Brandvillage GmbH

What Brandvillage GmbH does

Brandvillage GmbH operates an international online marketplace headquartered in Würzburg, Germany, for the trading of trademark rights, domain names, and (more recently) licensing/franchise opportunities. The company was founded around 2005 (with the firmographic record showing 2011) and operates the platform 'BRANDvillage – Internationale Markenbörse' in German, English, and Chinese, claiming approximately 100,000 monthly website visits and 20 years of market experience. Core product surfaces include ~439 brand rights listings across DPMA, EUIPO, and WIPO jurisdictions, ~3,850 domain listings across multiple TLDs, and a separate Lizenz/Franchise vertical. Ancillary professional services include trademark valuation (€790), monitoring (€499), deadline tracking (€199), domain valuation (€299), trademark search orders (€1,990), and escrow-backed transaction handling via a partnership with PAYLAX.

The underlying technology is described as a standard e-commerce marketplace, with no proprietary technology platform, no public API, and no documented AI/ML capabilities. Transaction mechanics are supported by escrow services through PAYLAX (operating in 119 countries) and by the company's own procedural handling of trademark transfers and documentation. Marketing is driven primarily by organic SEO, content publishing, social media, and referral partnerships (notably Deutsche Unternehmerbörse for SMB succession).

Brandvillage's revenue model combines three streams: (1) recurring seller membership packages priced €69–€209 net for 6- or 12-month tiers with 25, 100, or unlimited listings; (2) a 15% transaction commission on brand sales (with a €500 minimum on sales under €3,000, and zero commission on domain sales); and (3) professional service fees ranging €49–€1,990. The company is a privately held German GmbH with no institutional investment, no parent company, no disclosed funding rounds, and operates under founder-led management (Stefan Geisler identified as the primary consultant and contact). Revenue, headcount trends, and ownership structure beyond the named contact are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Brandvillage GmbH

Legal name

BRANDvillage GmbH

Website

https://brandvillage.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Brandvillage GmbH operates an international online marketplace for buying and selling trademark rights, domain names, and licensing/franchise opportunities, serving commercial buyers and sellers primarily across DACH and Europe with German, English, and Chinese platform access.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Trademark and Domain Marketplace

NAICS

Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except Copyrighted Works) (533)

SIC

Patent Owners & Lessors (6794)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAHAMAB

Trademark Prosecution & Brand Protection

Business & Public Services/Professional Services (Legal, Accounting, Consulting)/Intellectual Property (IP) & Patent Services

Keywords

• Trademark marketplace
• Domain marketplace
• Brand brokerage
• Trademark trading
• Brand valuation services

Headquarters

HQ city

Germany (area code 0931 - Würzburg region)

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Seller Membership Packages: Sellers pay subscription fees for marketplace membership packages ranging from 6-12 months, with varying listing limits. Packages: ECONOMY 6/25 at €69 (6 months, 25 listings), ECONOMY 12/25 at €99, STANDARD 6/100 at €89, STANDARD 12/100 at €119, EXCLUSIV 6/unlimited at €179, EXCLUSIV 12/unlimited at €209. All prices exclude 19% VAT.
2. Sales Commission: 15% commission on successful brand sales. Minimum commission of €500 for sales under €3,000. Commission covers transaction monitoring, payment handling supervision, and brand transfer oversight. No commission charged to domain sellers.
3. Professional Services: Additional services including brand valuation (€790 for used brands), trademark search orders (€1,990), deadline monitoring (€199), brand monitoring (€499), checklist guides (€49), domain valuation (€299), and escrow services for secure transactions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Brandvillage operates an international online marketplace (Internationale Markenbörse) where commercial buyers and sellers trade trademark rights (Markenrechte) including word marks, image marks, word/image marks, and color marks, as well as domain names and license/franchise offerings. The company supplements listings with ancillary paid services such as trademark valuation, trademark monitoring, deadline monitoring, custom trademark searches, trademark purchase orders, domain valuation, escrow handling, and trademark protection renewal.

