Museum of 21st Century Design

What Museum of 21st Century Design does

Museum of 21st Century Design (M21D) is a Netherlands-based, Dutch-registered non-profit foundation (Stichting Museum of 21st Century Design) that operates as a nomadic museum without a permanent building. Founded by William Myers and headquartered in Amsterdam, M21D studies and promotes design that improves climate and society, defining design broadly to include objects, digital interfaces, synthetic biology, and social activism strategies created since 2000. Its core products comprise a growing digital Study Collection of design artifacts, signature exhibitions staged at partner venues (notably the 90,242+-visitor 'Objects from our 21st Century Ancestors' at Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in 2023), a 9-month Museum Fellowship Program launched in 2023 with the School of Visual Arts in New York, free educational resources including Biodesign guides and Design for Ecology courses, and the distinctive '2108 Future Perspectives' city tours that reframe present-day objects as future relics.

M21D serves design enthusiasts, museum professionals, recent graduate designers, and partner cultural institutions. Its go-to-market is event-driven and community-led, built around co-produced exhibitions and public programming with a global partner network that includes MIT Museum, Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA), CAFA Beijing, Design Platform Rotterdam, Next Nature Network, BlueCity Lab, and others. Audience reach spans documented programming in the Netherlands, United States (Northeast and Southeast), Colombia, South Africa, China, and Singapore. Marketing is conducted primarily through the m21d.org website, Instagram (@museum21design), LinkedIn, an email newsletter, earned media/press, and in-person events at Dutch Design Week and Floriade.

The organization's revenue model is non-commercial and relies on three pillars: tiered memberships/donations (Friends $100+/year, International Council $5,000+/year, Corporate Circle $10,000+/year) processed as tax-deductible gifts via Every.org and Myriad; institutional grants from Dutch cultural and governmental funders (Creative Industries Fund NL, VriendenLoterij Fonds, Fonds 21, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, City of Almere) and US foundation supporters (Wyss Institute at Harvard, Rockwell Group); and partnership-based in-kind support from host institutions. M21D's leadership team is small, including Founding Director William Myers, Curator Emma van der Leest, Collections Curator Dr. Kiersten Thamm, and former Head of Operations Georgina McDowall, with an advisory board formed in March 2022 comprising Kurt Andersen, Kimberlie Birks, and Wendy Evans Joseph. The organization holds no disclosed patents, has no subsidiaries, and is not venture-funded.

Name

Museum of 21st Century Design

Legal name

Stichting Museum of 21st Century Design

Website

https://m21d.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

M21D is a Netherlands-based nomadic museum that curates and studies design with positive social and environmental impact, staging exhibitions worldwide through institutional partnerships and funded by donations, memberships, and grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Design Museum and Cultural Foundation Services

NAICS

Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121)

akta.pro primary industry

Virtual Field Trips & Experiential Learning Environments (Museums, Geography, History) (EDAFAJAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Open Multimedia OER (video, audio, podcasts, animations) (EDAGAJAF)

Keywords

• Design museum exhibitions
• Cultural foundation programs
• Museum fellowship programs
• Contemporary design education
• Biodesign workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Programs: Friends of M21D ($100+/year), International Council ($5,000+/year), and Corporate Circle ($10,000+/year) membership tiers providing various benefits and support for museum operations and programs.
2. Tax-Deductible Donations: Tax-deductible donations from USA and Netherlands processed through Every.org and Myriad. Donations provide critical support for museum work and programs.
3. Corporate/Foundation Grants: Support from foundations including Wyss Institute at Harvard University, City of Almere, School of Visual Arts, Rockwell Group, Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), and Creative Industries Fund NL.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

M21D is a nomadic/distributed museum that studies and promotes 21st-century design that improves climate and society, staging online and in-person exhibitions at partner venues worldwide without maintaining a permanent building. Its core offerings include co-produced exhibitions (e.g., Objects from our 21st Century Ancestors, Gene Cultures), a growing digital Study Collection of design artifacts created since 2000, the Museum Fellowship Program for recent graduates, free educational resources such as the Biodesign Guide, and 2108 Future Perspectives Tours.

