What unifilm.de does

unifilm.de AG operates the largest coordinated network of university cinemas (Hörsaalkinos) in Germany, covering over 90 member locations at universities and colleges nationwide. The company functions as a network coordinator and support organization rather than a direct cinema operator; each member cinema is independently run by local student bodies (AStA, student councils, or film clubs), which license films through unifilm.de, set their own ticket prices, and operate their own screening schedules in university lecture halls and campus venues. The company's core technology platform is the "Appsolut smart!" mobile application, which serves as a digital club card for students, providing a QR-code-based identity, a GPS-based cinema finder with turn-by-turn navigation via Google Maps and Apple Maps, real-time program information across the network, and a stamp-based loyalty system that encourages cross-campus cinema visits.

The business operates on a three-segment model. The primary segment consists of university students and academic staff, who access film screenings and use the digital club card app. The second segment comprises film distributors, producers, directors, and actors seeking nationwide distribution to a large, engaged student audience through a single point of contact. The third segment is corporate business partners seeking efficient campus marketing and targeted communication to German university students without media waste. Ticket revenue is retained by individual member cinemas; unifilm.de AG's monetization is structurally tied to network coordination services, film licensing facilitation, and campus marketing sales. No centralized pricing was disclosed, and the company has not published revenue figures.

The company is a privately held German Aktiengesellschaft (public limited company) headquartered in Göttingen at Bertha-von-Suttner-Straße 5. It operates with a lean central team of 1–10 employees and is led by Vorstand (Board Member) Georg Schneider, with Karsten Leffers serving as Vorsitzender des Aufsichtsrats (Chairman of the Supervisory Board). The technology stack relies on third-party services for hosting (Variomedia AG), analytics (Google Analytics), mapping (Google Maps, Apple Maps), social distribution (Facebook, Instagram), newsletter delivery (Strato AG), and authentication (Facebook Connect, Apple-ID, Google-ID). No venture capital or institutional investor ownership was disclosed, and no funding rounds have been recorded.

Name

unifilm.de

Legal name

unifilm.de AG

Website

https://unifilm.de

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

unifilm.de AG coordinates Germany's largest network of over 90 university cinemas, providing film licensing, organizational support, and campus marketing services to students, film distributors, and corporate partners through a digital club card mobile app.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

University Cinema Network

NAICS

Motion Picture Theaters (except Drive-Ins) (512131), Motion Picture and Video Distribution (51212)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture Theaters (7830), Services-Allied To Motion Picture Distribution (7829)

akta.pro primary industry

Campus & Educational Screenings (Universities, Schools) (MPADAKAI)

Keywords

• University cinema network
• Student film screenings
• Film distribution coordination
• Campus marketing services
• Digital club card app

Headquarters

HQ city

Göttingen

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

unifilm.de operates a coordinated network of over 90 university cinemas (Hörsaalkinos) at German universities and colleges, providing regular film screenings exclusively for students and university affiliates. The offering is complemented by the 'Appsolut smart!' mobile app, which serves as a digital club card enabling cinema discovery, location-based navigation to the nearest cinema, and a stamp-based loyalty program across all member cinemas. The company acts as an aggregator and support network for independently student-run cinemas rather than operating its own branded cinema venues.

Product overview

unifilm.de operates as a network of over 90 university cinemas across Germany, providing film screening services exclusively for students and university affiliates. The core offering consists of physical cinema screenings at university lecture halls, complemented by the 'Appsolut smart!' mobile app which serves as a digital club card enabling cinema discovery, program information, and a stamp-based loyalty program. The company acts as an aggregator and support network for individual student-run cinemas rather than operating its own branded cinema venues.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Feature2 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Kinopolis: German cinema chain with multiple locations across Germany. Comparable to unifilm.de as a domestic cinema exhibitor, though operating owned multiplex venues rather than coordinating a distributed student-run network.
• CinemaxX: Major German cinema chain operating large-format and multiplex venues. Comparable to unifilm.de as a German cinema exhibitor, but at significantly larger scale, mainstream positioning, and owned-venue operations versus unifilm's coordinator model.
• UCI Kinowelt: European cinema chain operating multiplex venues in Germany and other EU markets. Comparable to unifilm.de as a cinema exhibitor reaching broad audiences, but with owned-venue operations and mainstream positioning.
• CineStar: One of the largest cinema chains in Germany operating multiplex and traditional theaters nationwide. Comparable to unifilm.de as a cinema exhibitor reaching a broad German audience, though at much larger scale and with mainstream rather than specialty programming.

Direct peers

• Yorck Kinos: Berlin-based operator of a network of independent, art-house, and specialty cinemas. Comparable to unifilm.de as a multi-venue specialty cinema operator focused on curated, non-mainstream programming rather than multiplex mass-market content.
• AG Kino – Initiative der deutschen Programmkinos: German association of independent/art-house cinemas that coordinates programming, marketing, and industry representation for a nationwide network of specialty cinemas. Comparable to unifilm.de as a coordinator-of-independent-cinemas platform serving curated programming rather than operating venues itself.

Others

• Pandora Film: German independent film distributor with a curated catalog of art-house and festival titles. Adjacent peer: comparable to unifilm.de as part of the German specialty film ecosystem in which unifilm acts as exhibition coordinator.
• Neue Visionen Filmverleih: German independent film distributor specializing in art-house and curated content. Comparable to unifilm.de as a counterparty in the specialty film value chain; unifilm serves as the exhibition aggregator that such distributors rely on for university audience reach.
• mindjazz pictures: German independent film distributor focused on art-house, documentary, and curated titles. Adjacent peer: comparable to unifilm.de as the upstream distribution partner whose films unifilm's network enables to reach student audiences.

Emerging players

• The Prince Charles Cinema: London-based independent cinema known for curated, repertory, and specialty programming targeting engaged film audiences. Comparable to unifilm.de as a specialty/community-focused exhibitor pursuing differentiated programming rather than mainstream multiplex economics, though operating a single owned venue.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/unifilm.de
• Instagraminstagram.com/unifilm.de
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/unifilm-de

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 unifilm.de