Kaleider

What Kaleider does

Kaleider is a not-for-profit production studio founded in Exeter, UK, that designs and produces participatory artworks combining installation, live performance, and digital technology for international touring. The studio maintains a portfolio of approximately 12 touring works across four categories: theatre productions (Requiem, Arch, The Money®, Absurdable®), kinetic and mechanical sculptures (Fish Mobile, The Time It Takes), light installations (Breathe, Twist & Shine, Buoyed, BellHouse, Listening Trees), and digital/robotic works (Robot Selfie, A Portrait Without Borders, Our Dancing Shadows VR, It's A Secret). Core technologies include bespoke twin elliptical pendulum harmonographs suspended from 7m-high ceilings, spray-painting robot systems paired with a non-learning AI drawing platform, interactive modular prisms made from recyclable Correx, untethered outdoor VR setups, and motion-capture-driven kinetic light installations.

The studio operates from Kaleider Studios, a renovated 19th-century warehouse at 45 Preston Street in Exeter's West Quarter that previously housed Spacex gallery for 40 years and also hosts resident creative organisations. Kaleider's revenue is generated through four streams: touring artwork bookings priced at £2,500–£20,000 per week, individual donations from Citizen Commissioners starting at £20, studio venue hire at £50/hour or £350/day (with a 20% charity discount), and a Shopify-based shop selling miniature artworks and games. The company is supported by public funding from Arts Council England (National Lottery) and the EU's Creative Europe programme, alongside partnerships with IN SITU, National Theatre Studio, Without Walls, Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, and co-commissioning festivals including Fira Tàrrega, BASE Milano, Oerol, and Freedom Festival.

Kaleider targets arts festivals, theatres, cultural venues, and city/municipal authorities as primary commercial customers, with end audiences as the ultimate beneficiaries of participatory experiences. Work has been presented across 15+ countries on five continents, including the Sydney Opera House, UK Houses of Parliament, Lagos City Hall, Melbourne's Victoria Parliament, and Tianjin Grand Theatre. The team consists of fewer than 10 core staff plus a regular roster of named collaborators, with Seth Honnor as Founder/Artistic Director and Katie Keeler as Executive Producer; the board includes representatives from Watershed's Pervasive Media Studio and Audience Labs.

Name

Kaleider

Legal name

Kaleider Ltd

Website

https://kaleider.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Kaleider is a UK not-for-profit production studio that designs and internationally tours participatory artworks combining installation, performance, and digital/robotic technology for festivals, cultural venues, and city authorities across five continents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Performing Arts and Interactive Installations

NAICS

Other Performing Arts Companies (711190), Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (711510)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Immersive/Interactive Animation (AR/VR/Real-Time) (MPAHACAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

VR/AR/XR Game Studios (MPAFAAAE), Artist Booking, Talent Buying & Agency Services (MPAGAAAF), Performers & Specialty Acts Booking (Magicians, Comedians, Circus, Variety) (HSACAHAB)

Keywords

• Interactive art installations
• Participatory theatre productions
• International art touring
• Public art commissions
• Creative production studio

Headquarters

HQ city

Exeter

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Artwork Bookings and Commissions: Primary revenue stream from booking touring artworks and commissioning new works. Artworks sell from £2500 to £20000 per week. Bookings come from festivals, venues, cities, and community events internationally.
2. Citizen Commissioner Donations: Individual donors (Citizen Commissioners) support creation and touring of artworks through one-off donations starting at £20. Donors receive credit on website and in printed media.
3. Studio Hire: Rental income from Kaleider Studios spaces including Studio 1 (£50/hour + VAT, £350/day + VAT) and meeting rooms. Supports the non-profit mission directly.
4. Product Sales (Shop): Miniature Kaleider artworks and games sold through shop.kaleider.com including Absurdable box game, mini Fish Mobile, and mini Let's Twist kits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Kaleider is a not-for-profit production studio that conceives, designs, builds, and internationally tours participatory artworks combining installation, live performance, and digital technologies — including mechanical drawing machines, robotic painting systems, kinetic light sculptures, non-learning AI drawing platforms, and VR experiences. Core offerings are touring works (e.g., The Money, Requiem, Arch, Breathe, Twist & Shine, Robot Selfie) sold through fee-based bookings and co-commissions, alongside studio hire at Kaleider Studios in Exeter and miniature artwork sales via shop.kaleider.com.

