World-renowned British auction house Christie’s launches Web3 venture fund to fund emerging technologies and financial innovations relevant to the art market.
On Monday, world-renowned British auction house Christie’s announced the launch of a new investment fund called Christie’s Ventures. The fund will focus on helping emerging technologies and fintech companies looking to create technological breakthroughs in the art industry.
According to the press release, Christie’s Ventures will work with portfolio companies to help speed up their growth. At the same time, the venture fund will help advance the auction house’s activities related to “the presentation, education, and sales of fine art and luxury goods.”
Christie’s Art Relevancy Innovations
This new venture from the British auction house is laser-focused on exploring three broad categories—Web3 innovation, art-related financial products and solutions, and technologies that “enable seamless consumption of art.” The company also announced the first portfolio company it is working with—LayerZero Labs.
Established in 2021, LayerZero Labs is a cross-chain interoperability company to create a community of cross-chain developers to build decentralized applications (dApps) that can seamlessly work across different blockchains. Per Christie’s, LayerZero Labs “reduces friction in a client’s ability to move assets between blockchains.”
LayerZero’s co-founder and CEO, Bryan Pellegrino, only had wonderful things to say about the partnership. “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 the space,” he remarked.
“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.”
Motivation Behind Christie’s Ventures
According to the auction house’s Chief Operating Officer, Ben Gore, Christie’s is in the best position to advance innovation and strengthen its clients’ experiences, being a global leader in the art market. He said, “The intersections of technology and financial products are increasingly relevant and prevalent, and we believe strongly in the opportunities ahead.”
World-Renowned British Auction House, Christie’s
Gore says that when selecting the companies Christie’s Ventures will work with, the brand’s power and capital, along with its network and expertise, is what gives the investment fund a formidable advantage.
“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,” says Devang Thakkar, newly-appointed Global Head of Christie’s Ventures. “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 [with] a strong track record of building great products and companies.”
Christie’s History of Tech Innovation
Although founded in 1766, the auction house was able to carve a niche for itself in technological innovation. For instance, it was among the first to launch online bidding in 2006. It was also the first globally-recognized auction house to conduct a purely online auction in 2011.
In more recent undertakings, Christie’s adapted to the ever-evolving technology through hologram technology in touring life-size 3D objects worldwide, multi-site auction live streaming, augmented reality (AR) tools for viewing and bidding, its support for NFT digital art, buy-now channels, hybrid sales formats, and its award-winning digital marketing strategies. All these contributed to the business’s resiliency and accessibility.
Christie’s was also responsible for selling the first NFT for digital artwork, Beeple’s Everydays, in March 2021 and even accepted cryptocurrency as a means of payment. The company is keen on cementing its role as an industry leader in digital innovation by pioneering new technologies focused on redefining art.
The company’s mission is to advance responsible culture throughout its business and communities globally. It includes accomplishing sustainability through net zero carbon emissions by 2030 and using its platform actively to support positive change and make under-represented voices heard.
Get more news updates
Get more NFT news updates at Omnimint News. For more information on Omnimint, and details on how to join our community, please follow our Twitter, or subscribe to our Telegram channel for more updates, and please feel free to submit your article.