What Space Invaders does

Space Invaders is an international street art project founded in 1998 by the pseudonymous French artist known as Invader, who operates under the self-coined title 'Unidentified Free Artist' (UFA). The project's core product is the installation of pixelated ceramic-tile mosaics depicting Space Invaders video-game characters and original icons on walls across more than 87 territories worldwide, with 4,411+ documented pieces in a proprietary database that tracks pictures, birth dates, addresses, and a 10–100 point score per work. Beyond the core street activity, the project has diversified into authenticated collectible replicas (Alias, exactly one per street work), ready-to-use Invasion Kits, 27 invasion guide books and city maps, a Rubikcubism movement using Rubik's cubes as a medium, QR-code mosaics that hide space invader signatures while remaining scannable, the FlashInvaders smartphone app for gamified discovery, an Art4Space stratosphere mission, an underwater sub-installation in Cancun Bay, and the Space2 mosaic installed on the International Space Station in 2015.

The business model combines direct-to-consumer e-commerce through the Space Shop, gallery representation across Paris, Los Angeles, New York, and London (Over the Influence, Galerie Itinerrance, Jonathan Levine, Lazarides), institutional exhibition ticket and merchandise sales, museum commissions, and brand collaborations. Pricing spans accessible tiers (€10 exhibition tickets, invasion kits) up to premium collector Alias editions sold through represented galleries. Customer segments include art collectors seeking authenticated editions with street-art provenance, museums and cultural institutions seeking contemporary programming, street art enthusiasts engaging through the FlashInvaders app, and brand collaborators such as PETA. Distribution is hybrid, leveraging guerrilla street visibility for top-of-funnel demand generation and formal gallery channels for bottom-of-funnel conversion, with the artist retaining full ownership and operating without external capital or a formal legal entity structure.

The project is intentionally constrained in scale: it is documented as the work of one artist supported by a small confidential studio team, with independent installers worldwide replicating the methodology unbidden. Marketing relies on organic Instagram (@invaderwashere), earned media from installation events, the interactive World Invasion website map, and the FlashInvaders community. The combination of museum-grade institutional legitimacy (Louvre, MOCA, MIMA, Newport Street), durable street presence since 1998, and continuous format innovation positions the project as a hybrid cultural enterprise whose value derives from the irreproducible authorship of a single anonymous artist rather than scalable team output.

Name

Space Invaders

Legal name

Invader (individual artist operating under pseudonym; no formal legal entity name documented)

Website

https://space-invaders.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Space Invaders is a global street art project founded in 1998 by anonymous French artist Invader, installing 4,000+ pixelated ceramic mosaics across 87 territories, monetized through gallery-represented Alias editions, exhibitions, the Space Shop, and museum commissions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Street Art Installations

NAICS

Indoor and Outdoor Display Advertising (541850)

akta.pro primary industry

Alternative OOH & Ambient Media (Guerrilla, Pop-Up Installations) (BPAFALAI)

Keywords

• Street art mosaics
• Ceramic tile art
• Limited art editions
• Urban art installations
• Mobile art discovery

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Original Art Sales (Alias): Authenticated replicas of street works sold with ID cards referencing the original street installation. Each Alias is the only authorized replica of any past or present street work.
2. Invasion Kits: Ready-to-use limited edition Space Invader mosaic kits sold through Space Shop. These are conceptual and functional objects that allow buyers to create their own Space Invader.
3. Books and Maps: Invasion guides documenting city invasions (27 titles), exhibition catalogues, and limited edition books covered with real mosaic tiles.
4. Exhibition Tickets: Revenue from major exhibitions such as Invader Space Station (Paris 2024) at 10 euros per ticket, with free admission for children under 12.
5. Merchandise Store: Online Space Shop selling stickers, t-shirts, and other branded merchandise supporting the artist's projects.
6. Gallery and Museum Sales: Sales through represented galleries and museums including Over the Influence, Itinerrance, and institutional commissions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Space Invaders is the long-running urban art project of the anonymous French street artist Invader, producing ceramic-tile mosaic installations inspired by the 1978 arcade game and affixed to buildings in cities worldwide. The project monetizes through authenticated limited-edition replicas (Aliases), self-installation kits (Invasion Kits), exhibition tours, books and maps, and the supporting FlashInvaders mobile app used by the public to discover and "score" installations.

Product overview

Space Invaders is an international street art project founded in 1998 by anonymous artist Invader. The core offering is a global installation of pixelated mosaic tile artworks depicting Space Invaders characters and original icons, installed illegally on walls across 87+ territories worldwide (4,000+ pieces). The portfolio includes physical products (Aliases as authenticated replicas, Invasion Kits as limited editions), digital experiences (FlashInvaders smartphone app for gamified discovery), publications (Invasion Guides/Maps documenting city invasions), and fine art movements (Rubikcubism using Rubik's cubes). Major achievements include Space2ISS—the first artwork installed in space aboard the International Space Station—and Art4Space, sending mosaics to the stratosphere. The Space Shop e-commerce platform distributes editions globally to finance ongoing invasions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Aliases Authenticated, edition-numbered replicas of the artist's public mosaic installations, sold as collectible contemporary art pieces with verified provenance.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4,411+ space invaders installed worldwide across 87 territories
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and notable.

