CREA cultural student centre

Name

CREA cultural student centre

Legal name

Stichting CREA

Website

https://crea.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural & Creative Arts Education

NAICS

Fine Arts Schools (611610), Fine Arts Schools (61161), Museums (712110), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (711110)

akta.pro primary industry

Cultural Centers & Multidisciplinary Arts Institutions (THAJADAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Performing Arts Centers & Presenters (Programming/Booking) (MPAGABAM), University & Educational Venue Operations (Auditoriums, Campus Arenas) (MPAGALAI), Performing Arts & Cultural Event Venues (Theaters, Museums) (THAHAAAG)

Keywords

• Creative arts education
• Student cultural center
• Venue rental services
• Workshops and courses
• Cultural programming

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Course fees: CREA generates primary revenue from creative course enrollments. Approximately 700 courses are offered annually across disciplines including film, photography, music, dance, theater, visual arts, writing, digital skills, and body & mind. Courses are priced by category (student, alumni, regular) with 10-week, 12-week, 5-week, and summer intensive formats.
2. Studio and venue rental: CREA rents out 14 studios (12 for up to 20 persons, 2 for individual use) and two performance venues (theater hall with 120 seats, music hall). Rental is priced hourly with student, discounted, and regular categories. Minimum booking is 4 hours for theater/music halls.
3. CREA Café operations: On-site café operated as B.V. CREA Café serving food, beverages, and coffee. Café generates revenue from food and beverage sales to students, event attendees, and the general public.
4. Private workshop bookings: Group workshops booked for corporate events, friend groups, and student clubs. Pricing ranges from €350 to €750 per workshop depending on duration, group size, and materials included.
5. Student office facilities: More than 50 student organizations rent office space in the CREA Voorfabriek building on the Roeterseiland campus.
6. Membership and donations: CREA Friends (Vrienden van CREA) program with monthly subscriptions starting at €5 or annual 'kameraad' memberships at €75-250. Corporate 'kompaan' sponsorships available at custom higher amounts. One-time donations also accepted. CREA holds ANBI (public benefit institution) status enabling tax-deductible donations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CREA cultural student centre is a non-profit cultural student centre of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) that offers 700+ annual creative arts courses across eight disciplines (music, theatre, dance, film & photography, visual arts, writing, new media, and design), plus ~55 intensive summer courses, private workshops, long-term artistic projects, and rents out studios, a 120-seat theatre, and a music hall. It also runs a café, catering/borrel services, and office space for student organisations.

Product overview

CREA is the cultural student centre of the University of Amsterdam (UvA), operating as a unified multi-service platform. Its core offerings consist of (1) over 700 annual creative courses across eight disciplines (film & photography, music, digital & creative skills, dance, theater, visual arts, writing, body & mind), organized in 5-week, 10-week, and 12-week formats; (2) approximately 55 summer courses offered June–August in week, day, and flex formats; (3) special long-term projects (jazz/pop bands, choirs, orchestras); (4) venue rental services including 14 studios for performing arts rehearsals, a 120-seat theatre hall, and a large music hall; (5) private group workshops in 12 creative disciplines; (6) a café with food and beverage service; (7) student office spaces at the Voorfabriek; and (8) the Student Event Fund providing subsidized venue access for student-organized events. These services are interconnected: courses feed into performances held in the theatre/music halls, which the café services as a foyer, and student organizations use both the office spaces and the event fund to organize cultural activities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CREA Cursussen (Creative Courses) An annual programme of more than 700 short and longer creative arts courses spanning music, theatre, dance, film & photography, visual arts, writing, new media, and design, taught by professional artists and instructors. Open to UvA and HvA students with reduced rates and also accessible to alumni, university staff, and the general public.
• Zomercursussen (Summer Courses) A seasonal summer programme of around 55 intensive creative arts courses held during the summer holiday break, covering multiple disciplines. Targeted at students and the broader public seeking condensed training.
• Privé Workshops Private, customisable group workshops for friends, families, colleagues, and other groups who want to take a creative course together on a chosen date. Designed as a teambuilding or group activity offering.
• Speciale Projecten (Special Projects) Long-term, multi-disciplinary artistic projects in which students, professional artists, and local residents collaborate over extended periods to develop new work across CREA's creative disciplines.
• Studioverhuur (Studio Rental) Rental of 14 fully equipped CREA studios — including two painting studios, three dance studios, a music studio, three theatre rehearsal spaces, and a recording studio — booked by the hour for rehearsals, recordings, and creative work by students, makers, and organisations.
• CREA Theaterzaal A 120-seat theatre used for CREA's own performances and available for rental to external producers, festivals, and event organisers for theatrical productions and screenings.
• CREA Muziekzaal A music and events hall used for CREA's own concerts and available for rental to external parties for concerts, receptions, parties, and other events.
• CREA Café An on-site café located inside CREA that serves coffee, tea, lunch, snacks, and drinks to students, course participants, performers, and walk-in visitors throughout the day.
• Borrels & Catering Catering and drinks reception services offered by CREA for receptions, parties, and events held in its halls and studios.
• Studentenkantoren (Student Offices) Office space provided to student organisations at reduced rental rates. CREA houses nine student organisations, giving them a physical base on the UvA Roeterseiland campus.

