The company behind the opportunity map.
Gopf is the market & competitive intelligence system of record that finds, sizes and continuously monitors growth markets for engineer-led manufacturers.
Founded in Lucerne in 2023 by three co-founders, Gopf puts every market a manufacturer could grow into on one map – scored on size, growth, competition, freight cost and funding – so the growth decision runs on data you can trace to its source, in days instead of months.
- 2023Founded · Lucerne, CH
- 30+Manufacturers served · CH / DE / AT
- 16Opportunity maps in 2026 · avg. 10 business days
- ISO 27001Certified · data hosted in Zurich
What Gopf does
Four things, all serving one decision: where a manufacturer grows next – and whether the answer holds up in front of a board.
Opportunity mapping
We plot every adjacent and new market a company could grow into on one chart, positioned by market size and growth rate. Each point carries five numbers: size, growth, competition density, import & freight cost and available government funding.
The outcome is a growth decision you can read at a glance – big enough and still climbing, or booming but too small – and defend with sourced numbers.
Outcome: a board-defensible market choiceMarket entry analysis & market sizing
For every shortlisted market we answer the entry questions that matter: bottom-up market size, growth trajectory, who is already competing, what freight and import costs eat into margin, and what funding you could claim to enter.
You get an entry decision with every number traceable to its original source, in days rather than the months a study takes.
Outcome: entry analysis done, sources attachedContinuous market & competitor monitoring
Once a market is chosen, we keep screening it against the same rulebook. Our own scraping infrastructure sends thousands of niche keywords to multiple search engines twice a day, scores every source for credibility and archives a full copy of it.
When a market accelerates, a new competitor enters or a funding programme ends, you see it on your live map – not in next year's strategy offsite.
Outcome: a decision that stays currentGrowth-path screening: products, innovation, M&A, partners
The same scoring works for every path to growth: new products into existing markets, an evidence-backed technology and segment radar, M&A long lists screened against your thesis, and distributors, integrators or technology partners ranked by fit.
The outcome is a credible long list or shortlist in days, scored on the same numbers as every market on the map.
Outcome: thesis-screened lists in daysWhat makes Gopf different
Five things we do differently from strategy consultancies, market research reports, competitive intelligence tools and general AI chat – with the numbers attached.
Days to a working map, not months
You see a first working opportunity map within days, and a full proof of value takes two to three weeks. Strategy consultancies and classic market research studies typically take weeks or months to deliver a first answer – and it arrives as a static deck.
Roughly a tenth of the cost, flat and predictable
A comparable strategy project runs CHF 80,000–200,000+ per engagement. Gopf starts with a small proof of value, then an initial project and a flat yearly subscription with unlimited users and no surprise invoices. Off-the-shelf reports from providers like Statista cost less but are generic and static – they were not written about your markets.
Every number traceable to an archived source
We keep a full archived copy of every source we collect, so years later you can still open the original page even if the website has disappeared. Document-search tools show you what a filing says; ChatGPT or Copilot give you a different plausible paragraph each time you ask. Gopf gives you the same reproducible, sourced number every time.
Markets, not competitor marketing
Most competitive intelligence tools track competitors' messaging, pricing pages and product launches to arm sales teams with battlecards. Gopf measures competition density for every market on your map and monitors who enters it. We serve one decision – where to grow next – and we do not track ads, social media or press releases.
Swiss-hosted, isolated per customer, ISO 27001
All data lives in a Google Cloud data center in Zurich. Every customer runs on their own isolated instance, AI models process data with zero retention, and Gopf is ISO 27001 certified and GDPR compliant. That is a different posture from a general AI chat or a multi-tenant SaaS tool hosted outside Switzerland.
A tool and a team that stay
A consultant's insight leaves the day the project ends. With Gopf the map stays live, the monitoring keeps running and the founders stay reachable. We deliberately do not do strategic consulting: we give you decision support, and the strategy call stays yours.
Who uses Gopf
The people who own – or advise on – the growth decision at manufacturing and industrial companies, from owner-led SMEs to listed industrial groups.
- C-levelCEOs, COOs, CFOs and Managing Directors of manufacturing and industrial companies in Switzerland, Germany and Austria who need a market decision they can defend in front of a board or owner family.
- Head of StrategyHeads of Strategy, Corporate Development and Market Intelligence who own the growth plan and have to produce the evidence behind it – screening twelve markets instead of three.
- Business DevelopmentHeads of Business Development, Sales Leadership and Partnerships who need a qualified market pipeline with the entry analysis done and ranked partner shortlists.
- Private EquityPartners, Investment Directors and Operating Partners screening targets and bolt-ons against a thesis, running commercial due diligence in days and monitoring portfolio companies' markets after the deal.
