Museum of Illusions

What Museum of Illusions does

Museum of Illusions is a private experiential museum chain founded in 2015 in Zagreb, Croatia by Tom Pandža and his brother, and has since expanded to 5 continents with flagship venues in Zagreb, New York, Detroit, New Orleans, and Sydney. The core product is an interactive, optics-and-perception-based museum featuring 80+ exhibits per location organized into three modules — Illusion Rooms (Tilted, Infinity, and Reversed Rooms that use architectural design and mirror placement), hands-on Installations (Cloning Table, Beuchet Chair, Head on a Platter), and 3D Holograms and optical illusion images. The technology stack is mechanical and optical rather than software-driven; the company holds a registered trademark on the Museum of Illusions brand and STEM.org accreditation for its K-12 educational programming. The chain serves four primary customer segments: individual consumers and families (the primary segment, evidenced by 13,972+ Google reviews at 4.4 stars for the New York venue), K-12 schools (STEM field trips at $15–$18 per student), corporate clients (venue rental for conferences, team-building, product launches), and private event hosts (weddings, photo shoots, media productions). The business model combines one-time admission tickets, recurring MOI Unlimited memberships (three tiers including a multi-venue and a family plan), corporate and private event rentals, retail merchandise (the Illusion Shop), and digital gift cards. Expansion is driven by a franchise/licensed operator model, supported by a January 2026 growth investment from St. Cloud Capital as part of its $236 million fourth fund, with management retaining operational autonomy.

Name

Museum of Illusions

Legal name

Museum of Illusions

Website

https://newyork.museumofillusions.us

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Museum of Illusions is a private, founder-led experiential museum chain that operates interactive optical-illusion venues in major cities across 5 continents, serving individual visitors, families, K-12 schools, and corporate and private event clients through ticketing, memberships, event rentals, and retail.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Experiential Museum

NAICS

Museums (71211), Amusement Parks and Arcades (7131)

SIC

Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945), Costume Jewelry & Novelties (3960)

akta.pro primary industry

Science & Technology Museums (THAJADAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Museum, Zoo & Attraction Gift Shops (CRALAJAG)

Keywords

• Interactive museum exhibits
• Optical illusion experiences
• STEM educational programs
• Experiential entertainment venues
• Event venue rentals

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Admission Tickets: Time-slot based entry tickets for museum visits, with 60-minute timeslots. Pricing varies by visitor type (adults, children, school groups).
2. Membership Subscriptions: MOI Unlimited (6-month single venue), MOI Unlimited Plus (12-month multi-venue), and MOI Unlimited Family (2 adults + 2 children) membership programs with recurring revenue model.
3. Corporate Event Rentals: Venue rental for corporate events including conferences, banquets, team-building, trade shows, product launches, and fundraisers. Full buyout options available with catering and technical services.
4. Private Event Rentals: Venue rental for weddings, holiday parties, media productions, photo shoots, workshops, and graduation celebrations.
5. Retail Merchandise: On-site gift shop selling brain teasers, puzzles, illusion-inspired apparel, stationery, fidget toys, plasma lights, kaleidoscopes, infinity mirror lights, and pin art.
6. Gift Cards: Digital gift cards redeemable for tickets and merchandise at the Illusion Shop.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Museum of Illusions operates a chain of interactive museums featuring over 80 optical illusion exhibits per location, including Illusion Rooms (Tilted Room, Infinity Room, Reversed Room), hands-on Installations, and Holograms. Beyond the core museum admission, the company offers STEM.org accredited K-12 field trips, corporate and private event venue rentals, multi-tier membership subscriptions, and an on-site retail shop selling illusion-themed merchandise.

Product overview

Museum of Illusions is an experiential museum chain offering interactive exhibits focused on optical illusions and perception science. The core product is the physical museum experience featuring three main exhibit categories: Illusion Rooms (gravity-defying spaces like Tilted Room and Infinity Room), Installations (photographic illusions like Cloning Table and Beuchet Chair), and Images/Holograms (optical illusion displays). These are complemented by educational Field Trips (STEM.org accredited program), venue rental services (Corporate Events and Private Events), membership subscriptions (MOI Unlimited), and retail (Illusion Shop). The company operates multiple global locations and was founded in Zagreb, Croatia in 2015.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MOI Unlimited: Annual/multi-year membership program offering unlimited visits with perks including guest passes, discounts at other locations, and early access to events
• MOI Unlimited Plus
• MOI Unlimited Family

