Christie’s Launches Venture Fund – Salon Prive Mag

Christie’s ventures will fund emerging technologies and financial innovations relevant to the art market.

Christie’s recently announced the launch of Christie’s Ventures, a new investment fund that will provide financial resources and expert support to Emerging Technology and FinTech companies creating solutions with art market relevancy. Christie’s Ventures will work alongside these portfolio companies to help accelerate their progress, simultaneously advancing Christie’s activities in the presentation, education, and sales of Fine Art and Luxury Goods.

Christie’s Ventures will start by exploring three broad categories: Web3.0 innovation, art-related financial products, and solutions and technologies that enable seamless consumption of art. Our first portfolio company sits perfectly on this spectrum: LayerZero Labs, a cross-chain interoperability company with a strong vision and business model within a broad addressable market. The company reduces friction in a client’s ability to move assets between blockchains.

Ben Gore, Christie’s Chief Operating Officer, described the motivation for starting Christie’s Ventures: “As a global leader in the art market, Christie’s has both an incentive and a responsibility to further innovation and deepen experiences for our clients. The intersections of technology and financial products are increasingly relevant and prevalent, and we believe strongly in the opportunities ahead.

For the companies we select to work with, as well as for our clients, the Christie’s Ventures value proposition combines the power of our brand and capital together with our network and expertise; it is another example of the formidable Christie’s Advantage.”

Devang Thakkar, the newly appointed Global Head of Christie’s Ventures, said: “We will focus on products and services which can solve real business challenges, improve client experiences, and expand growth opportunities, both across the art market directly and for interactions with it.

Our leadership has provided us with an excellent vantage point thus far and the launch of Christie’s Ventures will allow us to develop further and faster with entrepreneurs who have a strong track record of building great products and companies.”

Bryan Pellegrino, LayerZero Co-Founder, and CEO remarked: “LayerZero is incredibly thrilled to partner with Christie’s Ventures. We’ve seen firsthand how Christie’s has been at the forefront of web3 and a pioneer in space. We look forward to working with their team to find new and innovative ways to create the most accessible, frictionless experience with assets indexed over multiple blockchains.”

Christie’s has a long history of fostering technological innovation, launching online bidding in 2006 and being the first international auction house to hold dedicated online-only auctions in 2011. More recently, Christie’s multi-site auction live-to-stream, augmented reality tools, support for NFT digital art and award-winning digital marketing have made the business more accessible and resilient.

On July 19th and 20th, Christie’s Art+Tech Summit series premiered its fifth iteration in New York, offering a premier platform for audiences and market leaders to explore thought-provoking ideas and engage in dialogue between industries. Christie’s Ventures will build upon these experiences to further cement Christie’s position as a leader in its field.

Christies

editor

Christie’s, the world’s leading art business, had auction sales in the first half of 2019 that totalled £2.2 billion / $2.8 billion. Christie’s is a name and place that speaks of extraordinary art, unparalleled service and international expertise. Christie’s offers around 350 auctions annually in over 80 categories, including all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectables, wine, and more. Prices range from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s also has a long and successful history conducting private sales for its clients in all categories, with emphasis on Post-War & Contemporary, Impressionist & Modern, Old Masters and Jewellery.