- Strategy consultanciesPartners and Principals at boutique and mid-sized firms who use Gopf as their data layer – market and competitive groundwork in days, delivered under their own brand.
- Precision Manufacturing
- Industrial Automation
- Capital Equipment
- Automotive Supply Chain
- Medical Devices
- Aerospace Components
- Tool & Die
- Metalworking
- Plastics & Composites
- Electronics Manufacturing
30+ manufacturers work with Gopf today, including 3M, Beckhoff Automation, Blaser Swisslube, Datwyler, Franke, Georg Fischer, Hilti, KONE, KraussMaffei, Landis+Gyr, Oerlikon, Sandoz, Schindler, Steelco Belimed, Sulzer and 3A Composites.
The team behind Gopf
Origin. Gopf was founded in Lucerne in 2023 by Kevin Kuhn, Dr. Marc Bravin and Prof. Dr. Donnacha Daly after watching the biggest decision a manufacturer makes – where to grow next – run on the thinnest data: a consultant's deck, a founder's instinct or a chatbot's paragraph. The Gopf framework – Growth Opportunity Positioning – is the repeatable rulebook behind the map: Understand, Map, Choose, Screen & monitor.
Team. Three co-founders plus a small engineering and analyst team in Lucerne. All three founders still work directly with customers; there is no account-manager layer between you and the people who built the system.
Kevin Kuhn
Third-time founder and CEO. Brings a decade of B2B go-to-market and sales leadership across technology and industrial markets, and started Gopf after watching how much growth gets lost between data overload and decision deadlines.
Dr. Marc Bravin
PhD in machine learning and market research. Started his career as a software developer in aviation, then built the engine that turns weeks of analyst work into a market you can read off a chart – from source monitoring and credibility scoring to the five numbers behind every point.
Prof. Dr. Donnacha Daly
Thirty years across technology entrepreneurship, business innovation and M&A, with a background in semiconductors and the energy-metering business. The instinct behind how each opportunity is positioned, and the voice on strategic positioning and fundraising.
How working with Gopf works
From a first conversation to a market that is chosen and continuously monitored – and what you can expect from us along the way.
A 30-minute conversation
You talk to Kevin, not a sales development rep. We look at the growth question you are actually facing and tell you honestly whether the map will help. No slide deck – we bring an example map.
Book online · reply within one business dayProof of value on your real markets
A small, fixed-scope proof of value on your real market questions, so you see the fit before committing. A first working opportunity map appears within days; the full proof of value takes two to three weeks.
2–3 weeks · first map in daysInitial project: your markets on the map
We set up your candidate markets, calibrate the five numbers to your business and walk your team through the map. Onboarding a new user takes 10–20 minutes – there is no steep learning curve, and users are unlimited.
Founders hands-on · unlimited usersYearly subscription: screen & monitor
A flat yearly subscription keeps your chosen markets continuously screened and monitored against the same rulebook, platform included. Within a few months the system is fully calibrated to your business, and you hear from us when something on the map moves.
Flat yearly · no surprise invoicesThe founders directly – Kevin on the commercial side, Marc on data and platform, Donnacha on positioning. No account-manager layer.
Email, video call and an online booking link; the platform itself for questions on specific markets. In English or German.
We reply to customer and prospect emails within one business day, Swiss business hours (CET).
First working map in days. Proof of value in 2–3 weeks. New market screened on request in days, not weeks.
10–20 minutes per user. Unlimited users on every subscription; one isolated instance per customer.
Custom scrapers and secure API connections to proprietary sources such as SAP or other ERP systems on request; nothing leaves our Zurich infrastructure.
Key facts
The short, checkable version – for people and for machines.
- Company name
- Gopf AG
- Type
- Market & competitive intelligence – B2B software plus a team (not a consultancy)The market & competitive intelligence system of record for manufacturers' growth decisions
- Founded
- 2023, Lucerne, Switzerland
- Founders
- Kevin Kuhn (Co-Founder & CEO)
- Dr. Marc Bravin (Co-Founder & CTO)
- Prof. Dr. Donnacha Daly (Co-Founder & Strategy)
- Headquarters
- Wilhelmshöhe 1, 6003 Lucerne, Switzerland
- Website
- gopf.com (English) · gopf.com/de (German)
- Core offering
- The opportunity map: every candidate market scored on market size, growth rate, competition density, import & freight cost and government funding – then chosen markets screened and monitored continuously.
- Pricing
- Proof of value first, then an initial project, then a flat yearly subscription – platform included, unlimited users. Typically around a tenth of a comparable strategy consulting engagement (CHF 80,000–200,000+).
