Great Explorations

Name

Great Explorations

Legal name

Great Explorations Children's Museum

Website

https://greatex.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Museum Services

NAICS

Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Children’s Museums (THAJADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Kids & Family Learning Workshops (Family Crafts, Junior Maker Classes) (THAJAKAO), Museum & Landmark Guided Tours (Skip-the-line/Docent-led) (THAJAAAC), Educational & Edutainment Parks (Science/Discovery/Children’s Parks) (THAJAEAG)

Keywords

• Children's museum
• Interactive exhibits
• Educational field trips
• Museum memberships
• Sensory-friendly programs

Headquarters

HQ city

St. Petersburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Admissions and Tickets: Revenue from individual and group admissions to the museum
2. Memberships: Annual and monthly membership programs offering unlimited visits and perks
3. Birthday Parties: Booking fees for birthday party celebrations at the museum
4. Field Trips: Group bookings for school and educational visits
5. Donations: Charitable contributions from supporters
6. Corporate Partnerships and Sponsorships: Corporate memberships, event sponsorships, and branding opportunities
7. Donations: Donations to support access to museum programming for low-income and at-risk children

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Great Explorations is a non-profit children's museum that delivers hands-on, play-based educational experiences for children and families in the Tampa Bay region. Its core offerings include interactive museum exhibits and admissions, an annual/monthly membership program, school field trip packages, a tuition-based preschool, birthday party bookings, and signature recurring events such as the IGNITE! Science Festival and Museum After Dark.

Product overview

Great Explorations is a children's museum operating as a single unified institution in St. Petersburg, FL. The organization offers a portfolio of interconnected educational programs and services including interactive museum exhibits, field trips, preschool education, birthday parties, and special events. Programs are designed for various age groups from toddlers (Terrific Tots, Great Connections) to school-age children (field trips, summer camp), with additional family-oriented events like Museum After Dark and the annual IGNITE! Science Festival. The museum also offers membership programs and corporate partnership opportunities for ongoing engagement and revenue generation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Morris the Explorasaurus: The museum's mascot character featured on the website and social media.
• IGNITE! Science Festival
• Museum After Dark
• Terrific Tots
• Great Connections
• Explorers' Circle

Products and services

• Great Explorations Children's Museum (General Admissions and Exhibits) Hands-on children's museum in St. Petersburg, FL featuring interactive exhibits, educational programs, and play-based learning experiences for children and families visiting on a single day or through repeat visits.
• School Field Trips Two-hour structured educational field trip experiences that combine fun and hands-on learning for K-12 school groups, with adult/chaperone supervision. Priced by group size.
• Great Explorations Preschool Tuition-based preschool program using a creative curriculum that stimulates creative problem-solving and supports practical, real-life learning for young children.
• Birthday Parties Customizable children's birthday party packages hosted at the museum, with various options for personalization and a strict no drop-off policy.
• Terrific Tots
• Great Connections (Sensory-Friendly Program) Free sensory-friendly program for families with children on the autism spectrum or with sensory processing differences, featuring dimmed lighting, fewer crowds, and a cool-down room.
• Traveling Planetarium / Planetarium Monday Monthly planetarium shows featuring multiple stellar programs scheduled throughout each day, with traveling planetarium programming also offered for off-site visits.
• IGNITE! Science Festival Annual high-energy science festival celebrating creativity, curiosity, and hands-on learning through robotics, rockets, bubbles, biology demonstrations, interactive exhibits, and STEAM programming.
• Museum After Dark Adults-only evening event featuring cocktails, immersive science experiences, light displays, live entertainment, and hands-on activities.
• Family Memberships Year-round family membership offering unlimited visits, exclusive member perks, reciprocal admission to partner attractions, and early entry to select programs.
• Corporate Memberships Tiered corporate membership program offering employee benefits, discounts, and branding opportunities for businesses engaging with the museum's mission.
• Corporate Partnerships and Sponsorships Strategic partnerships connecting businesses with the museum's mission to inspire learning through play, supporting hands-on exhibits and educational programs through event sponsorships and branding opportunities.

Quantifiable outcome

• First mid-size children's museum in the country to achieve AAM accreditation

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Connie & Garner KoonscoreOthersLongtime philanthropists and pillars of the St. Petersburg community who have sponsored the Connie & Garner Koons exhibit (Garner's Dive Shop). Their support helps create meaningful opportunities for children to learn, grow, and explore through play.
• Pinellas Community FoundationminorOthersSupported IGNITE! Science Festival by providing free registration for pre-registered guests
• Chapman FoundationminorOthersGenerously supports the Museums for All (SNAP, WIC, EBT) program, making Planetarium Monday free for eligible participants
• Guardian TrustminorOthersGenerous supporter of the Great Connections program for families with children on the autism spectrum or with sensory processing differences

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Please Touch Museum: Philadelphia-based hands-on children's museum with comparable exhibits, preschool programming, field-trip pricing, and birthday-party offerings — directly comparable on business model and product category.
• National Children's Museum: Washington, D.C.-based children's museum focused on STEAM learning through interactive exhibits and educational programs — directly comparable on product category and learning-through-play mission.
• Children's Museum of Houston: Major AAM-affiliated children's museum offering interactive exhibits, school field trips, memberships, and community-access programs — closely comparable in scale, programming, and family audience.
• Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose: Silicon Valley-based children's museum with hands-on exhibits, school programs, memberships, and birthday parties — directly comparable in product offerings and target audience (families with young children).
• Boston Children's Museum: Long-established AAM-accredited children's museum offering hands-on exhibits, school programs, memberships, and birthday parties — directly comparable in product mix, accreditation status, and educational mission.
• Glazer Children's Museum: Children's museum located in downtown Tampa, FL — the closest geographic competitor serving the same Tampa Bay families, schools, and field-trip market with overlapping exhibits, memberships, and birthday-party offerings.
• Bay Area Discovery Museum: Sausalito, CA-based children's museum offering hands-on exhibits, preschool/early-childhood programs, and family memberships — closely comparable in mission, programming, and target demographic.
• Children's Museum of Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh-based hands-on children's museum with exhibits, Maker-oriented programming, school visits, and memberships — directly comparable on interactive-learning product category and nonprofit operating model.

Broad incumbents

• Children's Museum of Indianapolis: The largest children's museum in the world; a broad incumbent in the same AAM-accredited children's-museum category, comparable in mission and program mix (exhibits, preschool, field trips, memberships) though at much greater scale.
• Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI): Tampa-based science and technology museum with hands-on exhibits, field trips, and memberships — a broader-incumbent local competitor overlapping Great Explorations on family visits, school field trips, and birthday-party market in the Tampa Bay area.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCvAzONkBMF5IAW-mtmQ0TnA
• Facebookfacebook.com/GreatExKids
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/great-explorations-children's-museum
• Instagraminstagram.com/great_explorations
• Xx.com/gr8explorers

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Great Explorations