Products and services

• Museum of Illusions (General Admission) Time-slot based entry tickets (60-minute timeslots) to the interactive museum featuring optical illusions, perspective-changing rooms, and educational exhibits on perception science for tourists, families, and locals.
• Illusion Rooms Exhibits Immersive architectural rooms featuring perspective tricks including Tilted Room, Infinity Room, and Reversed Room that create visual illusions defying gravity and perspective through mirror placement and architectural design.
• Interactive Installations Interactive exhibits including Cloning Table, Beuchet Chair, and Head on a Platter that create photographic illusions and perceptual distortions through forced perspective and scale manipulation.
• Holograms and Optical Illusion Images 3D holographic images and optical illusion displays that demonstrate the mysteries of human perception and vision, teaching visitors about how the brain interprets visual information.
• STEM Educational Field Trips STEM.org accredited educational field trip program for grades K-12, featuring turnkey lesson plans and Illusion Expert guides. Priced at $18 for non-Title One schools and $15 for Title One schools; minimum 10 students required.
• Corporate Events Venue Rental Venue rental and event planning services for corporate functions including conferences, team-building activities, trade shows, product launches, and networking events with full buyout options and customized catering.
• Private Events Venue Rental Venue rental for private celebrations including weddings, media productions, photo shoots, holiday parties, workshops, and graduation parties with unique photogenic backdrops and premium catering partnerships.
• MOI Unlimited Membership Program Unlimited visit membership program with three tiers: Single Venue 6-Month, Multi-Venue 12-Month Plus, and Family 12-Month. Includes guest passes, discounts at other locations, and early access to events.
• Illusion Shop (Retail Merchandise) On-site gift shop selling brain teasers, puzzles, illusion-inspired apparel, stationery, fidget toys, plasma lights, infinity mirror lights, pin art, and kaleidoscopes.

Quantifiable outcome

• 13,972+ Google reviews with 4.4 average rating
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature3 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Museum of Ice Cream: Iconic experiential museum chain featuring themed rooms designed for social media sharing. Directly comparable to Museum of Illusions in operating model (ticketed, Instagram-driven, multi-city rollout, family/tourist demographic) and revenue mix (admissions, events, retail).
• Color Factory: Immersive, photography-centric interactive museum with locations in multiple US cities. Closely comparable to MOI's direct-to-consumer experiential ticketing model and target customer (tourists, families, social-media-driven visitors).
• ARTECHOUSE: Immersive technology-driven art experience venue with locations in Washington DC, New York, Miami and Houston. Comparable to MOI in ticketed, technology-enabled immersive exhibits targeting tourist and culturally curious adult audiences.
• Meow Wolf: Permanent interactive art installations (e.g., House of Eternal Return) operating across multiple US cities. Similar large-format experiential attraction model with timed-entry ticketing, gift shops, event rentals, and a focus on shareable, immersive storytelling.
• Ripley's Believe It or Not!: Long-running global chain of 'odditorium' museums with interactive, photo-friendly exhibits. Most comparable legacy brand to MOI in the 'museum of curiosities/illusions' category, with multi-city retail-front museum economics and family tourist demographic.
• Paradox Museum: International chain of 'paradox' and optical illusion museums with locations across Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. The closest direct head-to-head competitor to Museum of Illusions' illusion-perception premise and franchise-style multi-city rollout.

Broad incumbents

• Madame Tussauds: Iconic global wax-museum chain operated by Merlin Entertainments with locations in major world cities. Comparable as an established, multi-continent tourist-anchored museum operator with high-traffic retail venues and corporate event capabilities, but at materially larger scale.

Emerging players

• Wonderspaces: Rotating immersive art experience venues in Philadelphia, Austin, and other US cities. Comparable as a ticketed experiential attraction blending technology and art, though more contemporary-art focused than illusion-perception science.
• WNDR Museum: Chicago-based interactive art and technology museum with adjacent locations. Comparable to MOI's edutainment positioning (perception, light, science), with similar family/tourist audience and immersive photo-driven exhibits.
• Candytopia: Multi-city immersive candy-themed experiential attraction with timed-entry ticketing and retail. Comparable to MOI in pop-up-style experiential ticketing economics and tourist demographic, though narrower in educational positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/museumofillusions_usa
• Xx.com/MuseumIllusions
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dallas-museum-of-illusions

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries4 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 Museum of Illusions