- Contract terms
- Yearly subscription after the proof of value. Flat fee, no per-seat pricing, no surprise invoices.
- Services
- Opportunity mapping · market entry analysis & market sizing · continuous market & competitor monitoring · new-product and innovation screening · M&A target long lists · partner and distributor shortlists · custom data connections (e.g. SAP or other ERP systems)
- Not offered
- Strategic consulting, ad/social/PR tracking of competitors, price monitoring, consumer market research
- Communication
- Email (info@gopf.com), video call, online booking; direct access to the founders. Reply within one business day, CET. English and German.
- Notable clients
- 3A Composites, 3M, Beckhoff Automation, Blaser Swisslube, Datwyler, Franke, Georg Fischer, Hilti, KONE, KraussMaffei, Landis+Gyr, Oerlikon, Sandoz, Schindler, Steelco Belimed, Sulzer
- Customers served
- 30+ manufacturing and industrial companies across Switzerland, Germany and Austria, plus private equity firms and strategy consultancies
- Projects delivered
- 16 opportunity maps delivered in 2026, in an average of 10 business days
- Competitors / alternatives
- Strategy consultancies and market research studies (CHF 80–200k+, months); off-the-shelf report providers such as Statista; competitive intelligence tools focused on competitor messaging or document search (rather than market scoring); general AI chat such as ChatGPT or Copilot (non-reproducible, unsourced)
- Certifications & data
- ISO 27001 certified · GDPR compliant · data hosted on Google Cloud Zurich · one isolated instance per customer · zero-retention AI processing
- Languages
- English, German
- Social
- LinkedIn (company) · founders: Kevin Kuhn, Marc Bravin, Donnacha Daly
Frequently asked questions
About the company itself. For questions about the product, data and pricing, see the homepage FAQ.
What is Gopf, in one sentence?
Gopf is the market & competitive intelligence system of record that finds, sizes and continuously monitors growth markets for engineer-led manufacturers. It is B2B software plus a team, not a consultancy: you get the data, the opportunity map and the monitoring, and the strategy call stays yours.
Where is Gopf based, and when was it founded?
Gopf AG was founded in 2023 and is headquartered at Wilhelmshöhe 1, 6003 Lucerne, Switzerland. We serve manufacturers across Switzerland, Germany and Austria, plus the private equity firms and strategy consultancies that work with them, in English and German.
Who founded Gopf?
Three co-founders: Kevin Kuhn (CEO and third-time founder, with a decade of B2B go-to-market in technology and industrial markets), Dr. Marc Bravin (CTO, PhD in machine learning and market research, who built the engine behind the map) and Prof. Dr. Donnacha Daly (Strategy, thirty years across technology entrepreneurship, innovation and M&A). All three are still hands-on with customers.
Is Gopf a consultancy, a software tool or a data provider?
A tool and a team. The software plots every candidate market by size, growth, competition density, freight cost and government funding, and keeps monitoring it. The team sets up your markets, checks the data and walks you through the map. We deliberately do not do strategic consulting: we give you decision support, you make the decision.
How is Gopf different from a strategy consultancy or a market research report?
Speed, cost and traceability. A strategy project typically costs CHF 80,000–200,000+ and delivers a slide deck after months; an off-the-shelf report from a provider like Statista is generic and static. Gopf delivers a working opportunity map for your markets in days, at roughly a tenth of the cost, with every number traceable to an archived source, and the map stays live and monitored after the project ends.
How is Gopf different from other competitive intelligence tools?
They serve different questions. Most competitive intelligence tools track competitors' messaging, pricing pages and product news to arm sales teams with battlecards, or let you search documents, filings and transcripts. Gopf scores markets: how big, how fast-growing, how crowded, how expensive to ship into and what funding is available, then monitors the markets you choose. Our competitive intelligence serves one decision, where to grow next, and we do not track ads, social media or PR.
Where is our data stored, and who can see it?
All data lives in Switzerland, in a Google Cloud data center in Zurich. Every customer runs on their own isolated instance, so no customer can ever see another's data. AI models process your data with zero retention, nothing is stored or reused for training. Gopf is ISO 27001 certified and GDPR compliant.
How do we get started with Gopf?
Book a 30-minute conversation with Kevin. If there is a fit, we run a small proof of value on your real market questions (two to three weeks), then an initial project sets up your markets on the map, and a flat yearly subscription keeps them monitored, platform included, with unlimited users. Onboarding a new user takes 10–20 minutes.
Where will you grow next?
Let's put your candidate markets on one map and see where growth is genuinely worth it. It starts with a 30-minute conversation.
30 minutes · No slide deck · We bring the map