Product overview

Kaleider is a not-for-profit production studio (based in Exeter, UK) that creates performance, interactive artworks, and games presented internationally. The portfolio includes theatre productions (Requiem, Arch, The Money), light art installations (Breathe, Twist & Shine), kinetic sculptures (Fish Mobile, The Time It Takes), digital/robotic artworks (Robot Selfie, A Portrait Without Borders), VR experiences (Our Dancing Shadows), and participatory installations (Pig, Let's Twist, Buoyed, BellHouse, Listening Trees, It's A Secret). Core products are available for international touring at price points from £2,500 to £20,000 per week. The studio also operates venue hire (Kaleider Studios) and an online shop selling miniature versions of artworks and games. The company operates from 45 Preston Street, Exeter, which is also home to resident creative organisations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Twist & Shine: Interactive light art installation with interconnected prisms that can be twisted into thousands of shapes, commissioned by RHS Bridgewater.
• The Money®
• Arch
• The Time It Takes
• Fish Mobile
• Robot Selfie
• A Portrait Without Borders
• Pig
• Let's Twist
• Breathe
• Requiem

Products and services

• Requiem Theatre performance that combines a large-scale kinetic installation and an original musical score by Verity Standen, asking what rituals are needed to face the current moment; features a giant ribcage rising from the ground; available for international touring.
• Breathe Gentle kinetic installation of floating light sculptures with articulated circles of light that expand and contract on water surfaces; weather and waterproof, designed for aquatic landscapes; commissioned by RHS Bridgewater for Glow 2025.
• Twist & Shine Landscape of interactive light sculptures made of interconnected prisms that can be twisted into thousands of shapes; built from recyclable Correx with minimum 30% recycled materials; each transformation inherits from the previous user's starting point.
• Arch A theatrical performance built around a freestanding arch made two-thirds of concrete and one-third of ice, with a languageless score exploring themes of death, renewal, hope, and human systems; toured 2024 across nine sites in seven countries; co-commissioned with National Theatre (Generate), Theater op de Markt, Oerol Festival, and IN SITU.
• The Money® Interactive theatre/game where a group of strangers has 60 minutes to agree how to spend a pot of real cash; audience members can buy their way in at any moment; performed on five continents at venues including Sydney Opera House and UK Parliament.
• Pig Large transparent pig-shaped community fund installation; visitors can contribute and collectively decide how to spend the fund; when agreement is reached the pig can be opened; citizen reporting via Pigzine.com.
• Robot Selfie Crowdsourced participatory artwork in which hundreds of faces submitted via the bespoke online platform robotselfie.live are drawn by a non-learning AI and then sprayed by robots onto a giant canvas (10m x 8m) in public space, creating a mural of strangers.
• A Portrait Without Borders Wall-drawing robots create a mural of a city's residents on temporary white walls (three walls, each 6m wide x 2.4m high); affordable to freight; teams of robots draw faces submitted via portraitwithoutborders.live; designed for galleries, empty spaces, shop fronts and conferences.
• Fish Mobile A giant 70-metre tall kinetic sculpture installed in public space, with a balancing mobile of fish suspended from horizontal bars; accompanied by a fish mobile workshop with printing press for audiences to make their own.
• Let's Twist Interactive cardboard prism sculptures that can be twisted into thousands of shapes; delivered flat-packed and assembled on site; a 7.5-metre long sculpture weighs as little as 11 kg; originally commissioned by Rotherham Children's Capital of Culture.
• From The Light Of The Fire, Our Dancing Shadows Two-experience VR work where dancers wear VR headsets and are guided through a poetic virtual world outdoors; participants can watch dancers or be dancers themselves; uses VR technology enabling untethered collaboration in the same virtual space.
• The Time It Takes Participative experience in which three mechanical twin elliptical pendulum harmonographs, suspended about 7m high, use ever decreasing pendulum swings to mark the time it takes to fall to stillness; the artist moves among them changing weights and invites audiences to initiate movement and witness uniquely co-created artworks.
• Kaleider Studios Venue Hire Venue hire at Kaleider Studios, 45 Preston Street, Exeter. Studio 1 seats 30 workshop-style or 75 lecture-style with 4K projector and AV equipment. Pricing: £50+VAT/hour (9am–5pm), £350+VAT/day, £65+VAT/hour after 5pm with Atrium exclusive use; 20% discount for charities and non-profits; ground floor is wheelchair accessible.
• Kaleider Shop Online e-commerce shop at shop.kaleider.com selling miniature Kaleider artworks and games including the Absurdable box game, mini Fish Mobile kits, and mini Let's Twist kits; proceeds support making and touring of the studio's artwork worldwide.
• It's A Secret One-to-one verbal storytelling project in which commissioned stories are told and passed on from person to person through engraved wooden tablets and QR codes that reveal each story's journey.
• Buoyed Interactive cluster of magical glass buoys suspended above head height that pulse with glowing light and muffled voices, enticing visitors to listen closely and triggering the buoys to speak to them.
• BellHouse Playful interactive sound sculpture of 34-35 ceramic bells that translates climate data and non-verbal communication into bell chimes via a motion capture system; originally commissioned by the Met Office.
• Listening Trees Interactive installation in which handmade seats and gramophone horns are attached to trees; when seated, a visitor is connected to another person elsewhere and can talk and listen through the horns.
• Absurdable® Live performance work by Kaleider, registered trademark, available for booking and also sold as a box game through the Kaleider shop.

