My Modern Met

What My Modern Met does

My Modern Met, legally My Modern Metropolis, LLC, is an independent digital media company founded in 2008 in California and operated by a small team of 1-10 people. The company publishes daily editorial content across art, design, photography, architecture, science, technology, history, environment, nature, travel, entertainment, and creative culture on its flagship WordPress-based website (mymodernmet.com), building an audience described as 'millions of followers' across Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Flipboard, and Facebook. Around this editorial core, My Modern Met has built three integrated revenue modules: My Modern Met Academy, an online learning platform offering art and photography courses taught by professional instructors; My Modern Met Store, an e-commerce storefront selling creative merchandise, books, art supplies, puzzles, and apparel; and My Modern Met Media, a dedicated advertising and brand sponsorship sales channel. A four-tier membership subscription program (Supporter $10/month, Protector $120/year, Patron $1,000 lifetime, Student $5/month), managed via Memberful with Stripe payment processing, provides ad-free reading, exclusive newsletters, store and Academy discounts, and exclusive e-books.

The business model is B2C and diversified across five revenue streams: advertising and sponsorships, recurring and lifetime membership subscriptions, e-commerce unit sales, online course tuition, and affiliate marketing. Pricing is transparent and publicly disclosed at the membership and SKU level. Distribution is entirely self-serve through the website, sub-brand storefronts, and the Memberful-integrated member login; no enterprise sales motion exists. The company is bootstrapped with no disclosed outside investment, founder-led by co-founder and editor-in-chief Eugene Kim, and has no parent company or institutional shareholders. Featured artists (e.g., Zaria Forman, Liam Wong, Kirsty Mitchell, Cristina Mittermeier) are editorial subjects rather than paying customers, and the platform's credibility rests on its 13+ year track record of providing global visibility to emerging and established creatives.

Strategically, the company has prioritized revenue diversification and audience retention over scale or acquisition, accepting a constrained cost base in exchange for full editorial and operational independence. The principal structural risks are concentration of editorial work within a small team, dependence on third-party social platforms for audience acquisition, and absence of any disclosed AI tooling for content operations, personalization, or commerce conversion optimization.

Name

My Modern Met

Legal name

My Modern Metropolis, LLC.

Website

https://mymodernmet.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

My Modern Met is an independent, bootstrapped digital media company that publishes daily editorial content on art, design, photography, and culture, and monetizes its audience through subscriptions, e-commerce, online courses, affiliate marketing, and advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Media & Creative Publishing

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Culture & Literary Magazines (MPAJAEAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Science, Technology & Gaming Magazines (MPAJAEAL)

Keywords

• Online art publication
• Digital content media
• Creative e-commerce
• Online art courses
• Membership publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Subscriptions: Recurring monthly ($10), annual ($120), lifetime ($1,000), and student ($5/month) membership plans. Members receive ad-free experience, exclusive newsletter, store discounts (15%), Academy discounts (15%), and exclusive e-book content.
2. Digital Advertising & Sponsorships: The site generates revenue through advertising placements and sponsorship deals. The company maintains an advertising portal (mymodernmet.media) for potential sponsors.
3. E-commerce Store: The My Modern Met Store (store.mymodernmet.com) sells creative products including art-inspired merchandise, books, and gift items. Products include items like Frida Kahlo action figures ($29.99), bird scarves ($62), puzzle sets, and craft supplies.
4. Online Courses (Academy): My Modern Met Academy offers online art and photography courses. The Academy features instructors teaching techniques such as blending colored pencils, stencil art, flower pressing, portrait drawing, pet photography, architectural drawing, and mixed media.
5. Affiliate Marketing: The company participates in affiliate marketing, earning commissions on products sold through tracked links. The site maintains an affiliate disclosure page indicating this revenue stream.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

My Modern Met operates a digital content platform publishing daily editorial articles covering art, design, photography, architecture, science, technology, history, and creative culture. The company monetizes its audience through advertising, a tiered membership program, an affiliated e-commerce store selling creative merchandise and art supplies, and an online learning academy offering art and photography courses.

