What Brussels Special Venues does

Brussels Special Venues (BSV) is a Belgian not-for-profit association (Association sans but lucratif / ASBL, VOG) founded in 2006 that operates venues.be, a multilingual (French, English, Dutch, German) directory and lead-generation platform connecting international event organizers with a curated network of 50–60+ exceptional, non-hotel event venues in the Brussels metropolitan area. Its core product, the Venue Finder, is a multi-criteria search tool that lets planners filter by capacity (10 to 10,000+ attendees), event type, configuration, district, and accessibility criteria, save a Request List of preferred venues, and receive proposals within 48 hours. The platform is built on a WordPress stack with Google Analytics integration, GDPR-compliant consent management, and dedicated hosting managed by infrastructure partner Media*A, rather than on proprietary AI or ML technology.

The network spans heritage buildings, art deco landmarks, industrial conversions, contemporary spaces, museums, concert halls, and theatres, and includes iconic Brussels venues such as the Atomium, Bozar, Tour & Taxis, Train World, the Ancienne Belgique, and KVS. BSV supplements the directory with a monthly newsletter, a downloadable venue catalog PDF, and seasonal promotional campaigns (e.g., Winter Offers 2025–2026 aggregating discounts from member venues), and exhibits annually alongside Visit Brussels at IMEX Frankfurt. Distribution is self-serve through the website, with no commission charged to either party; the organization takes no transaction fees and does not act as a booking intermediary.

BSV is financed entirely through membership dues paid by its venue members, who collectively govern the association through a Board of Directors drawn from member organizations (President Annik Halmes of Bozar; Vice-President Adrien Stordeur of Rivieren Castle; board members from Ancienne Belgique, KVS, Atomium, and Quartier Papier; Association Manager Heidi Martens). It operates with the support of the Brussels Region and holds HUB Partner status on hospitality.brussels, embedding it within Brussels' official MICE destination-marketing ecosystem. The organization has grown from six founding members in 2006 to more than fifty today and celebrated its 20th anniversary in January 2026.

Name

Brussels Special Venues

Legal name

Brussels Special Venues (ASBL / Association sans but lucratif)

Website

https://venues.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Brussels Special Venues is a not-for-profit association that runs a multilingual venue-finding platform connecting international event organizers with a curated network of 50+ exceptional, non-hotel event venues in Brussels, funded entirely by membership dues paid by venue members.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Event Venue Services

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities (71131), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192), Historical Sites (712120)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Conference Centers & Dedicated Meeting Venues (THAHAAAB)

Keywords

• Event venue network
• Venue booking platform
• Corporate event spaces
• Meeting venue directory
• MICE venue curation

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership fees from venue members: As a not-for-profit association (ASBL/VOG) directly financed by its members — the venue owners — Brussels Special Venues is funded through membership dues. The service is free for both event organizers and venue members (no commission, no fees). The organization does not sell products or services to customers.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Brussels Special Venues is a not-for-profit association (ASBL/VOG) that operates a free, commission-free Venue Finder platform (venues.be) connecting international event organizers with a curated network of over 300 exceptional (non-hotel) event venues across Brussels, including heritage buildings, museums, theatres, industrial conversions, and contemporary spaces. The association is financed by membership dues paid by the venue owners, and provides multilingual (FR, EN, NL, DE) search tools with proposals delivered to organizers within 48 hours.