Product overview

M21D is a distributed museum platform offering multiple interconnected programs: its core offering is a nomadic museum that stages design exhibitions worldwide, supported by a growing digital study collection of design artifacts created since 2000. The Museum Fellowship Program provides paid positions for recent graduates to develop exhibitions and publications. Educational Resources delivers free teaching tools globally, including courses on biodesign. The 2108 Future Perspectives Tours offer creative city tours imagining objects from a future viewpoint. These programs collectively advance M21D's mission to study and promote design that improves climate and society.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• M21D Nomadic Museum Platform A nomadic museum platform staging online and in-person exhibitions in surprising locations worldwide, dedicated to studying and promoting 21st-century design that improves climate and society. Free and open to the public.
• M21D Study Collection A growing online digital collection of post-2000 design artifacts with positive social or environmental impact, including design objects, digital interfaces, synthetic biology, and social-activism strategies, freely accessible to the public for research and discourse.
• Museum Fellowship Program A 9-month (rolling basis) fellowship program for recent masters-degree design graduates, providing coaching in proposal crafting, budgeting, fundraising, and multi-format networking; fellows receive a stipend and project support to translate ideas into books, exhibitions, programming events, and public activities at M21D partner venues.
• Educational Resources Free teaching tools, publications, and courses for students, teachers, and the general public, including Design for Ecology & Crisis courses, Biodesign workshops, and Object Label Writing activities created with global institutional partners.
• 2108 Future Perspectives Tours Creative city tours presented from the 22nd-century perspective of a fictional Bureau of Reconstruction, examining everyday 21st-century design objects as relics and prompting reflection on how present-day design shapes the future.
• Biodesign Guide A free downloadable Biodesign guide for students and teachers exploring design with biology, published in collaboration with MoMA with samples from Bioart and Bioart and Design Award (BAD Award) publications.
• Objects from our 21st Century Ancestors Exhibition A flagship co-produced exhibition with Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen examining how the design collection will be presented in the year 2108, viewed from a 22nd-century future perspective; free public admission at Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen (Rotterdam).
• Gene Cultures Exhibition An exhibition co-produced with MIT Museum presenting works of design and art responding to or utilizing new biotechnologies of the last twenty years; inaugurated MIT's new museum building constructed in 2022.
• Contra Mira Research and Digital Exhibition An online research-and-exhibition project documenting life around the Metrocable in Medellín, Colombia, based on 130 interviews and six months of investigation; produced by Collections Curator Kiersten Thamm in collaboration with Emily Hart.
• Out of Place and Time: Dutch Design Week Pop-up Exhibition A free pop-up outdoor exhibition at Dutch Design Week (October 22-30, 2022) featuring plinths of familiar 21st-century design objects labeled from a future perspective, presented in Eindhoven and online.
• Friends of M21D Membership An annual tax-deductible donation-membership tier at $100 or more supporting the museum's daily operations and programs; available to USA and Netherlands donors with wire transfer and check options for international donors.
• International Council Membership A $5,000-or-more annual tax-deductible membership tier for a global group of philanthropists, collectors, and design supporters dedicated to advancing M21D's mission.
• Corporate Circle Membership A $10,000-or-more annual tax-deductible membership tier supporting M21D to spotlight design with positive impact on society and environment, available to corporate and foundation supporters.

Quantifiable outcome

• 90,242+ visitors to single exhibition in 5 months
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 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

Partnerships

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

• Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 June 2024Groundbreaking partnership dedicated to developing and presenting exhibitions and public programs that harness the transformative power of design to shape the future in Atlanta, the Netherlands, and beyond. Rooted in shared mission to drive cultural change and promote social and environmental resilience. Partnership kicks off with support from Dutch Consulate and King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima's visit to Atlanta.
• Museum Boijmans Van BeuningenflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 April 2023Co-produced Objects from our 21st Century Ancestors exhibition examining how design collection will be presented in 2108. Part of Looking Ahead: Objects of Change exhibition at Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen. More than 90,000 visitors attended.
• School of Visual Arts (SVA), New YorkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Launched Museum Fellowship Program in 2023 for recent masters degree graduates. Program provides coaching on practical skills including proposal crafting, budgeting, fundraising, and networking. Fellows receive stipends and support to translate ideas into tangible projects.
• MIT MuseumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2022M21D collaborated with MIT Museum to research and co-produce the Gene Cultures exhibition on view October 2022 onwards, presenting works of design and art responding to or utilizing new biotechnologies. First inaugural exhibition at MIT's new museum constructed in 2022.
• Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), BeijingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partner institution for educational collaboration and cultural exchange in design research
• Design Platform RotterdamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partner for Rotterdam-based programming and future perspective city tours
• Next Nature NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for Nature Loves Technology expo and curatorial collaboration at Floriade 2022
• BlueCity LabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRotterdam-based circular economy lab partner for sustainable design programming
• Fiction FactoryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDutch design studio partner for creative collaboration

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen: First publicly accessible art storage facility of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam and M21D's host venue for its largest exhibition; comparable as a major Dutch cultural venue co-presenting M21D exhibitions to large public audiences.
• Museum of Modern Art (MoMA): Premier modern art and design museum in New York; while not a dedicated design museum, MoMA's architecture and design department (led by Paola Antonelli, who endorses M21D) makes it the most influential reference point and benchmark for M21D's curatorial ambitions.

Direct peers

• Design Museum (London): Major UK design museum with exhibitions on contemporary and historical design; directly comparable as a purpose-built design museum addressing design's social and environmental impact through exhibitions and public programming.
• Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum: The Smithsonian's design museum in New York; comparable as a dedicated design museum with educational programming, exhibitions on contemporary design, and curatorial focus on design's social impact — the closest traditional-museum analog to M21D's design-for-impact mission.
• MIT Museum: Flagship US university museum and M21D partner on the Gene Cultures exhibition; comparable as a partner-institution host that mounts design-and-technology exhibitions with educational and curatorial collaboration.
• Vitra Design Museum: Leading international design museum (Germany/Switzerland) focused on design and architecture; comparable through its curatorial emphasis on design's role in society and its global travelling exhibitions across partner venues.
• Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA): Design-focused museum and M21D's flagship US partner; directly comparable as a design museum with mission-driven programming on design's societal role and a similar audience of design enthusiasts, students, and educators.

Emerging players

• School of Visual Arts (SVA): New York art and design school and M21D's fellowship-program partner; comparable through its role in training emerging designers and curating public design programming that M21D's fellowship program complements.
• Next Nature Network: Amsterdam-based research network exploring the relationship between nature and technology; a minor M21D partner that overlaps thematically on biodesign and 'Nature Loves Technology' programming.

Regional players

• Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) Art Museum: Major Chinese fine-arts institution and M21D's partner for international design-research collaboration; comparable as an educational/cultural partner hosting design exhibitions in a different geography (East Asia).

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/museum-of-21st-century-design
• Instagraminstagram.com/museum21design
• Facebookfacebook.com/100069834231286

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Museum of 21st Century Design