Karakters: full service communicatiebureau
Karakters is een full service creatief communicatiebureau met sterke focus op maatschappelijke meerwaarde.
The content of this factsheet is in Dutch.
Karakters bestaat sinds 2007 en profileert zich als full-service bureau uit Gent. Het team telt ongeveer 40 medewerkers (VTE). De focus ligt op strategie, branding & identiteit en creatie & reclame. Sectorieel richt het bureau zich vooral op brede publieke sector (overheid, zorg, cultuur) en b2b.
Kernactiviteiten
Karakters is een full service creatief communicatiebureau met sterke focus op maatschappelijke meerwaarde. Branding en merkarchitectuur zijn dé specialiteit van het huis, maar Karakters ontzorgt de klant over de hele lijn in zowel offline als online communicatie en scenografie. Uniek is het in-house printatelier.
Karakters werkt zowel voor de brede publieke sector (overheden, culturele instellingen, NGO’s, ziekenhuizen, kennisinstellingen, …) als voor de private sector.
Soort klanten en gemiddelde klantgrootte
Publieke en privé-organisaties en bedrijven
Team
Karakters werkt met een team van ongeveer 40 VTE, waaronder:
- 18 ontwerpers
- 4 copywriters
- 2 video- en podcastmakers
- 6 webdevelopers
- Account team van 8 personen
Zelf omschreven cultuur:
Atypisch, authentiek, altijd op maat, vernieuwend en maatschappelijk geëngageerd
Referentieklanten: i-mens, UZ Gent, UGent, HOGENT, VPK Packaging, Hansea, Triginta, Liberale Mutualiteiten, VVSG, De Werkvennootschap
Lokale besturen: Vlaamse Overheid, Stad Oostende, Stad Brugge, Stad Leuven, Stad Aalst, Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen
Tech stack: Craft CMS, Wordpress, Intern productieatelier voor o.a. circulaire grootformaatprinting
Gepercipieerde concurrenten: Bridgeneers, Billie Bonkers
Ondernemingsnummer: BE0886.576.139
Gemiddelde klantgrootte: 20k-100k
How this agency makes money
Revenue, margin and what an hour of work brings in. Everything on the earning side sits together here.
Can the agency take a hit
Buffer, cash position and payment behaviour side by side, so you can see where they disagree.
Signals and strengths
Events from the CBE and the Official Gazette over the past 24 months, plus positive markers derived from the figures.
Continuity
No serious signals- Zichtbaarheid verschoven · 1 Sep 2026 · Google Autocomplete
- Zichtbaarheid verschoven · 1 Aug 2026 · Google Autocomplete
- Zichtbaarheid verschoven · 1 Aug 2026 · Google Autocomplete
- Thin buffer · 31 Dec 2025 · NBBEquity covers less than three months of payroll. A limited reserve, and at many smaller agencies the normal state of affairs. Ask how the agency absorbs a setback.
What this agency does well
- Profitable in every one of the last 5 years
- Healthy working capital (current ratio 1,25)
- Equity was earned, not injected (reserves 21,8× the capital contributed)
- Turnover below the median (29,9%)
All the figures
Reference material, not a starting point. Expand it if you want to read the series yourself.
5 financial years, 2021 to 2025Result, staff and balance sheet
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | |||||
| Gross margin | € 1,06 mln | € 1,65 mln+56,6% | € 2,02 mln+22,3% | € 2,08 mln+2,9% | € 2,06 mln-1% |
| EBITDA | € 65.228 | € 203.736 | € 182.299 | € 133.003 | € 149.317 |
| EBITDA margin | 6,2% | 12,3% | 9% | 6,4% | 7,2% |
| Staff | |||||
| FTE | 21,0 | 26,6+26,7% | 32,3+21,4% | 32,9+1,9% | 29,4-10,6% |
| Gross margin per FTE | € 50.264 | € 62.127 | € 62.577 | € 63.219 | € 70.064 |
| Payroll cost per FTE | € 46.807 | € 54.307 | € 56.678 | € 58.963 | € 64.762 |
| Balance sheet | |||||
| Equity | € 224.024 | € 225.936 | € 265.721 | € 269.969 | € 282.666 |
| Cash | € 321.620 | € 165.030 | € 8.011 | € 63.842 | € 36.016 |
| Liquidity ratio | 1,54 | 1,57 | 1,19 | 1,31 | 1,25 |
Payroll cost per FTE comes from the social report where available, otherwise from the Remuneration line. Both are gross costs including employer contributions.
What this factsheet does not know
- How good the work is. Figures do not measure creativity, strategy or chemistry.
- How the client portfolio is spread. Concentration is not in the accounts.
- Freelancers and subcontractors are not in the FTE figures. An agency with 40 staff may in practice run with 70 people.
- The figures cover financial year 2025, filed on 29/07/2026. At a fast-moving agency reality today may differ.
Based on publicly filed annual accounts (NBB) and official records (CBE, Belgian Official Gazette). An indication, not financial advice. Sector medians calculated on 21 Sep 2026. Sector medians based on financial year 2024: the last year for which nearly all accounts have been filed.
What the agency actually does 8 services
Sector focus
Publicly known clients
BRAVO4, Stad Tielt, VPK België, AGSO Knokke-Heist, Amarant, ARTURE, Aspiravi, Autodelen Gent, Autodelen.net, avixi, AZ Monica, IVAGO, Elia Grid International, UZ Gent, Hansea
Based on IKAg research and public sources. Incomplete or outdated? Let us know.
People 33 people mapped
The heart of this team is creative: 14 of 33 profiles are makers. Within that core, Design, Art Direction and Copywriting stand out. Notably, no declared strategists in sight — this agency would rather make than philosophise. At 33+ people, there's capacity for several tracks at once.
Based on public profiles. Something wrong? Let us know.
Seniors or juniors?
Payroll cost per FTE is the best public proxy for a team's experience level. Higher is not automatically better, but it says something about who sits at the table.
- 59% women
- 41% men
Will your team stay?
Inflow and outflow from the social report. This series only counts people on the payroll: freelancers who invoice do not appear in it. A low figure therefore means two very different things, a stable permanent team or a small core with heavy outsourcing. A high figure usually points to short contracts. Compare only within the same type of agency.
Source: annual accounts and social reports (NBB), collected by IKAg. Financial year 2025. Calculations by IKAg; an indication, not financial advice. Sector medians based on financial year 2024: the last year for which nearly all accounts have been filed.
Frequently asked questions about Karakters
- When was Karakters founded?
- In 2007.
- Where is Karakters located?
- In Gent, Belgium.
- What is Karakters specialised in?
- Brand strategy & positioning, Marketing strategy, Brand identity & design, Campaign concepts & big ideas, Copywriting & long-form content, Print & AV production.
- How big is Karakters?
- Around 29 full-time equivalents (financial year 2025).
- Which sectors does Karakters work for?
- Public sector & non-profit.
- Who are the clients of Karakters?
- Among others i-mens, UZ Gent, UGent, HOGENT, VPK Packaging, Hansea, Triginta, Liberale Mutualiteiten.
Figures from the annual accounts up to financial year 2025. Company details checked against the CBE register on 2026-09-12.