Named customers9 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered secondary and core.

• PACT+ (ROC van Amsterdam)secondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2024PACT+ is a collective of artistic mbo programs at ROC van Amsterdam. Since September 2024, CREA is the second educational building for PACT+ theater students, who receive lessons in CREA's theater and studio spaces with the start of academic year 2024/2025.
• University of Amsterdam (UvA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCREA is the official cultural student centre of the University of Amsterdam. UvA provides institutional support, funding, and student access. The director reports to a Supervisory Board with UvA representation. The Raad van Toezicht (Supervisory Board) includes Hans van Goudover (Chair, UvA), Sandra de Kruijf (UvA), and Christiaan Baart (UvA Student).
• Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCREA serves students from both UvA and HvA. HvA is represented on CREA's Supervisory Board by Esther Ras.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• LUX (Radboud University cultural centre): Radboud University's cultural centre in Nijmegen combining a cinema, theater, and creative program offerings for students and residents. Mirrors CREA's university-anchored cultural-center concept with mixed arts programming and venue operations, although region-specific rather than Amsterdam-only.
• Armande (cultural student centre VU Amsterdam): Cultural student centre serving VU Amsterdam, providing creative courses and event programming to a Dutch university student base. Comparable as a Dutch university-affiliated cultural centre competing for the same Amsterdam student talent pool, although with a smaller scale of venue operations than CREA.
• Parnassos Cultureel Studentencentrum: Utrecht University's cultural student centre, offering creative courses, studio rental, performance venues, and a café to UU students and the wider Utrecht public. Operates an almost identical multi-service model (courses, venues, café, workshops) on a Dutch university campus, making it the closest like-for-like Dutch peer to CREA.

Broad incumbents

• De Balie: Amsterdam cultural and debate centre combining theater, lectures, debates, and cultural programming in a central venue. Comparable as a multi-program Amsterdam cultural venue, particularly for CREA's lecture/debate and event programming, though citywide rather than university-anchored.
• Melkweg Amsterdam: Major Amsterdam cultural venue operating a music hall, theater, gallery, and café under one roof. Shares with CREA the integrated venue-plus-café model and a strong live-events orientation, while operating at significantly larger capacity and without a fine-arts course offering.
• Paradiso Amsterdam: Iconic Amsterdam live music and cultural venue hosting concerts, club nights, and performances across multiple halls. Comparable as a non-university Amsterdam performing arts venue competing for the same evening event revenue and event-hire clients, though without CREA's educational course arm.
• Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam: Municipal theater presenting mainstream theater, dance, and performance programming from a major Amsterdam venue. Overlaps with CREA's theater programming and event-rental positioning but at substantially larger production scale and without the university student-course engine.

Others

• Studenten Cultuurfestival / Nederlandse culturele studentencentra collectief: Federation/platform representing multiple Dutch university cultural student centres (including Parnassos, Armande, CREA). Functions as a peer-association enabling knowledge and programming exchange between Dutch university cultural centres, relevant to CREA as part of its reference set even if not a direct competitor.

Regional players

• Amsterdam Centrum voor de Kunsten (voorheen Muiderpoort / AKC): Amsterdam-area non-degree creative arts school offering courses in visual arts, music, theater, and dance to adult learners. Most comparable regional competitor to CREA's general-public course and workshop business, particularly the summer/flex course segment that is open beyond students.
• Korzo (The Hague performing arts venue): The Hague-based producing house and theater presenting contemporary dance, music, and performance, with associated course and talent-development programs. Comparable as a Dutch performing-arts venue with a course/talent-development arm, although geographic peer rather than direct Amsterdam competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCTrBr7xqEWMCPiHf8Ed-LMQ
• Instagraminstagram.com/creaamsterdam
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/crea-cultureel-studentencentrum-amsterdam

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 CREA cultural student centre