Product overview

Brandvillage GmbH operates an international trademark and domain marketplace (Internationale Markenbörse) for commercial buyers and sellers. The core offering consists of three interconnected platforms: (1) Markenrechte - a marketplace for trading trademark rights including word marks, image marks, word-image marks, and color marks across Germany (DPMA), EU (EUIPO), and international jurisdictions with approximately 439 trademark listings; (2) Domains - a marketplace with approximately 3,850 domain listings across multiple TLDs; and (3) Lizenz/Franchise - a licensing and franchise marketplace connecting licensors with licensees. The company enhances transactions through ancillary services including trademark valuation (Markenbewertung), trademark monitoring (Markenüberwachung), deadline monitoring (Fristenüberwachung), trademark search orders (Markensuchauftrag), trademark purchase orders (Markenankaufauftrag), domain valuation (Domainbewertung), escrow services (Treuhandservice via PAYLAX), and protection extension services (Schutzverlängerung). Seller packages provide tiered membership options ranging from ECONOMY to EXCLUSIV with varying listing limits and durations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Markenrechte (Trademark Rights) Marketplace International online marketplace where commercial buyers and sellers trade trademark rights across multiple jurisdictions, including word marks, image marks, word/image marks, and color marks. The marketplace lists approximately 439 trademark rights and handles complete transfer including documentation.
• Domains Marketplace Domain name marketplace offering approximately 3,850 domain listings across various TLDs with both fixed-price and negotiable pricing options. No sales commission is charged to domain sellers.
• Lizenz/Franchise Marketplace Marketplace where trademark owners (licensors) can grant usage rights to licensees for a licensing fee, and where franchise systems offer complete business concepts alongside brand usage rights.
• Verkäufer-Pakete (Seller Packages) Subscription-based seller membership tiers offering varying listing limits and durations for marketplace sellers. ECONOMY allows up to 25 listings, STANDARD allows up to 100 listings, and EXCLUSIV allows unlimited listings, with 6-month or 12-month terms available.
• BRANDvillage Markenbewertung (Trademark Valuation) Professional trademark valuation service offered for both used and unused brands at €790, assessing trademark strength across multiple factors including class count, geographic coverage, registration age, legal representation, protection type, domain bundles, business registration, and social media activities.
• BRANDvillage Markenüberwachung (Trademark Monitoring) Regular trademark monitoring service at €499 that conducts identity and similarity searches to detect potential conflicts with existing trademarks across relevant databases.
• BRANDvillage Fristenüberwachung (Deadline Monitoring) Deadline monitoring service at €199 that reminds trademark owners 6 months before trademark protection renewal deadlines and fee payments are due.
• BRANDvillage Markensuchauftrag (Trademark Search Order) Custom trademark search service at €1,990 that finds and identifies trademarks matching buyer-specified criteria across relevant trademark databases.
• BRANDvillage Markenankaufauftrag (Trademark Purchase Order) Trademark acquisition service that attempts to purchase a specified trademark on behalf of the buyer, handling outreach and negotiation.
• BRANDvillage Domainbewertung (Domain Valuation) Standard domain valuation service at €299 that examines relevant parameters to help reconcile differing buyer and seller value expectations for domain assets.
• Treuhandservice Markenkauf (Escrow Service) Secure transaction handling service ensuring correct and timely completion of trademark purchases, with payment security provided through certified escrow partner PAYLAX operating in 119 countries.
• BRANDvillage Schutzverlängerung (Protection Extension) Trademark protection renewal monitoring service that ensures successful extension of trademark rights for owners approaching renewal deadlines.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1 in 10 brands listed are successfully sold through the platform

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Deutsche Unternehmerbörse (DUB)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership for succession planning referrals. Links to DUB platform for 'Nachfolger finden oder Unternehmen verkaufen' (succession planning) services. Referral partnership driving buyer/seller traffic.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Markenplatz24 (Markenmodelle): DACH-focused trademark brokerage and secondary marketplace. Closest geographic competitor to Brandvillage, operating in the same German-speaking market and channeling similar SME buyers and sellers through comparable trademark transfer services.
• Brandroot: Brandable domain marketplace primarily serving English-speaking SMBs. Comparable to Brandvillage's domain marketplace but with limited DACH presence, making it more of a regional peer than direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Sedo: The largest global domain and brand marketplace. Sedo is the most direct competitor to Brandvillage in trademark and domain resale, with substantially larger inventory and buyer liquidity, although it does not match Brandvillage's DACH-specific brand brokerage service depth.
• Dan.com: Domain marketplace with strong installment-payment and buyer-installment features. Targets the same SMB and entrepreneur segment as Brandvillage for digital-asset acquisition, with a more product-led UX and broader global reach.

Emerging players

• Trademarkia: Online trademark search, registration, and monitoring platform. Overlaps with Brandvillage's Markenüberwachung, Markensuchauftrag, and Markenbewertung services, especially for US/EU SME clients, though it does not operate a secondary trademark resale marketplace.
• Efty: Domain portfolio management and marketplace platform for individual investors. Overlaps with Brandvillage's domain-seller segment with a more SaaS-oriented tooling stack.
• Undeveloped: Curated premium domain marketplace owned by Team Internet. Competes with Brandvillage's higher-priced domain listings, particularly for European SMB buyers.
• Squadhelp: Brandable domain marketplace and naming agency. Competes with Brandvillage for entrepreneur buyers seeking brand names, with a stronger crowdsourcing/contest offering but narrower focus on premium brandable domains.

Broad incumbents

• Namecheap Marketplace: Domain marketplace offered by Namecheap, a major registrar. Competes with Brandvillage's domain marketplace via integration with Namecheap's registrar and customer base, though without Brandvillage's trademark transfer focus.
• Afternic (GoDaddy): GoDaddy-owned domain aftermarket with a global listing catalog and integrated registrar buy flow. Competes with Brandvillage's domain marketplace and benefits from GoDaddy's registrar funnel, but does not offer Brandvillage's trademark transfer services.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/brandvillage
• Instagraminstagram.com/brandvillage
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brandvillage-markenboerse

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 Brandvillage GmbH