• European Space Agency (ESA)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 March 2015Collaboration to install Space2 mosaic aboard the International Space Station. ESA provided ATV-5 cargo spacecraft, astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti installed the artwork on the Columbus module on March 12, 2015. The partnership extended to invading all 7 ESA ground bases including Cologne, Redu, Frankfurt, Noordwijk, Paris HQ, and ESRIN Rome.
• Jason de Caires TaylorcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012Collaboration to install space invader mosaics on underwater sculptures in Cancun Bay, Mexico. Two pieces (CCU_01 and CCU_02) installed at the bottom of Cancun Bay in 2012 as part of de Caires Taylor's underwater sculpture project. De Caires Taylor later sent updated photos showing the installations integrated into the marine environment.
• Jonathan Levine GallerycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrimary gallery representation in the United States, featuring in major exhibitions including 'Art in the Streets' at MOCA Los Angeles (2011) and 'Top 10' (2009). Gallery has represented the artist for over a decade.
• Galerie ItinerrancecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorParis-based gallery representing the artist for institutional commissions in France. Organized Street art 13 exhibition at Salpêtrière Hospital (2016) and provided support for Djerba island invasion.
• Over the Influence GallerycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCurrent primary gallery representation in Paris and Los Angeles. Hosted major exhibitions including 'Into the White Cube' (L.A. 2018), 'Camouflages & Devils Tower' (L.A. 2023), '4000' (Paris 2022-2023), and 'Points of Invasion' (L.A. 2021).
• HOCA FoundationnotableChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHong Kong foundation that organized WIPE OUT exhibition (May 2015) which attracted over 35,000 visitors in 17 days.
• Newport Street GallerynotableChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLondon gallery owned by Damien Hirst hosting 'Triple Trouble' collaborative exhibition with Invader, Damien Hirst, and Shepard Fairey (October 2025 - March 2026).
• Jason de Caires TaylorcoreOthersUnderwater art installation collaboration placing space invaders on the artist's underwater sculptures in Cancun Bay. Partnership arose from de Caires joining the same gallery as Invader.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• KAWS (Brian Donnelly): Contemporary artist whose cartoon-like characters have moved from street art into large public sculptures, gallery exhibitions, and brand collaborations (Uniqlo, Dior); combines street-art roots with global commercial reach in a way directly comparable to Invader's Space Shop and Alias programs.
• JR: French artist known for large-scale photographic pastes installed on buildings and infrastructure worldwide; shares Invader's model of treating public urban surfaces as the primary canvas and using installations to drive downstream gallery and merchandise revenue.
• André Saraiva: Swedish-French street artist behind the 'Mr. A' character and Le Baron nightclub/brand; combines street art with lifestyle and merchandise ventures (clothing, hospitality) in a way comparable to Invader's Space Shop model and gallery-driven revenue mix.
• Banksy: Anonymous British street artist whose stenciled works on urban walls command blue-chip auction prices; the closest comparable in terms of anonymous street art brand value, museum exhibitions, and ability to monetize ephemeral public works into authenticated editions.
• Blek le Rat: French stencil artist widely credited as the originator of stenciled street art and a direct influence on Banksy; operates in the same Parisian street-art tradition as Invader and represents the most direct stylistic and methodological peer in the European street-art canon.
• Shepard Fairey / OBEY Giant: Street artist and creator of the OBEY brand behind the Andre the Giant sticker campaign; co-collaborator with Invader on the Triple Trouble exhibition (London 2025–26) and shares a similar gallery-plus-merchandise business model with active brand partnerships.
• Jason deCaires Taylor: Sculptor who collaborates with Invader on the underwater Space Invader installations in Cancun Bay; shares a business model of placing art in unconventional public/natural spaces and monetizing through gallery representation, exhibitions, and tourism-driven footfall.
• Futura (Futuradosmil): American street artist and graphic designer with established gallery representation and brand collaborations (Nike, The North Face, Undefeated); relevant comparable for the trajectory from graffiti/street-art roots into a commercialized fine-art practice supported by branded merchandise.

Broad incumbents

• Takashi Murakami: Japanese contemporary artist who bridges fine art and pop/commercial culture through high-profile collaborations (Louis Vuitton, Supreme); relevant comparable for how Invader could expand brand partnerships, merchandise, and licensing beyond the Space Shop.
• Damien Hirst: One of the most commercially successful contemporary artists globally; co-collaborator on Triple Trouble and operates a broader fine-art business model (gallery exhibitions, auction sales, Newport Street Gallery ownership) that overlaps with the institutional exhibition arm of the Space Invaders project.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/invaderwashere
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/space-invaders

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 Space Invaders