What MyMachine does

MyMachine Global Foundation, legally Mymachine vzw, is a Belgian nonprofit educational organization founded in 2007 and headquartered in Kortrijk, Belgium. It operates a co-creation methodology that, in a single academic year, links three tiers of education: primary school children (ages 6–12) invent 'Dream Machine' ideas and drawings; university students (notably in industrial/product design programs at Howest in Belgium and ESAD in Portugal) translate those ideas into technical concepts and proofs-of-concept; and vocational/technical secondary students manufacture working physical prototypes using woodworking, 3D printing, laser cutting, and welding. The organization describes its core output as creative-confidence development rather than commercial products, and has logged more than 2.1 million student-hours, 218,000+ educator-hours, and 31,300+ documented ideas across its network.

The delivery model is structured around country chapters rather than central distribution. As of recent reporting the foundation operates in 47 countries with 15 formal country-chapters (Belgium, Portugal, Norway, Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, USA, Germany and others); the original Óbidos (Portugal) pilot scaled into nationwide MyMachine Portugal in 2017 and was anchored physically by the MyMachine House creativity hub in November 2022. The annual DreamsDrop Campaign is the top-of-funnel acquisition surface, inviting primary classrooms worldwide to submit ideas through an interactive world map, with selected ideas developed into prototypes. Major visibility drivers include national television coverage in Belgium, Portugal, Czechia, Slovakia and Norway, exhibitions at venues such as the Royal Palace in Belgium and the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, and a dense awards portfolio (UN World Summit Award 2009, Fast Company World Changing Ideas 2021, HundrED Innovator of the Year 2021, multiple Corporate Livewire wins, MIT Solve 2026 list).

MyMachine is funded primarily through individual donations, corporate partnerships (including the Nabeiro Group/Delta Cafés since 2019), and foundation support; it is a registered charity with no disclosed revenue, no equity funding, and no commercial pricing — the program is delivered to schools and students free of charge. The organization is staffed by 11–50 employees at its Kortrijk headquarters and is governed by a Board of Directors; co-founders Piet Grymonprez, Jan Despiegelaere, and Filip Meuris remain publicly associated with the foundation. It is GDPR-compliant, with special provisions for under-16 data subjects, and operates as a Belgian data controller.

Name

MyMachine

Legal name

MyMachine Global Foundation (Mymachine vzw, Belgium)

Website

https://mymachine-global.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MyMachine Global Foundation is a Belgian nonprofit that runs an annual co-creation methodology linking primary school children, university design students, and vocational secondary students to turn children's 'Dream Machine' ideas into working prototypes, operating across 47 countries through 15 country-chapters and funded by donations and partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Project-Based Learning Education Programs

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Innovation & Design Thinking Programs (EDAMAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Robotics & Engineering Summer Camps / Bootcamps (EDAMADAF)

Keywords

• Project-based learning
• Creativity education
• Student co-creation
• Stem education programs
• Educational methodology

Headquarters

HQ city

Kortrijk

HQ country

Belgium

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, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: MyMachine Global Foundation operates as a charitable organization (vzw/asbl in Belgium) relying primarily on donations from individuals, foundations, and corporate sponsors. The website features a donation button and the organization emphasizes building a better future through collective support.
2. Partnership Funding: Strategic partnerships with corporations and foundations provide funding and in-kind support. Examples include partnerships with the Nabeiro Group (Delta Cafés) and the LEGO Foundation recognition.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

MyMachine Global Foundation runs a co-creation educational methodology in which primary school children invent "Dream Machines," university product-design students turn those ideas into technical concepts, and vocational/technical secondary students build the physical working prototypes. The program is delivered free of charge over one academic year through a network of country chapters and an annual global DreamsDrop Campaign, and is funded by donations and partner sponsorships rather than participant fees.

Product overview

MyMachine Global Foundation offers an educational program called Dream Machines—a co-creation platform connecting primary school children (inventors), university students (designers), and vocational/technical secondary students (builders). The program runs through three steps across one academic year: Step 1 (ideation where children invent and draw Dream Machines), Step 2 (university students develop concepts and technical drawings), and Step 3 (technical secondary students build working prototypes). The DreamsDrop Campaign is an annual global outreach initiative enabling primary classrooms worldwide to participate. The MyMachine House in Óbidos, Portugal serves as a permanent physical hub and exhibition space. The organization also publishes books including 'What Is Your Dream Machine?' and 'Because I Can.'