Product overview

Brussels Special Venues is a not-for-profit association that operates a platform connecting event organizers with exceptional venues in Brussels. The core offering consists of the Venue Finder (a multi-criteria search tool), a curated Venue Collection Network of 50+ venues offering 500+ event rooms, and a Request List feature enabling users to send bulk requests and receive proposals within 48 hours. Supplementary services include a monthly newsletter, downloadable venue catalog, and seasonal promotional offers. The platform is free to event organizers with no commission charged, financed directly by member venue fees. The network includes diverse venue types: heritage buildings, industrial conversions, contemporary spaces, museums, concert halls, theatres, and purpose-built facilities accommodating events from 10 to 10,000+ attendees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Venue Finder Multi-criteria search tool enabling event organizers to instantly find exceptional venues in Brussels based on event type, capacity, configuration, location, and other filters. Users can compare venues and receive proposals within 48 hours, free of charge and without obligation.
• Venue Collection Network A curated member network of exceptional event venues across Brussels, covering art deco, industrial, contemporary, museum, concert hall, and theatre settings suitable for events of any size.
• Request List (Ma Liste de Demandes) Wishlist feature allowing users to save selected venues and send bulk requests to multiple venues simultaneously, receiving proposals within 48 hours for comparison and direct contact.
• Venue Catalog (PDF) Downloadable catalog providing an overview of exceptional venues available through the Brussels Special Venues network.
• Monthly Newsletter Monthly email newsletter providing new trends, inspirations, and special offers from Brussels Special Venues member venues to event organizers and industry subscribers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Receive venue proposals within 48 hours — no commission, no obligation

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Visit BrusselscoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 19 May 2026Brussels Special Venues co-exhibits with Visit Brussels at IMEX Frankfurt 2026 (Hall 8, Stand C110, May 19–21, 2026). Visit Brussels handles the destination story; BSV brings the venues that bring that story to life. Together they represent the full Brussels MICE offer.
• Brussels RegionsupportingOthersBrussels Special Venues operates with the support of the Brussels Region and is featured as a HUB Partner on hospitality.brussels.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• EventUp: An online marketplace for booking unique event venues, particularly in major US cities. Comparable to BSV's venue-finder proposition and curation focus on distinctive spaces, though smaller and more concentrated geographically.

Regional players

• The Main Event (by Main Events): An event-venue marketing and representation firm operating in the Australian market. Comparable to BSV as a venue-marketing intermediary representing owners to event organizers, but regionally focused on Australia rather than Europe.

Broad incumbents

• Eventbrite: A global event ticketing and registration platform with growing venue-discovery features. Comparable to BSV as a venue and event-discovery channel for organizers, though it primarily serves self-service ticketing rather than curated special-venue matchmaking.
• Cvent: A large event-management platform with a venue-sourcing directory used by corporate planners globally. Overlaps with BSV in venue-discovery functionality but addresses a much broader event-tech stack (registration, RFPs, attendee management) and serves as a broad incumbent rather than a special-venue specialist.

Direct peers

• Unique Venues: A membership-based network of distinctive, non-hotel event venues primarily in the United States. Closely comparable to BSV in operating model — curating special venues, running a venue finder, and being member-funded — though larger in scale and broader geographically.
• HeadBox: A digital marketplace that connects event organizers with unique meeting and event venues, predominantly in the UK. Direct competitor to BSV's Venue Finder in business model (venue discovery for distinctive spaces) and target audience (corporate and agency event planners).
• VenueScanner: A UK-based venue sourcing platform that helps event organizers find and compare meeting and event spaces. Closely comparable to BSV in target customer (corporate and agency event planners) and core offering (multi-criteria venue search), though focused on the UK market.

Others

• Visit Brussels: Brussels' official tourism and convention bureau, which co-exhibits with BSV at IMEX and provides institutional destination marketing. Not a competitor — instead a strategic partner that amplifies BSV's reach to international MICE buyers.
• IMEX Group: Operator of IMEX Frankfurt and IMEX America, the largest MICE trade shows globally. Comparable as a MICE-ecosystem enabler where BSV exhibits to acquire organizers, rather than as a venue or venue-network competitor.
• Historic Houses (UK): A UK membership association for owners of historic houses, gardens and heritage sites — many of which host private and corporate events. Conceptually adjacent to BSV's heritage-venue segment, though its primary mission is heritage advocacy rather than venue marketing.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/brusselsvenues
• Facebookfacebook.com/BrusselsSpecialVenues
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brusselsspecialvenues
• Instagraminstagram.com/brussels_special_venues

Compliance9 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Brussels Special Venues