UrbanApa

Name

UrbanApa

Legal name

UrbanApa

Website

https://urbanapa.fi

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Arts and Cultural Programming

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music) (BPAGAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Arts, Culture & Creative Placemaking Enterprises (BPAGALAO), Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC)

Keywords

• Arts and culture programming
• Contemporary art festivals
• Feminist art platform
• Performing arts events
• Cultural community development

Headquarters

HQ city

Helsinki

HQ country

Finland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Government and Cultural Grants: UrbanApa receives institutional funding from Finnish cultural foundations and government bodies including Suomen Kulttuurirahasto (SKR), Taike (Arts Promotion Centre Finland), City of Helsinki Culture and Leisure Division, and Nordic funding bodies including Nordic Culture Point and Nordisk Kulturfond.
2. Platform Participation Fees: The Feminist Leadership Platform charges tiered participation fees: €70 for freelancers/unemployed/low-income participants, €250 for employed/average income, and €1000 for organizations/companies sponsoring participant attendance.
3. Event Admissions: Most festival events are free of charge; some workshops charge €5 admission fee. Ateneum Hall performances are free with first-come-first-served seating.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

UrbanApa is a Helsinki-based non-profit cultural platform that curates and produces annual contemporary art festivals (UrbanApa x Stoa and UrbanApa x Ateneum), runs peer-learning and mentoring programs for artists and cultural professionals (Platform for Feminist Leadership, LIFT Mentoring Platform, Miniresidencies), organizes community discussions and annual event weeks (#StopHatredNow, UA TALKS), and publishes performing-arts resources including handbooks and manuals. Its offerings are explicitly anti-racist and intersectionally feminist, designed to provide exhibition, performance, and leadership-development opportunities for BIPOC, queer, and marginalized artists primarily in Finland.

Product overview

UrbanApa is an anti-racist and intersectionally feminist art community and platform based in Helsinki, Finland. The organization operates as a multi-faceted cultural enterprise offering festivals (UrbanApa x Stoa, UrbanApa x Ateneum), educational platforms (Platform for Feminist Leadership), mentoring programs (LIFT), residencies (Miniresidencies), publications (How does the stage work?, Communications Manual), discussion series (UA TALKS), and annual event weeks (#StopHatredNow). These offerings collectively support diverse artistic making, feminist leadership development, and community building in contemporary art.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• #StopHatredNow: Annual event week exploring power, accountability, and care in the cultural sector, examining representation, leadership, curation, accessibility, and inclusion.
• Feministisen johtamisen alusta / Platform for Feminist Leadership
• LIFT Mentoring Platform
• UA TALKS
• Miniresidencies
• NEXT STEP

Products and services

• UrbanApa x Stoa Festival Annual multidisciplinary urban contemporary art festival held at Cultural Centre Stoa in eastern Helsinki, featuring performances, workshops, and presentations by professional artists in performance art, music, and visual arts.
• UrbanApa x Ateneum Festival Festival at Ateneum Art Museum bringing urban contemporary art into a museum context, featuring multidisciplinary artistic works that collide museum context with living contemporary art.
• Platform for Feminist Leadership Peer learning platform for cultural professionals focused on feminist tools, leadership, structures, and collective dreaming of possible futures. Delivered as workshop sessions combined with a miniresidency, with tiered fees (€70 / €250 / €1,000).
• LIFT Mentoring Platform Mentoring platform for emerging dance artists, providing support and development opportunities for artists at the start of their careers.
• Miniresidencies Short-term residencies providing space and support for artistic development and creation.
• #StopHatredNow Event Week Annual event week exploring power, accountability, and care in the cultural sector, featuring keynote lectures, panel discussions, and workshops addressing leadership, curation, accessibility, and inclusion. Free admission, streamed online.
• UA TALKS Discussion Series Discussion platform featuring light conversations on topical tides and currents in art and culture, often held in collaboration with festivals and partner institutions and streamed via Instagram.
• How does the stage work? Publication Printed handbook by Erno Aaltonen exploring the relationship between daily artistic choices and the ideologies, rules, and conventions governing the contemporary stage, extending to choreography, directing, dramaturgy, and performance production.
• Communications Manual for Performing Arts Events Guide offering clear communications guidelines and checklists for the performing arts field, addressing basic communication needs and in-depth accessibility features for organizing art events.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 artists engaged across annual programming
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

