Urban Nation

Name

Urban Nation

Legal name

Stiftung Berliner Leben

Website

https://urban-nation.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Art Museum

NAICS

Museums (71211)

akta.pro primary industry

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit) (THAJADAH), Art, Street Art & Creative Scene Tours (THAJAAAE), Performing Arts & Cultural Event Venues (Theaters, Museums) (THAHAAAG), Cultural Centers & Community Cultural Organizations (BPAGAHAD)

Keywords

• Contemporary art museum
• Street art exhibitions
• Artist residency programs
• Urban art education
• Public art murals

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations: Museum admission is free of charge, financed primarily through donations. Visitors can donate at the counter or digital donation column. The museum also accepts PayPal donations and bank transfers for support.
2. Online Shop: E-commerce platform selling merchandise including posters, prints, and art-related products. Operated through shop.urban-nation.com with PayPal payment processing and weight-based shipping within Germany and EU countries.
3. Venue Rentals: Rental of museum spaces including the main museum (420 sqm, up to 150 guests), Attic Studio (up to 30 seated/50 standing), Project Room (up to 80 persons), and Workshop space (up to 20 persons). Catering, technology, and furniture available for customization.
4. Exhibition Revenue: Revenue generated through exhibition-related activities including press releases, guided tours, and workshop bookings.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Urban Nation operates a free-admission museum dedicated to Urban Contemporary Art, hosting rotating exhibitions of street art, graffiti, and related contemporary works. Beyond the museum, the organization runs an artist-in-residence scholarship program (Fresh A.I.R.), the Martha Cooper Library specializing in street art literature, a public mural commissioning program (ONE WALL), education workshops, venue rentals for events, and a merchandise online shop.

Product overview

URBAN NATION is a non-profit initiative of Stiftung Berliner Leben operating primarily as a Museum for Urban Contemporary Art. The core portfolio includes: the 500 sqm museum building at Bülowstraße 7 with rotating exhibitions (currently showing 'Love Letters to the City' through 2027); the Fresh A.I.R. Artist-in-Residence program with 11 on-site apartments for scholarship recipients; the Martha Cooper Library specializing in graffiti and street art literature since 1960; the ONE WALL mural program across Berlin; and an interactive Art Map documenting urban artworks. Supporting offerings include an Online Shop for merchandise, Museum Venue Rentals across multiple spaces totaling 420 sqm, a Digital Mediaguide for exhibitions, an Artist Database, and Education & Outreach workshops. Admission to all museum exhibitions is free, funded primarily through donations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Martha Cooper Library (MCL): Specialized library dedicated to literature on Urban Art, Streetart and Graffiti since the 1960s, with focus on Style Writing from the 1970s in US tradition.
• Fresh A.I.R. (Artist-In-Residence)

Products and services

• URBAN NATION Museum for Urban Contemporary Art

Quantifiable outcome

• Free admission ensures universal access to urban art education and culture

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Stiftung Berliner MauercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 September 2024Key artifacts on loan from Stiftung Berliner Mauer for the 'Love Letters to the City' exhibition showcase different historical perspectives of wall painting within Berlin, particularly relevant to the 35-year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
• OMA BUNKERminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 September 2024Local initiative collaborating with Korean artist Jazoo Yang to create a mural that gives voice to social groups of elderly people as part of the Love Letters to the City exhibition.
• Stiftung Berliner LebencoreOthersNon-profit foundation (gemeinnützige Stiftung des bürgerlichen Rechts) that established URBAN NATION in 2013. Provides operational funding and organizational support. Contact: Alt-Moabit 101 A, 10559 Berlin.
• Gewobag AGcoreOthersHousing company that founded Stiftung Berliner Leben, the parent foundation of URBAN NATION. Provides real estate and organizational infrastructure including premises at Bülowstraße.
• Brooklyn Street Art (BSA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Martha Cooper and Jaime Rojo of Brooklyn Street Art for the MCL collection and exhibition 'Taking Pictures' in Berlin. Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo contribute text to MCL book features.
• GRAFT (Architectural Firm)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBerlin architecture firm that designed and implemented the museum renovation, completed after one year of construction and three years of planning. Created the unique open exhibition space with bridges connecting floors.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Tate Modern: London's major contemporary art museum with rotating exhibitions, free-admission core collection, and venue rentals. Comparable to Urban Nation as a free-admission contemporary art institution with educational programming and event space, though operating at incomparably larger scale.
• Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt: Frankfurt contemporary art exhibition hall with a rotating thematic program. Comparable to Urban Nation as a non-collecting German art institution that mounts large themed exhibitions and educational programming on contemporary cultural topics, though without the street-art specialization.
• Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart: Berlin contemporary art museum operating within the Nationalgalerie / Staatliche Museen zu Berlin network. Comparable to Urban Nation as a major Berlin contemporary-art venue with large-scale rotating exhibitions, though part of a much larger state-run museum portfolio rather than a specialized street-art institution.
• Centre Pompidou: Major Paris contemporary art institution with extensive rotating exhibitions, library/research facilities, and venue rentals. Comparable to Urban Nation in combining exhibitions with research/library services and event space, though operating at vastly larger scale and scope.

Direct peers

• Palais de Tokyo: Paris contemporary art center with rotating exhibitions, residencies, and event-space rentals in a large architectural venue. Comparable to Urban Nation in combining exhibitions, artist-support programs, and venue-rental revenue in a non-collecting contemporary art model.
• STRAAT Museum Amsterdam: Amsterdam museum dedicated to street art and graffiti, opened in 2020 in a former warehouse. The closest direct peer to Urban Nation globally — both are purpose-built street-art museums with rotating exhibitions, artist focus, and venue/event programming — though STRAAT operates a paid-ticket model rather than Urban Nation's free-admission/donation model.
• MUDAM (Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean): Luxembourg contemporary art museum operating a multi-year exhibition program in a purpose-built architectural space. Comparable to Urban Nation as a publicly-funded contemporary art institution with rotating exhibitions, educational programs, and venue rentals, although its scope is broader than street art specifically.
• Berlinische Galerie: Berlin museum of modern art, photography, and architecture with rotating exhibitions. Comparable to Urban Nation as a Berlin-based contemporary art museum offering exhibitions, education programs, and venue access, though with a broader (non-street-art-specific) scope.
• KW Institute for Contemporary Art: Berlin-based contemporary art institution producing exhibitions and residency-adjacent programming. Comparable to Urban Nation as a Berlin contemporary-art institution with curated exhibitions, educational programming, and an international artist network — the closest peer by city and category.

Emerging players

• Beyond the Streets: Los Angeles-based exhibition organization dedicated to graffiti and street art, founded by historian Roger Gastman. The closest peer to Urban Nation in terms of explicit street-art category focus, though operating as a traveling/pop-up exhibition producer rather than a permanent museum with library and residency infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCvNhKz5XmcWOB1wQ2_LKxzA
• Facebookfacebook.com/urbannationberlin
• Instagraminstagram.com/urbannation_berlin
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urban-nation

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Urban Nation