What LIGANOVA does

LIGANOVA is a Stuttgart-based, German-headquartered brand experience agency that designs and organizes exhibitions, temporary retail installations, and promotional events for consumer and lifestyle brands. The firm operates in the physical/experiential marketing category, producing short-duration, high-design brand environments — pop-ups, roadshows, flagship activations and trade-fair presences — rather than digital media or software products. The company was founded in 1995 and is privately held; firmographics indicate a mid-sized operation of 251-500 employees, consistent with a multi-office European creative/production agency. No detailed product/service taxonomy, pricing model, customer roster, distribution channels or geographic footprint was disclosed in the source data; the only directly verifiable corporate event is the 2019 growth investment led by EMH Partners, a German mid-market private equity firm.

LIGANOVA's business model is project-based agency work: clients (typically brand marketing organizations) commission LIGANOVA to conceive, design and physically produce brand experiences, and LIGANOVA is paid primarily on a project/fixed-fee or cost-plus basis rather than on a recurring SaaS-style subscription. Revenue is therefore tied to campaign cadence, brand-marketing budgets and large-format physical production volume, with material seasonality around trade-fair and launch-event calendars. No information on revenue mix, segment concentration, or contracted vs. one-off revenue was available, and the source contained only one substantive corporate page whose content could not be retrieved beyond a verification screen.

The company's most consequential documented strategic moves are financial and inorganic rather than product-led. In September 2019 it raised growth capital from EMH Partners (round details limited; amount undisclosed in the source), and in August 2022 it acquired Spenoki for an undisclosed consideration, indicating a roll-up or capability-extension posture in the European brand-experience market. Beyond these events, the source data contains no public record of patents, partnerships, certifications, executive hires, product launches or geographic expansion, so the description above should be read as a baseline rather than a complete picture of the business.

Name

LIGANOVA

Website

https://liganova.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Stuttgart-based brand experience agency Liganova, founded in 1995, organizes exhibitions and temporary promotional installations for consumer brands. The 251-500-employee firm received growth capital from EMH Partners in 2019 and acquired Spenoki in 2022.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Brand Experience & Exhibition Services

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events without Facilities (711320), Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events (7113)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Retail, Consumer Goods & Lifestyle Shows Organizers (THAHABAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

General Consumer Expos & Trade Shows (MPAGAFAA)

Keywords

• Brand experience design
• Exhibition organization services
• Temporary retail installations
• Brand activation events
• Promotional event marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

Stuttgart

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Core offering

LIGANOVA organizes exhibitions for the promotion and sales of brands at temporary locations. The company designs, plans, and executes pop-up retail experiences and brand-activation installations for corporate brand clients, providing end-to-end event/exhibition services from concept through on-site realization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Temporary Brand Exhibition & Pop-up Retail Activation End-to-end service for corporate brand clients covering the design, planning, and on-site execution of temporary exhibitions and pop-up retail spaces used to promote and sell a brand at a short-term venue. Targets brand marketers and consumer-facing companies seeking experiential marketing outcomes.

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• GL Events: Publicly-listed French event industry group operating venues, organizing trade shows, and delivering event services across Europe — broader portfolio than LIGANOVA but overlapping on exhibition organization and event production.
• Koelnmesse: Major German trade fair and exhibition organizer hosting consumer and lifestyle shows; comparable in exhibition organizing capability though primarily a venue operator, while LIGANOVA focuses on bespoke brand exhibitions.
• Freeman: Large events and exhibits company delivering brand experiences, trade show exhibits, and event production services to enterprise clients — broader and US-centric but materially overlapping with LIGANOVA's offerings.
• Messe Frankfurt: One of the world's largest trade fair organizers, operating consumer and retail-focused exhibitions globally; comparable in exhibition organizing expertise, though operates owned venues at a different scale.

Regional players

• Pico Group: Hong Kong-based total brand activation company offering exhibition, event, and brand experience services primarily across Asia; comparable offering to LIGANOVA but with a different primary geographic footprint.
• MCH Group: Swiss-based live marketing company operating major exhibition venues and organizing trade fairs and brand events; similar exhibition organization business but anchored in Switzerland rather than Germany.

Direct peers

• George P. Johnson Experience Marketing: Large experience marketing agency producing brand activations, exhibitions, and pop-up experiences for enterprise clients, with comparable scope to LIGANOVA's temporary-location exhibitions.
• Jack Morton Worldwide: Global brand experience agency that designs and produces brand activations, pop-ups, and experiential campaigns for major brands — directly comparable to LIGANOVA's exhibition and brand activation focus.
• MCI Group: International event, meeting, and association management company with strong European roots, offering exhibition organization, brand experiences, and event marketing services comparable to LIGANOVA's portfolio.
• Sparks: Specialist brand experience agency (part of FCB) that delivers pop-up activations, retail experiences, and brand storytelling campaigns for global brands, directly overlapping with LIGANOVA's core offering.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/LIGANOVAnews
• Facebookfacebook.com/liganova
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/liganova-stuttgart

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LIGANOVA