Quantifiable outcome

• Performed on 5 continents including Sydney Opera House, UK Houses of Parliament, Lagos City Hall, Melbourne's Victoria Parliament, Tianjin Grand Theatre
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers14 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

Feature8 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• IN SITUcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIN SITU is the European platform for artistic creation in public space, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. Kaleider is an associated member. Projects include UN(COMMON) SPACES co-funded by Creative Europe, and ACT project 2017-2020 as international collaborative project in response to Covid-19. Supported Arch, Fish Mobile, Pig, A Portrait Without Borders, and Our Dancing Shadows through IN SITU network.
• Without WallsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWithout Walls Blueprint provided R&D investment for Robot Selfie. Without Walls is a UK consortium of outdoor arts organisations that supports production and touring of large-scale outdoor work.
• RHS BridgewatermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned Breathe for Glow 2025 and Twist & Shine for Glow 2023. Major UK horticultural institution with significant public garden in Manchester.
• Rotherham Children's Capital of CulturemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned Let's Twist and Fish Mobile. UK cultural initiative providing creative experiences for children and families in Rotherham area.
• National TheatremajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArch developed with National Theatre's Generate programme. R&D residency at National Theatre Studio in 2024. Major UK cultural institution supporting emerging theatre practice.
• Theater op de MarktmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-commissioned Arch. Belgian theatre company and festival focused on contemporary performing arts.
• Fira TàrregamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-commissioned Fish Mobile. Premiered Fish Mobile internationally at Fira Tàrrega September 2023. Major contemporary performing arts fair in Spain.
• Oerol FestivalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided R&D support for Requiem. Presented Arch. Dutch festival on Terschelling island focused on site-specific and immersive theatre.
• BASE MilanomajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned The Time It Takes for FAROUT Festival. Italian cultural centre and contemporary arts venue in Milan.
• Freedom Festival Arts TrustmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned A Portrait Without Borders. Supported Pig and Our Dancing Shadows. UK arts organization delivering Freedom Festival in Hull.
• Digital DemocraciessupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupported A Portrait Without Borders alongside IN SITU ACT project. Research/creative technology network focused on digital approaches to community connection.
• Provinciaal Domein DommelhofsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupported Requiem R&D. Belgian cultural centre focused on dance and movement arts.
• Tokyo University of SciencesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerMathematical Experience Plaza contributed to Requiem R&D. Japanese university partnership for mathematical/artistic research.
• Watershed's Pervasive Media StudiomajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirst commissioned Our Dancing Shadows for Layered Realities Weekend (5G showcase). Co-produced with Smart Internet Lab, University of Bristol. UK creative technology hub.
• Switch Systems / Tech ExetersupportingChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTech company resident at Kaleider Studios. Partner with Kaleider to deliver Exeter Network for Art and Creative Technology events. Kris Sum collaborates as creative technology consultant on artworks including Robot Selfie.
• Preston Street FilmssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerFilm production company resident at Kaleider Studios. Documented BellHouse and other projects.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Punchdrunk: UK-based immersive theatre studio known for site-specific, participatory productions like Sleep No More. Closely comparable to Kaleider in combining installation, live performance, and audience participation at premium international venues.
• Rimini Protokoll: Berlin-based collective creating participatory theatre with experts and non-actors in public spaces. Highly comparable in producing socially-engaged, audience-driven touring performances at major European venues.
• Blast Theory: Brighton-based interactive art group creating participatory works blending performance, technology, and digital media. Highly comparable in size, UK base, and use of digital tools for audience-driven experiences.
• Random International: London-based studio creating large-scale kinetic and interactive installations. Comparable in building proprietary technology (e.g., Rain Room) and touring experiential artworks internationally to cultural institutions.
• Marshmallow Laser Feast: London-based experiential art collective blending immersive technology, VR, and installations. Comparable in combining VR experiences with international touring and festival presentations.
• Studio DRIFT: Amsterdam-based studio creating large-scale kinetic installations exploring nature and technology. Comparable in kinetic sculpture focus and international exhibition at venues like Burning Man and V&A.
• UVA (United Visual Artists): London-based studio designing kinetic light and sound installations. Directly comparable in producing touring, large-scale light art installations (Our Time, Momentum) for festivals and cultural venues.

Broad incumbents

• Moment Factory: Montreal-based multimedia studio producing immersive experiences blending art, technology, and storytelling. Comparable in participatory installations and international touring, with broader commercial scope.
• Meow Wolf: US-based immersive art and entertainment company creating large-scale permanent and touring experiential installations. Comparable in participatory, narrative-driven immersive art but operates at much larger commercial scale.
• teamLab: Tokyo-based interdisciplinary art collective creating massive immersive digital installations. Comparable in technology-driven immersive experiences but operates at significantly larger global commercial scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Kaleider
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/15161762
• Instagraminstagram.com/kaleider
• TikToktiktok.com/@kaleider5
• Xx.com/kaleider

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 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 Kaleider