What IxDA Berlin does

IxDA Berlin is a volunteer-run community organization and the Berlin local chapter of the global Interaction Design Association (IxDA), founded in 2008 and operating in Berlin, Germany. It serves interaction designers, UX professionals, and design students by organizing free monthly meetups, workshops, and networking events that connect local practitioners with international speakers and thought leaders in the design field. The organization has hosted 82+ events since inception, with attendance ranging from 60-170 per regular meetup and up to 500 attendees at the annual UXmas celebration.

The organization is led by four core volunteer organizers — Thomas Kueber, Andre Jay Meissner, Audrey Liehn, and Kathryn Hing — and operates without paid staff or commercial product offerings. Its underlying infrastructure is built on standard community and event-management tools, including Twitter for outreach, Slack for member communication, Eventbrite for event registration, Vimeo and Flickr for media, and Medium for long-form content. It has no proprietary technology platform and no formal product roadmap.

Its business model relies entirely on corporate event sponsorships rather than attendee fees or membership dues. Companies including Zalando, HERE Technologies, Betahaus, IBM iX, Mozilla, SAP, Adobe, and denkwerk provide in-kind support in the form of venue space, food, beverages, and occasionally speaker travel. The organization functions as a cost-covering community asset under the IxDA umbrella rather than a revenue-generating enterprise, with no disclosed financial statements, funding rounds, or monetization beyond event sponsorship.

Name

IxDA Berlin

Legal name

IxDA Berlin

Website

https://ixdaberlin.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Short description

IxDA Berlin is a volunteer-run local chapter of the Interaction Design Association, founded in 2008, that organizes free monthly meetups and workshops for Berlin's interaction designers, UX professionals, and design students, funded entirely by corporate event sponsorships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Event Sponsorships: Corporate sponsors provide venue space, food, beverages, and sometimes speaker travel accommodations. Sponsors include design-focused companies like Zalando, HERE Technologies, Betahaus, and various Berlin-based agencies and tech companies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

IxDA Berlin is a volunteer-run local chapter of the Interaction Design Association that organizes free, recurring talks, meetups, and social gatherings for interaction designers and UX practitioners in Berlin. Programming is supported by event sponsors (design-adjacent companies) that provide venues, food, drinks, and financial backing, and content is archived online via Vimeo, Flickr, and Medium for community members who cannot attend in person.

Product overview

IxDA Berlin is a community organization (local chapter of the Interaction Design Association) that organizes meetups, events, and social gatherings for interaction designers in Berlin. It does not offer commercial products or services in the traditional sense. The organization operates through volunteer-led events featuring talks, workshops, open mic sessions, and networking activities, supported by sponsors and collaborative partnerships with other design communities in Berlin.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

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

• IxDA (Interaction Design Association)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008IxDA Berlin is the local Berlin chapter of the global Interaction Design Association. The chapter operates under IxDA's umbrella organization, sharing resources, branding, and access to the international IxDA network including the annual Interaction conference.
• ZalandoflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor sponsor providing venue space (The Hub, InnoLab), food, and drinks for multiple events. Design team members frequently present as speakers. Jay Kaufmann (UX Lead) helped conduct UX job title survey presented at the chapter.
• HERE TechnologiescoreGTM or Marketing PartnerVenue sponsor hosting multiple events including IxDD 2022. Provided rooftop terrace for event #81. Ongoing partnership for hosting design community events.
• BetahauscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-working space serves as official mailing address for the chapter and venue for events including summer BBQs and regular meetups. Provides community space for Berlin's design ecosystem.
• AdobeminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEmployer of co-organizer Andre Jay Meissner and frequent speaker Khoi Vinh (Principal Designer). Adobe XD team members present at events and provide design tool expertise.
• Service Design BerlincoreGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner design community for joint events including UXmas annual celebrations. Cross-promotes events and shares audience with Berlin's service design practitioner community.
• UXcamp EuropecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerAnnual unconference focused on user experience. Co-organizers Clive K. Lavery involved in both communities. Joint promotion and audience sharing for events.
• denkwerkminorGTM or Marketing PartnerDigital agency where multiple speakers (Sandra Griffel-Ripperger, Susanne Junglas, Melanie Weißenborn) work. Presented on screenless interfaces, design metrics, and strategic design topics.
• IBM iXminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHosted event #82 (Interaction 23 recap) at their Berlin office on Chausseestraße. Venue sponsor for design community events.
• Mozilla BerlinminorGTM or Marketing PartnerHosted event #65 (Interaction 18 Redux) at Mozilla Berlin office on Schlesische Straße. Provided venue for design community gathering.
• SAPminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor of UXmas 2017 event. SAP Data Space hosted event #60 (Healthcare design). SAP Health Innovation Hub team members presented on digital health topics.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Service Design Berlin: Sister design community in Berlin that co-hosts UXmas and other events with IxDA Berlin; serves a closely overlapping practitioner audience and competes for the same sponsorship dollars and venues.
• IxDA NYC: Another major city-level IxDA chapter running the same model — volunteer-led, sponsor-supported meetups for interaction designers — under the same IxDA umbrella.
• UXcamp Europe: Annual UX unconference in Berlin with shared organizers (e.g., Clive K. Lavery) and joint promotion; directly competes for attention from Berlin's UX practitioners and sponsorship budget.
• UX Bookclub Berlin: Berlin-based community running recurring events for the same UX practitioner audience; cross-promotes with IxDA Berlin and competes for attendance and sponsors.
• Ladies That UX Berlin: Berlin chapter of a global UX community that runs meetups for the same UX/interaction design audience; cross-promotes with IxDA Berlin and competes for attendees and design-focused sponsors.

Broad incumbents

• AIGA New York / AIGA chapters: Long-established professional association for design with local chapters that run events and programming for designers; broader in scope than IxDA but overlaps on community-driven designer events and sponsorships.
• Interaction Design Foundation: Global educational organization for interaction design offering courses and community; overlaps with IxDA Berlin's knowledge-sharing mission and competes for engagement from the same practitioner audience.
• Interaction Design Association (IxDA): Global parent organization of which IxDA Berlin is a local chapter; operates the Interaction conference and broader IxDA network that Berlin contributes to and draws speakers from.

Emerging players

• Smashing Conference: Runs paid design/web conferences (including in Berlin and Freiburg) targeting a similar web/UX designer audience; an alternative destination for the same talent pool that attends IxDA Berlin events.

Others

• Adobe (XD community events): Adobe (an IxDA Berlin sponsor) runs its own global XD and design community events and learning content; an ecosystem participant whose programming partially substitutes for IxDA Berlin meetups.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/IxDAb
• YouTubevimeo.com/ixdab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ixda-berlin

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 IxDA Berlin