About Us
Here at uniqFEED, we develop virtual advertising technology for live sports using software only – a novel approach, but one we believe is the future.
uniqFEED was founded in 2015. At that time virtual advertising was still in its infancy and most of the solutions available were dependent on complex hardware and adaptations to in-stadium equipment. This made it costly, intrusive and difficult to deploy at scale. uniqFEED founder Lukas Gysin had a vision to create something simpler, more flexible and future-proofed. He met co-founder Dr.-Ing. Ralf Dragon and Prof. Luc Van Gool and the three set about bringing the concept to life, driven by their combined passions for technology and sport.
Virtual advertising is the digital insertion of virtual content into a broadcast feed. With traditional advertising, a football fan watching a game at home is sees the same pitch-side advertising as the fans in the crowd or someone watching the same game on the other side of the world. With virtual advertising, the existing ads can be digitally replaced with new content, meaning that sports sponsors can target different parts of the world with unique advertising content. See our solutions to learn more.
uniqFEED is now a team of more than 50 people with 37 expert scientists and developers, based in three locations around the world. Our headquarters is based in Zurich, our commercial US office in New York, and our research facility in Hanover, Germany. Our fantastic team works hard to develop the best solutions for our customers.
Our Vision
A world where daily, millions of sports fans consume personalized virtual ads powered by uniqFEED.
Our Mission
To deliver the best virtual advertising solutions for sports rights holders.
Our Values
Ambitious
We strive every day to realize our vision and to create more value for our customers. We believe if our customers win, we win.
Dynamic
We approach everything with energy, enthusiasm and a challenger spirit. We believe in the fierce urgency of now but never compromise on quality.
Collaborative
We work together to generate ideas and find great solutions. We listen and adapt to reach common goals. We play to each other’s strengths.
Reliable
We deliver on what we promise. Quality and excellence are in our DNA.
uniqFEED Company Timeline
Spring 2013 – An idea is born
Founder Lukas Gysin bases his MBA capstone project on an entirely software-based virtual advertising solution while at University of Rochester in New York, creating the business plan that would form the basis for uniqFEED, the company.
Autumn 2014 – A meeting of minds
Lukas Gysin meets co-founder and computer vision specialist PhD Ralf Dragon and the set about bringing the software-based virtual advertising concept to life.
Winter 2014 - A spin off company of ETH, Zurich
uniqFEED becomes a spin off company of ETH Zurich. The University is ranked 6th in the world in the QS World University Rankings and 4th in the world for engineering and technology.
March 20th, 2015 – The foundation of uniqFEED
Lukas Gysin, PhD Ralf Dragon and Prof. Luc van Gool (not pictured) officially found uniqFEED AG.
July 1st, 2015 – First premises
In July 2015 after raising a modest amount of funding, Lukas and Ralf moved the company into its first office premises at Technopark, Zurich.
October 2016 - First live test
The first test of uniqFEED’s fledgling technology was carried out in partnership with ATP 500 Swiss Indoors Basel in October, 2016.
January, 2019 – Wins Swiss Start-Up Pitch Contest at CES, Las Vegas
Lukas Gysin pitches uniqFEED's solution at the Swiss Start-Up Pitch Content at the world renowned CES consumer technology event in Las Vegas.
March 5th, 2019 – uniqFEED Goes Live
uniqFEED deployed its software-based virtual advertising solution live for the very first time at the Eisenhower Cup – Tie Break Tens in Indian Wells, California.
April, 2019 – First Live Event in Table Tennis
At the ITTF Championships in Budapest in 2019, uniqFEED deployed its virtual advertising technology in over 90 matches across 7 days and 62 live broadcasting hours.
April, 2019 - uniqFEED USA, Inc.
uniqFEED USA Inc. is officially registered as a subsidiary of uniqFEED AG. Based in New York City, New York, the US team are responsible for commercial operations in US Sports
July 1st, 2019 – Moving up in the world
By the summer of 2019 the uniqFEED had grown to over 25 people and could no longer operate efficiently out of the office at Technopark. The team found its new home at its current headquarters in Glattbrugg.
August, 2019 – First Live Event in Badminton
During 7 production days and over 110 hours of live broadcasting on 2 courts, uniqFEED, successfully deployed its virtual advertising technology in 127 Badminton matches at the BWF World Championships in Basel in 2019.
November, 2019 - Live at ATP Finals in London
uniqFEED deployed AdApt live at the ATP Finals in London in 2019. The ATP Finals is the 2nd highest tier of annual tennis tournaments after the Grand Slams.
May, 2020 - uniqFEED GmbH
uniqFEED GmbH is officially registered as a subsidiary of uniqFEED AG. Based in Hanover, the office is primarily a base for research and development.
July 2020 - Release of AdApt for Baseball
A new and enhanced version of uniqFEED's AdApt software was developed for Baseball in Summer 2020. Adaptations to the software included color mapping to show realistic representations of changing light and weather conditions within the virtual ads. The new version also supports two cameras - high home and center field.
April 2021 - Roger Hall takes the helm at uniqFEED
Sports technology, broadcast and virtual advertising expert Roger Hall joins uniqFEED as CEO.
June 2022 - uniqFEED live at Rolex Paris Masters
In June 2022, uniqFEED worked with long-term partner ATP Media, deploying virtual advertising at the Rolex Paris Masters.
October 2022 - uniqFEED close multi-million C-Series
In October 2022, uniqFEED closed a multi-million C-Series to drive commercial growth and innovation in the expanding virtual advertising sector.
January 2023 - Tom Huston joins uniqFEED as CCO
In January 2023, uniqFEED appointed experienced sports business executive Tom Huston to the position of CCO of the company.
January 2023 - First use of VA in winter sports
In January 2023 uniqFEED partnered with Swiss-Ski to bring virtual advertising to winter sports for the first time at the 93rd international Lauberhorn Ski Races
October 2022 - First use of AdApt for live football
in October 2022, uniqFEED partnered with sporteo to bring virtual advertising to the ÖFB Cup for the very first time in the historic Grazer Derby. This also marked the first time AdApt was used in a live football match.