Blockchain Art Registry Startup Artory Raises Over $7 Million in Funding for Artwork Network

Art-centric publication the Art newspaper has revealed that blockchain based art registry startup Artory has raised more than $7million in series A funding round.  There are many investors which even includes an early Spotify investor.

"Artory bags Spotify backer in first funding round" Thanks @TheArtNewspaper for telling @artorycom's fundraising success story! We closed our $7.3m Series A! @2020vc https://t.co/r5hUbyjqQl

— Artory (@artorycom) April 22, 2019

Nanne Dekking, Artory’s founder and chief executive said:

“By exceeding our initial goal with our Series A funding round, we’ve proven that the [Artory] Registry is a viable commercial product that will change the way collectors and buyers—established and new—engage with the marketplace for fine art and collectibles.”

The investors in this project are Hasso Plattner Capital and David Williams, general partner of California-based 2020 Ventures, which holds stakes in companies such as Spotify, Postmates, and The RealReal.

Why Blockchain In Art?

Every artwork has information that determines its value. This includes the measurements, the literature written about it, the exhibitions where it has been shown, etc. But that information is very dispersed; it’s kept by museums and galleries in private archives.

The art market is one where you want to keep this kind of information close to your chest because it’s essentially how you make money because you know more than your client. But these days, new buyers are completely different.

They don’t want to be told something; they just want to know something. Rather than believing someone, they want to see the evidence.

This is Where Artory Comes In

The Artory Registry was created to digitally memorialize the stories, histories, provenance, sales, and archival materials of artworks and collectibles, bringing greater confidence to those who buy and sell art.

The Artory Registry is also a platform for dealers and auction houses to work with collectors in a secure, anonymous environment. Working with industry partners, the Registry will establish standardization of record and proof of ownership for the industry.

This is the second big news coming out of Artory in a month. Just last month they acquired the database Auction Club, which hosts fine-art auction records. Over the next few months, Artory plans to make sales records from 4,000 auction houses, as well as those of 250 art-related businesses in 40 different countries, free to the public online.