Product overview

My Modern Met operates as a unified media platform consisting of a core online publication delivering daily content on art, design, photography, architecture, science, technology, and creative culture. The platform extends into three integrated modules: My Modern Met Academy (e-learning with creative courses), My Modern Met Store (e-commerce for creative products), and My Modern Met Membership (subscription with tiered benefits). Together, these offerings create a comprehensive creative ecosystem supporting artists, designers, photographers, and creative enthusiasts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• My Modern Met Academy: Online learning platform offering art and photography courses taught by professional artists
• My Modern Met Store
• My Modern Met Media

Products and services

• My Modern Met Online Publication Daily editorial publication covering art, design, photography, architecture, science, technology, history, environment, nature, career, resources, classes, DIY, interview, travel, and entertainment, targeting art and culture enthusiasts worldwide.
• My Modern Met Academy Online e-learning platform offering creative courses in art, photography, drawing, painting, mixed media, and hand-lettering taught by professional artists, for adult learners and creative hobbyists.
• My Modern Met Store E-commerce store featuring creative products including art supplies, books, puzzles, apparel, and artistic gift items, for creative consumers and gift buyers.
• My Modern Met Membership Subscription membership program with Supporter ($10/month), Protector ($120/year), Patron ($1,000 lifetime), and Student ($5/month) tiers offering ad-free reading, exclusive newsletters, 15% store and academy discounts, and exclusive e-book access.

Quantifiable outcome

• Artists featured on My Modern Met have reported gaining 10,000+ new followers overnight and transitioning from hobbyist to professional status
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Electric PulpcoreTechnology or IntegrationElectric Pulp is identified as the web design collaborator who worked with My Modern Met on website development and design. The company is credited in the website footer as the design partner.
• Memberful (with Stripe)coreTechnology or IntegrationMemberful provides the membership management software and Stripe processes payments for the My Modern Met membership program. All membership charges are handled by Memberful with Stripe as the payment processor.
• FeedlyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFeedly integration allows readers to subscribe to My Modern Met content through the Feedly RSS reader platform.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• It's Nice That: Editorial platform championing creativity across art, design, illustration, and photography with careers-focused content serving creatives — closely aligned with My Modern Met's artist-launching value proposition.
• Juxtapoz Magazine: Long-running art magazine publishing across lowbrow, contemporary, and street art — comparable as a curated, brand-led art publication with multi-channel distribution.
• Dezeen: Leading digital magazine covering architecture, design, and interiors with daily editorial, global audience, and multi-revenue monetization including events and awards — operates a similar content-led model in adjacent creative verticals.
• Skillshare: Online learning marketplace for creative courses including art, photography, and design — directly comparable to My Modern Met Academy's course offering and target learner.
• Designboom: Online magazine for architecture and design, daily editorials and global readership — directly overlaps My Modern Met in design/architecture content and digital publishing model.
• Colossal: Digital publication covering art, photography, design, and culture with viral visual storytelling and curated editorial — highly comparable format, audience, and scale to My Modern Met.
• Hyperallergic: Independent arts publication covering contemporary art and culture with critic-driven editorial — comparable editorial depth and audience in the art/culture vertical.
• Artsy: Digital platform combining editorial content with marketplace and collector tools for the art world — overlaps My Modern Met on art publishing and adds marketplace/transactional commerce alongside content.

Broad incumbents

• Domus: Established architecture and design magazine with digital edition and global distribution — overlaps the design/architecture editorial vertical that My Modern Met also covers, operating at much larger historical scale.
• Apartment Therapy: Large digital media brand for home, design, and lifestyle with integrated e-commerce — comparable content-to-commerce vertical model with significantly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mymodernmet
• Facebookfacebook.com/mymodernmet
• Instagraminstagram.com/mymodernmet
• Pinterestpinterest.com/mymodernmet
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ekimunited

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries3 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 My Modern Met