Unico Data

What Unico Data does

Unico Data is a privately held Swiss company founded in 1991, headquartered in Münsingen, and operating with 11-50 employees. The firm is led by founder Toni Hossmann, who serves as Chairman of the Board and Member of the Group Leadership. Its operational footprint includes Nameshift.com, a domain-name escrow and transfer service legally registered in Rijswijk, Netherlands (KvK: 88910652, BTW: NL864820458B01).

Nameshift.com is the substantive commercial product in the data set. It is a self-serve, direct-to-consumer platform that facilitates secure secondary-market purchases of domain names. Buyer funds are held in escrow until the domain transfer is successfully completed; if the transfer cannot be completed, the buyer receives a full refund. The platform advertises a 24-hour average transfer turnover, achieved by coordinating directly with sellers to expedite registrar-level transfers. Pricing is commission-based: buyers pay only the purchase price (buy-it-now or accepted offer), while sellers pay a commission upon successful transfer completion. Free services bundled in for buyers include transfer assistance and a VAT invoice by email.

Distribution is built around a multilingual, SEO-driven web presence covering 15+ country/language variants spanning Europe, North America, and Asia. Supported payment methods include Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, UnionPay/CUP, JCB, and bank transfer, enabling cross-border settlement. No public revenue, transaction volume, funding history, named customers, awards, patents, or partnership disclosures are available in the source material, making the financial profile of the business effectively undisclosed.

Name

Unico Data

Legal name

Nameshift.com

Website

https://unicodata.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Unico Data is a privately held Swiss firm founded in 1991 that operates Nameshift.com, a self-serve domain-name escrow and transfer marketplace serving individual buyers and SMBs globally with a commission-based seller-paid pricing model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Münsingen

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Commission from Domain Sellers: Nameshift.com charges commission to domain sellers upon successful transfer completion. Buyer services are free with no additional fees beyond the purchase price.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Unico Data operates the Nameshift.com platform, a domain escrow service that facilitates safe transfers of domain names between buyers and sellers. The service holds payment in escrow until the domain transfer is verified, supporting multiple payment methods and offering multilingual assistance.

Product overview

Nameshift.com is a single unified domain name escrow and purchasing platform. The service enables buyers to safely purchase domain names through an escrow mechanism where payment is held until transfer completion, with free domain transfer assistance and no additional fees for buyers (sellers pay commission). The platform supports multiple payment methods including VISA, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, bank transfer, and various regional payment options.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nameshift.com Domain Escrow Service An online domain escrow service for individuals and businesses looking to purchase or sell domain names. The platform holds buyer payment in escrow until the domain transfer is verified, supports multiple payment methods including VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and bank transfer, and offers multilingual customer support in German, English, French, Italian, and Spanish.

Quantifiable outcome

• Average domain transfer time of 24 hours

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Undeveloped.com: Undeveloped.com is a curated premium domain marketplace that facilitates secure domain transfers. It targets a similar buyer profile (premium domain acquisition with trust guarantees) as Nameshift.com.
• Dan.com: Dan.com (part of Squadhelp) is a domain marketplace that offers built-in escrow and installment payment plans for domain purchases. It directly competes with Nameshift.com in the buyer-facing domain escrow category with a global marketplace inventory.
• Sedo: Sedo is one of the world's largest domain marketplaces, offering both brokerage and escrow services for high-value domain transfers. It is a direct competitor offering similar buyer-protection services plus a vastly larger domain inventory.
• Squadhelp: Squadhelp operates a domain marketplace that absorbed Dan.com and offers escrow-style transfers and premium domain sales. It overlaps directly with Nameshift's buyer trust and curated transaction positioning.
• Escrow.com: Escrow.com is a leading online escrow service that, among other transactions, handles domain name purchases. It directly competes with Nameshift.com in providing buyer-protection escrow for domain transfers with similar commission-based pricing.
• Afternic: Afternic, owned by GoDaddy, is a major domain name marketplace and transfer service that offers purchase protection and escrow-like services. It competes in the same domain transfer and discovery space as Nameshift.com, though with far greater scale.

Broad incumbents

• Namecheap: Namecheap is a major domain registrar with aftermarket and transfer capabilities. While not a pure-play escrow competitor, it offers domain purchase protection mechanisms that overlap with Nameshift's value proposition at greater scale.
• GoDaddy: GoDaddy is the world's largest domain registrar and operates Afternic as its marketplace arm. It is a broad incumbent with deep domain aftermarket infrastructure that dwarfs Nameshift in inventory, marketing, and capital.

Emerging players

• Atom.com: Atom.com operates as a curated domain marketplace with a focus on short, brandable premium domains. It provides escrow-adjacent transfer services for buyers of premium domains and is an emerging competitor in a similar niche to Nameshift.

Regional players

• Epik: Epik is a domain registrar and marketplace that emphasizes escrow-style buyer protection for domain transfers. While primarily serving certain segments of the market, it offers comparable transfer assistance and protection features.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks10 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/unico_data
• Facebookfacebook.com/unicodata
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/unico-data-ag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 Unico Data