La Fonderie

What La Fonderie does

La Fonderie, formally La Fonderie vzw and operating as the Brussels Museum of Industry and Labor (Musée bruxellois des industries et du travail / Brussels Museum voor Industrie en Arbeid), is a Belgian non-profit organization founded in 1983 to preserve and promote Brussels' industrial heritage and labor history. It is headquartered at 27 rue Ransfort in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Brussels, on the heritage-listed site of the former Compagnie des Bronzes (1854-1979), an internationally renowned fine art foundry. The institution maintains a permanent exhibition ('Made in Brussels' covering metal, wood, textile, and food production), a portfolio of temporary exhibitions (e.g., 'Unfree Labor,' 'Beldavia'), a documentation center with archives, photographs and oral histories, a scientific publication series (Les Cahiers de La Fonderie, 54+ volumes), a heritage boat (La Gueuse), a canteen (ZOT La Cantine), and an extensive guided walking tour program (Les Parcours de La Fonderie).

La Fonderie serves four primary customer segments: the general public and families visiting the museum, primary and secondary schools from Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (free admission with pedagogical support), adult learners engaged in permanent education, and corporate groups for team-building events. It also rents museum spaces for private events. The business model is a mix of pay-as-you-go ticket revenue (admissions €5–8, guided tours €11–14, private guided visits €110–130 per group, workshops €60–130, summer camps €10 per participant), publication sales, space rental fees, and public funding from the French Community of Belgium. Distribution is direct via walk-in, online booking through qweekle.com, and B2B outreach for school and corporate bookings.

Operations are supported by 17 employees and a network of academic and institutional partners (including ULB, Université de Liège, Université de Namur, UCL, VIVAQUA, and trinational museums in Luxembourg and Germany) under the oversight of an external scientific council of 11 members. The institution has no venture funding, no parent company, and operates as a registered vzw/ASBL under Belgian law, with the site owned by the French Community and made available for its museum operations.

Name

La Fonderie

Legal name

La Fonderie vzw

Website

https://lafonderie.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

La Fonderie is a Brussels-based non-profit museum of industrial and labor history, serving the general public, schools, adult learners, and corporate groups with permanent and temporary exhibitions, guided walking tours, educational workshops, and heritage boat tours on a heritage-listed foundry site.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heritage Museum and Cultural Education

NAICS

Museums (71211), Historical Sites (712120), Museums (712110)

akta.pro primary industry

Historic Sites, Heritage Landmarks & Archaeological Sites (THAJACAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Archaeological Sites & Heritage Interpretation Centers (THAJADAG), Museum & Landmark Guided Tours (Skip-the-line/Docent-led) (THAJAAAC)

Keywords

• Industrial heritage museum
• Labor history exhibitions
• Guided cultural tours
• Educational workshops
• Heritage boat tours

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels (Molenbeek-Saint-Jean)

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Museum admissions: Revenue from ticket sales for museum visits including the permanent exhibition 'Made in Brussels' and temporary exhibitions.
2. Workshop fees: Fees collected for educational workshops, summer art and craft camps, and team building activities.
3. Guided tour tickets: Revenue from themed walking tours and guided visits of the museum site and Brussels neighborhoods.
4. Space rental: Revenue from renting out museum spaces and facilities for events and activities.
5. Publications: Sales of publications including Les Cahiers de La Fonderie series and exhibition catalogs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

La Fonderie operates a museum and cultural center on the historic site of the former Compagnie des Bronzes foundry in Brussels, presenting exhibitions on industrial and labor history. It offers permanent and temporary exhibitions, themed guided walking tours, educational workshops and summer camps, heritage boat tours, and a scientific publication series, supported by a documentation center and research activities.

Product overview

La Fonderie, Brussels Museum of Industry and Work, operates as a cultural institution offering a portfolio of products and services centered on industrial heritage preservation and education. The core offering includes the permanent exhibition 'Made in Brussels' showcasing Brussels' industrial history across four sectors (metal, wood, textile, food production), complemented by temporary exhibitions such as 'Beldavia' and 'Unfree Labor'. The institution provides guided walking tours through 'Les Parcours de La Fonderie' series, educational workshops and summer camps, scientific publications under the 'Les Cahiers de La Fonderie' series, a documentation center, and the 'La Gueuse' heritage boat tours. Additional services include the ZOT associative canteen, space rentals, and team building activities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Made in Brussels (Permanent Exhibition)