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

• #StopHatredNow Coalition PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 May 2026Coalition of 12+ organizations producing #StopHatredNow 2026 event week including Catalysti, Culture for All service, Finnish Arts and Culture Agency, Globe Art Point, Goethe-Institut Finnland, HIAP, Kiila, MiklagårdArts, Ministry of Education and Culture, Nordic Culture Point, Titanik gallery, Zodiak. Additional supporters include EMMA, Finnish National Opera and Ballet, Finnish National Theatre, Johanna Nuutinen + Collaborators, Napa Agency, and TUO TUO.
• NEXT STEP Platform PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Joint platform with Stoa for street and club dancers launched in spring 2026, providing support and tools for stage work and facilitating new networks and collaborations.
• Ateneum Art MuseumflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 October 2021Host venue for UrbanApa x Ateneum 2021 festival. Partnership for venue access, programming collaboration, and joint marketing.
• Cultural Centre StoaflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual festival venue partnership for UrbanApa x Stoa. Stoa provides venue, accessibility infrastructure, and box office services for multi-day festival programming.
• Pragma HelsinkiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunications consultancy that authored the 'Communications Manual for Performing Arts Events' in collaboration with UrbanApa.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Mad House Helsinki: Helsinki-based anti-racist performance collective. Directly comparable in mission (anti-racist performing arts) and city, but operating as a smaller artist collective rather than a programming non-profit.

Direct peers

• Eskus – Finnish Theatre and Performance Art Centre: Finnish national service center for performance art practitioners. Comparable as a small Finnish non-profit supporting performance art makers with capacity-building services, intersecting with UrbanApa's leadership and mentoring programs.
• HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme: Helsinki-based residency and project space for international artists, listed as a #StopHatredNow co-organizer. Comparable as a Helsinki arts non-profit providing residencies and curatorial programming, mirroring UrbanApa's miniresidency program.
• Baltic Circle Festival: Helsinki-based international contemporary theater and performance festival. Directly comparable as a small Helsinki festival organizer in the performing-arts contemporary niche with public and foundation funding.
• Zodiak – Center for New Dance: Helsinki-based dance and choreography presenting organization; also a listed UrbanApa coalition partner. Directly comparable as a small Helsinki performing-arts non-profit with shared artist pool and overlapping festival/season programming.
• Catalysti: Helsinki-based multicultural artist-run association supporting BIPOC and immigrant artists, listed as a #StopHatredNow co-organizer. Directly comparable as a small Helsinki non-profit serving underrepresented artist communities.
• IHME Helsinki: Helsinki-based contemporary art commissioning foundation producing public art projects and events. Comparable as a small Nordic non-profit producing curated, mission-driven arts programming with foundation funding.
• Globe Art Point: Helsinki-based association supporting internationally-minded artists, listed as a #StopHatredNow co-organizer. Directly comparable as a small Finnish non-profit advocating for and developing programming with diverse artist communities.

Broad incumbents

• Helsinki Festival: Finland's largest annual multi-arts festival held in Helsinki. Comparable as a festival organizer in the same city, but with substantially larger scale, budget, and institutional backing than UrbanApa.
• Kiasma – Museum of Contemporary Art: Finland's national contemporary art museum and a partner venue for UrbanApa x Ateneum. Larger incumbent operating in the same contemporary art space in Helsinki, offering broader programming across the spectrum.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/UrbanApa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urbanapa
• Instagraminstagram.com/urban_apa

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 UrbanApa