LehreCheck: Tyrolean Start-Up Builds a Matching Platform for Apprenticeships

Brochures can go straight to the bin. Maximilian Petz and Patrick Bergher, two founders from the Zillertal valley in Tyrol, are betting that a phone screen does a better job of selling apprenticeships than paper ever did. Their new platform, LehreCheck, is built to match teenagers with training companies, and it is free for students, parents and teachers.

The pitch is local and national at the same time. LehreCheck launches with a focus on Tyrol, but it can be used across Austria from the start. The two founders also want something bigger than a matching tool: they want to repair the image of apprenticeships. Bergher says it plainly on the site, calling apprenticeship a first-class career path that deserves its standing back.

The pair know the system from the inside. LehreCheck is run by Check Network GmbH in Fügen in the Zillertal, where both founders are managing directors. Both completed apprenticeships themselves. Bergher did a double apprenticeship as a metal construction worker and electrical technician at Verbund, later earned his vocational baccalaureate and now studies architecture. Petz trained as an industrial clerk at Binderholz and then worked in field sales.

The idea began in 2023, was shelved a year later because the market looked crowded, then came back in summer 2025. With no money for a software firm, the founders found help in autumn 2025 from the growth marketing agency Klixpert, which is listed at the same address in Fügen. After surveying schools and companies, the website went live in summer 2026.

The product itself is built around three anonymous tests. There is a strengths check with 22 questions in about two minutes, a field check with 28 questions in about three minutes, and a job check with another 28 questions. The last one matches strengths, interests and personality against more than 350 apprenticeship occupations and returns top matches, a match score, and open apprenticeships or trial placements from the region. The site also shows duration, apprentice pay, starting salary after the apprenticeship and salary comparisons with similar jobs.

LehreCheck says its data comes from existing job portals, including the Austrian public employment service and lehrlingsportal.at, with dates showing when a listing was last seen. Companies can also register themselves. A.I. helps structure the database and flag outdated information, but every record is checked by hand and the matching itself is only a “digital compass.” For now, the company side is still a waiting game: the FAQ says pricing is “Coming soon,” and most business features are not live yet. In a market already full of apprenticeship portals, that makes execution the real test, not the slogan.