swiss National Science Foundation, Horizon 2020, and government agencies.
3. Education & Training: Customized training courses delivered on-site or online, plus guest lecturer services for academic programs (BSc, MSc, CAS, MAS). Also offers 'Rent a Researcher' services for methodological and data analysis expertise.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

HF Partners GmbH delivers human-centered consulting and applied research for organizations whose work involves safety and security systems. Its offerings span consulting engagements, contract research and development, education and training, and a "Rent a Researcher" service that places the firm's specialists on client teams. The firm serves government agencies, universities, healthcare providers, regulators, and industry associations that need to understand and improve how people interact with safety-critical products, processes, and policies.

Product overview

HF Partners is a Swiss research institute and consulting service provider offering a portfolio of human-centered consulting services, collaborative research projects, and professional training courses. The core offerings include evidence-based consulting in security, safety, public health, risk communication, and conflict management; ongoing research initiatives in areas such as airport security (Ready project), animal disease management (DECIDE), behavioral detection, and medical training evaluation; and scheduled training programs on topics including bias in decision-making, AI human factors, risk perception, and digital workspaces. The organization functions as a research consultancy rather than a software product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Conducted representative survey of 2,100+ Swiss consumers on online shopping risks (September 2025)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Consumer Behavior Group, ETH ZürichcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClose collaboration on multiple research projects including PLANTAR (NRP84), evaluation of medical/surgical training, DECIDE project. HF Partners co-supervises PhD students at ETH Zürich. This is an ongoing, deep collaboration.
• Zurich Cantonal Police (Kantonspolizei Zürich)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on the three-year 'Ready' project analyzing airport security measures from the perspective of potential offenders. Also partner on behavior and face recognition research projects.
• Stiftung Risiko-DialogcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Zurich Cantonal Police and HF Partners on the Ready airport security project, bringing expertise in risk dialogue and stakeholder engagement.
• University of ZurichcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration on DETECT project (deception detection), behavior and face recognition in policing. Projects led by Franziska Hofer at UZH.
• University of AmsterdamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on the INTENT project investigating effectiveness of strategic interviewing techniques in aviation security context.
• Leeds University Business SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Dr. Gulbanu Kaptan on PLANTAR project, examining public perceptions of new breeding techniques in agriculture.
• Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAngela Bearth is involved in VKM research team for CHANGE project (system-level interventions for NAMs) and PARC (Partnership for Assessment of Risks from Chemicals).
• European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAngela Bearth serves as the first social scientist on EFSA's Scientific Committee (mandate 2024-2029). Over 1500 scientists applied; Bearth selected following rigorous evaluation.
• Tox Info SuisseminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject partner on household chemicals accident study, providing data from poison control consultations.
• Evidence-Based Toxicology Collaboration (EBTC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner supporting the CHANGE project on harmonizing assessment of next generation evidence in regulatory toxicology.
• Swiss Info Sec AGminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerHF Partners contributes expertise in human-centered information security to Swiss Info Sec AG's three-day 'Security Awareness Manager' training program.
• anundpfirsich (pfirsi.ch)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on PLANTAR training series for understanding and engaging audiences on New Breeding Techniques and agricultural innovation.
• University of Zurich - Forensic InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLaurens Bohlen, previously worked at University of Zurich and Forensic Institute Zurich, now temporarily supporting HF Partners.
• IU Internationale HochschuleminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerHF Partners acted as subcontractor for online experiment on risk comparisons for radon and electromagnetic fields, funded by German Federal Office for Radiation Protection.
• presenta AGminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSupported development and evaluation of confidential reporting center for safety-critical incidents (CIRB) at Appenzeller Bahnen.
• Swiss Centre for Applied Human Toxicology (SCAHT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer with HF Partners of the SRA-E DACHL Conference 2025 at University of Basel.
• Spielwarenverband Schweiz (SVS), Handel Schweiz, Swiss Retail Federation (SRF), SENS eRecyclingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on representative survey on risks in online shopping in Switzerland with 2,100+ respondents.
• Forensic Institute Zurich (FOR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClose collaboration on developing bias and decision-making training for forensic experts, judges, prosecutors. Hosted ENFSI Annual Meeting 2026.
• University of NottinghamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject partner in WP5 of DECIDE project alongside Consumer Behavior group at ETH Zurich.
• Science et Cité FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAngela Bearth spoke at Science Café on New Genomic Techniques, organized by foundation in collaboration with SCNAT Forum for Genetic Research.
• Swiss Police Institute (SPI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHF Partners presented at SPI Colloquium 2026 on police, security and radicalization, presenting READY project results.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• RAND Corporation: RAND is a large, established policy research institution with deep public-sector consulting capabilities across security, health, and risk. It operates in the same broad space as HF Partners (applied social-science research for government decision-makers) but at vastly greater scale, geographic reach, and institutional depth.
• Fraunhofer IAO: Fraunhofer IAO is a large German applied-research institute that conducts human-factors, work design, and cognitive systems research for industry and government. It is comparable to HF Partners in applied research on human factors and digital workspaces but operates as a broad applied-research incumbent with hundreds of researchers.
• Boston Consulting Group (BCG): BCG is a global management consultancy with practices spanning public sector, risk, and human-centered design. It competes with HF Partners for adjacent public-sector advisory budgets and increasingly bundles behavioral science into its engagements, though it is not a specialist in human-factors security research.

Emerging players

• Cranfield University Centre for Human Factors: Cranfield's Centre for Human Factors and Risk Assessment conducts applied research and training on human factors in safety-critical and security domains. It overlaps with HF Partners in aviation security, safety decision-making, and human-factors methodology, and competes for similar UK and European training and consulting budgets.

Direct peers

• Behavioral Insights Team (BIT): BIT applies behavioral science to government policy and public services worldwide, much like HF Partners applies decision research, cognitive psychology, and behavioral economics to government and institutional clients. Both firms operate at the intersection of social-science research and consulting for the public sector, with comparable service offerings (research, training, advisory).
• BVA Nudge Consulting: BVA Nudge Consulting applies behavioral science to public policy and government challenges across Europe. Comparable to HF Partners in serving public-sector clients with research-led consulting on bias, decision-making, and risk perception.
• Royal United Services Institute (RUSI): RUSI is a security and defense research institute that combines applied research, policy advice, and training for governments. It mirrors HF Partners' niche of evidence-based security research (aviation security, policing, deception detection) and serves similar public-sector buyers, though at substantially larger scale.
• The Decision Lab: The Decision Lab is an applied behavioral science consultancy that advises organizations on decision-making, risk perception, and behavioral design. It is directly comparable to HF Partners in scope (risk communication, bias, decision quality) and in delivery model (PhD-led research, consulting, and training engagements for government and institutional clients).
• Stiftung Risiko-Dialog: Stiftung Risiko-Dialog is a Swiss foundation focused on risk dialogue, stakeholder engagement, and risk communication. It is a direct peer to HF Partners in geography (Switzerland), topic (risk communication, public perception of hazards), and stakeholder base (government, industry, academia), and is already an operational partner on the Ready airport-security project.
• Decision Strategies: Decision Strategies is a small consulting firm specializing in human factors, decision-making, and security/safety research for government and aviation clients. Its positioning around cognitive and behavioral methods for high-stakes operational decisions is closely aligned with HF Partners' Ready and RT-CIT work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hf-partners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Hf Partners Gmbh