Christie's, the British auction house founded in 1766, announced on July 18 the launch of Christie's Ventures, a new venture capital arm dedicated to supporting emerging technology and fintech companies. The fund will concentrate on three broad categories: Web3 innovation, art-related financial products and solutions, and technologies enabling seamless consumption of art.
Strategic Focus on Web3 and Art Finance
According to the official announcement, Christie's Ventures will work in close collaboration with its portfolio startups to accelerate growth and steer Christie's activities toward innovative directions. Ben Gore, Christie's chief operating officer, stated: “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.”
Deep Roots in Crypto and NFTs
Christie's has been actively involved in digital currencies and blockchain for years. In September 2020, it sold the first bitcoin artwork ever — Block 21 of “Portraits of a Mind.” The following year, it accepted bitcoin (BTC) for a painting worth $6 million by Keith Haring. In March 2021, Christie's auctioned Beeple's NFT “Everydays: The First 5,000 Days” for a record $69.34 million. The auction house has also handled sales of CryptoPunks, Meebits, Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, and a full set of Curio Cards. Competitors Sotheby's and Phillips have similarly ventured into the crypto and NFT space, with Sotheby's launching its metaverse platform in October 2021.
First Investment: Layerzero Labs
Christie's Ventures' first portfolio company is Layerzero Labs, a cross-chain interoperability provider. Christie's noted that “Layerzero is 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.” The new venture arm is led by global head Devang Thakkar, who commented: “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.”
Christie's was one of the first international auction houses to offer online auctions, and has leveraged multi-site live streaming, augmented reality tools, NFT digital art support, and award-winning digital marketing. The launch of Christie's Ventures marks a significant step for the traditional art institution into the Web3 and crypto-finance ecosystem, further blurring lines between fine art and decentralized technologies.