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Université de LuxembourgcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 June 2023Academic partner for 'Unfree Labor' exhibition (2023-2024), examining forced labor in modern societies.
• Université de LiègecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 June 2023Academic partner for 'Unfree Labor' exhibition, bringing Belgian university perspective to the trinational project.
• École supérieure des Arts Saint-Luc de LiègeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 June 2023Art school partner contributing student perspectives and innovative approach to the 'Unfree Labor' exhibition.
• MUAR - Museum vun der Aarbecht, Kayl (Luxembourg)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 June 2023Luxembourg museum partner for the trinational 'Unfree Labor' exhibition project.
• DASA - Arbeitswelt Ausstellung, Dortmund (Germany)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 June 2023German museum partner for the trinational 'Unfree Labor' exhibition examining labor issues across Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany.
• Museum le Bois du Cazier, Charleroi (Belgium)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 June 2023Belgian museum partner for 'Unfree Labor' exhibition, bringing Walloon industrial heritage perspective.
• VIVAQUAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 October 2021Water exhibition partner for 'Oh ! Ça ne coule pas de source' exhibition (2021-2022). VIVAQUA participated in the partnership marking its 130th anniversary, providing expertise on Brussels water history and distribution systems.
• Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) - Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Urban StudiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 October 2021Academic partner for the 'Oh ! Ça ne coule pas de source' water exhibition, contributing research expertise on urban water systems and history.
• Archives de l'État à BruxellescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState archives partner for the Salamandre project researching archival sources on soil pollution from industrial history.
• Centre d'Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques, Université de LiègecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner for Salamandre project, contributing expertise in history of science and techniques.
• Pôle d'Histoire et de Sociologie environnementales, Université de NamurcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner for Salamandre project, providing environmental history and sociology expertise.
• Earth and Life Institute, Université catholique de LouvaincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerScientific partner for Salamandre project, contributing earth and life sciences research capabilities.
• asbl BruxellesFabriquesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCivil society partner for Salamandre project, supporting citizen engagement with industrial heritage.
• Musée des Égouts (Brussels Sewer Museum)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint partner for 'Oh ! La Balade' audio walking tour project, combining water-themed tour from La Fonderie to the Sewer Museum.
• FabwestminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in organizing 'Sous les pavés' summer workshop creating bronze milestone markers for the water walking tour.
• École de devoirs l'AmorceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth education center whose participants designed original plaster models for bronze milestone markers during 'Sous les pavés' workshop.
• Quizás vzwcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerExhibition producer for 'Beldavia' interactive exhibition about migration experiences, developed with literacy course participants.
• La Rue asblminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial partner for 'Beldavia' exhibition, contributing to the co-creation with literacy and integration course participants.
• Lire et écrire BruxellesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiteracy organization whose participants' testimonies formed the basis for the immersive 'Beldavia' exhibition experience.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Train World: Brussels railway heritage museum. Regional peer operating in the same city with overlapping industrial/transport heritage theme; competes for a similar Brussels tourist and educational audience but specializes in railway rather than general industrial history.
• Belgian Comic Strip Center: Brussels museum dedicated to comic strip art housed in an Art Nouveau building. Regional peer in Brussels cultural-heritage museum landscape with strong tourist appeal and family programming; competes for a similar visitor demographic.
• ADAM - Atomium & Design Museum Brussels: Brussels-based museum complex anchored by the Atomium (1958 World's Fair heritage structure). Regional peer sharing industrial-heritage DNA through the Expo 58 legacy, though positioned for a broader design and architecture audience.
• Musée des Égouts de Bruxelles: Brussels Sewer Museum. Regional peer operating in the same city with industrial infrastructure heritage focus; active partner with La Fonderie on the 'Oh ! La Balade' audio walking tour, indicating close thematic and audience overlap.
• MIM - Musical Instruments Museum: Brussels museum of musical instruments housed in an Art Nouveau building. Regional peer in Brussels cultural-heritage landscape with strong tourist appeal and curriculum-linked educational programming that competes for school group bookings.

Broad incumbents

• BOZAR - Centre for Fine Arts: Major Brussels arts center hosting exhibitions, concerts, and cultural programming. Broad incumbent competing for cultural-event visitors and educational group bookings in central Brussels.
• Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium: Major Brussels art museum complex. Broad incumbent in Brussels' cultural landscape with significantly larger scale, federal funding, and visitor numbers; competes for tourist mindshare and educational group bookings.

Direct peers

• DASA Arbeitswelt Ausstellung: German federal museum of work and industry in Dortmund. Direct peer as a labor and industry museum and trinational partner on 'Unfree Labor'; operates at significantly larger scale but with comparable thematic mission around industrial heritage.
• MUAR - Musée vun der Aarbecht: Luxembourg museum of labor history located in Kayl. Direct peer in industrial/labor heritage museum operations and confirmed partner on the 'Unfree Labor' trinational exhibition; serves a comparable audience with overlapping curatorial philosophy.
• Museum le Bois du Cazier: UNESCO-listed coal mining and industrial heritage museum in Charleroi, Belgium. Directly comparable as a Walloon industrial heritage museum and active partner in La Fonderie's 'Unfree Labor' trinational exhibition, sharing the same labor-history and industrial-archaeology thematic focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/LaFonderieBruxelles
• Instagraminstagram.com/lafonderie_bruxelles
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/la-fonderie-asbl

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 La Fonderie