A news outlet called Art Newspaper which focuses on art revealed earlier this week that Artory, a blockchain art registry managed to raise more than $7 million through a Series A funding round and an early Spotify investor was among the contributors.
Artory is a blockchain ledger that was designed to make it possible for users to trace title data and provenance while also recording sales for pieces of art. The art registry startup reportedly raised $7.3 million through the Series A funding round. The report revealed that an early Spotify investor called 2020 Ventures was among the major contributors.
Some of the others who invested in the Series A funding round include a luxury goods resale platform called The RealReal, and an American logistics firm called Postmates. Artory’s founder Nanne Dekking revealed that the funds will be used to improve the art registry’s data and also towards developing its functionality. The founder also noted that they are building a platform that has to be easily searchable, accurate and vetted to provide robust information on each artwork.
“Our product is ultimately not the platform itself—it’s data integrity, and that takes time and money,” stated Dekking.
Artory is determined to change the art landscape through blockchain technology
2020 Ventures’ general partner David Williams told Art Newspaper that his firm is attracted by platforms that are determined to provide large markets that feature a wide range of transactions and participants. The art registry startup acquired a subscription-based auction house database called Auction Club towards the end of March. Auction Club fell right into Artory’s scope because it contains sales information from over 4,000 auction houses.
The acquisition of Auction Club means that its sales data which encompasses over 250 business from 40 countries will for the first time be made publicly available. Artory’s progress highlights the increasing blockchain acceptance in the art industry. The influx of investors is also a sign that investors see great opportunities ahead as adoption continues to gain traction.
Christie’s auction house teamed up with Artory in October last year to roll out a pilot program to roll out blockchain technology designed for auction data. The collaboration plans to use the technology to provide buyers with certificates of purchases.