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dream Machines (Core Program) A co-creation education program in which primary school children invent and draw Dream Machine ideas, university product-design students turn those ideas into technical concepts and proofs-of-concept, and vocational/technical secondary students build working physical prototypes. The program runs across one academic year and is offered free of charge to participating primary schools, universities, and vocational secondary schools.
• DreamsDrop Campaign An annual global outreach campaign inviting primary school teachers worldwide to have their students invent and upload Dream Machine ideas to the MyMachine world map. Selected ideas are then designed by university students as proofs-of-concept. The 2026 edition harvested 826 Dream Machines and the 2024 edition produced 866 Dream Machines across 4 continents.
• MyMachine House (Portugal) A permanent physical creativity hub located in Óbidos, Portugal that serves as an exhibition space for completed Dream Machines and hosts creativity activities for local stakeholders and the roughly 2 million annual visitors to the medieval town.
• myBOO

Quantifiable outcome

• 2.1M+ student-hours of creative confidence building
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Harvard Graduate School of EducationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerHarvard Graduate School of Education faculty members Christina Smiraglia and Edward P. Clapp have provided endorsements and validation of the MyMachine methodology, stating that students learn they can contribute to society rather than just be consumers of it.
• Sir Richard BransonflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSir Richard Branson has publicly endorsed MyMachine, calling it 'Love this concept – giving youngsters a way to work together and bring their dreams to life.'
• Sir Ken RobinsonflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSir Ken Robinson, internationally recognized creativity expert, has endorsed MyMachine as an inspirational and practical example of creativity and collaboration.
• LEGO FoundationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe LEGO Foundation has recognized MyMachine as one of 20 Global Champions in Creativity and included it in the Spotlight on Creativity by HundrED and LEGO Foundation.
• HundrEDflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerHundrED has inducted MyMachine into their Hall of Fame and recognized it as Innovator of the Year 2021, highlighting it as one of the world's best educational innovations.
• Nabeiro Group (Delta Cafés)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Nabeiro Group, through its Corporate Social Development program Associação Coração Delta, signed a collaboration agreement with MyMachine Portugal in 2019. Founded by Rui Nabeiro in 1961, the company supports MyMachine activities in Campo Maior.
• Howest University of Applied SciencescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudents of Industrial Product Design at Howest University of Applied Sciences (Belgium) develop concepts and designs for Dream Machines selected through the DreamsDrop Campaign, working on ideas from around the world.
• ESAD University (Escola Superior de Artes e Design)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerESAD University in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal, has integrated MyMachine assignments into their curriculum. Third-year students apply for the assignment covering different parts of product design and development.
• Technology Park ÓbidoscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnology Park Óbidos hosts the MyMachine House in Portugal, a permanent exhibition space and creativity hub opened in November 2022, and collaborates on the FOLIO International Literature Festival.
• Montessori Global EducationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMontessori Global Education recognized MyMachine for World's best in Child-Centred Learning, awarding it the Montessori STAR designation.
• The New York Academy of SciencesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe New York Academy of Sciences has recognized MyMachine, with Hank Nourse stating that MyMachine 'inspires a love of learning that will serve participants for life.'
• The Mayor.EU (European Portal for Cities and Citizens)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTheMayor.EU featured MyMachine Portugal as a good practice example, honoring the work of local authorities in promoting creative education at municipal level.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Maker Ed: Maker Ed is a nonprofit that supports maker education programs for young people, helping schools and libraries implement hands-on making. It shares MyMachine's mission of building creative confidence in children through engineering and making, though its model focuses on educator support rather than multi-tier co-creation.
• Design for Change: Design for Change is a global K-12 program where students identify local problems and design solutions, operating in 60+ countries. It is highly comparable to MyMachine's children-ideate-students-build model and competes for the same school-network partnerships and donor mindshare.
• FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology): FIRST runs global K-12 STEM programs (FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Robotics Competition) where students design, build, and compete with engineered solutions. It directly parallels MyMachine's project-based co-creation model of children ideating and students building physical prototypes.
• CoderDojo: CoderDojo is a global volunteer-led movement of free coding clubs for young people (ages 7-17), operating in 100+ countries. It parallels MyMachine's free, community-driven, chapter-based model of delivering creative/technical education to children, though focused on software rather than physical prototyping.

Broad incumbents

• Ashoka: Ashoka is a global nonprofit that identifies and supports leading social entrepreneurs, including in education. It shares MyMachine's social-impact mission and operates a similar model of seeding changemaker networks across countries, but at a much larger scale and with broader thematic scope.
• LEGO Education: LEGO Education is the education division of the LEGO Group, delivering hands-on STEAM learning solutions to schools globally. It is comparable to MyMachine as a creativity-and-engineering education provider for children, but operates at vastly greater scale with commercial product lines rather than a nonprofit donation model.
• IDEO U: IDEO U, the educational arm of design firm IDEO, teaches design thinking and human-centered design to learners and organizations. It overlaps with MyMachine in the design-thinking pedagogy space, but targets professionals and adults rather than primary-school children.

Emerging players

• HundrED: HundrED is a global education innovation community that spotlights and amplifies grassroots K-12 innovations. It is both a recognized partner of MyMachine (Hall of Fame inductee, Innovator of the Year 2021) and a comparable organization operating in the global creativity/STEAM education space.
• Reimagine Education: Reimagine Education is a global awards program and conference that recognizes educational innovation. It is both a current partner of MyMachine (Silver Award 2023) and a peer organization surfacing comparable STEAM and pedagogical innovations worldwide.

Regional players

• Dream a Dream: Dream a Dream is an India-based nonprofit that works with young people from vulnerable backgrounds to develop life skills through creative arts and sports. It shares MyMachine's mission of building creative confidence in children, but operates primarily in South Asia rather than MyMachine's Europe-heavy footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mymachineglobal
• Facebookfacebook.com/mymachineglobal
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mymachine-global

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 MyMachine