Online Platform Artusiast Lands Major VC Backer

Online art startup Artusiast Photo: Screenshot of homepage

Berlin-based online art sales startup Artusiast announced the addition of two new investors on Thursday. Munich auction house Karl & Faber and prominent angel investor Christophe Maire will both join the platform as partners. According to reports, both have committed to six-figure investments in the company. A representative for Artusiast declined to specify the exact amount of the two investments. The company was founded in 2013 by Alice and Kilian Jay von Seldeneck, Karl Philip Prinzhorn, and Christian Boros.

Maire, who has been involved in major startups such as Soundcloud, Brands4Friends, Monoqi, and gate5, and who was named as Europe’s top seed investor by Techcrunch twice, says he hopes to undertake a longterm expansion of “Artusiast’s profile as a digital platform for high-quality art” and wishes to build on the existing growth potential present in the online art market.

Like other partners such as Swann auctions, Lempertz, and Farsettiarte, Karl & Faber will bring some of its stock to Artusiast and aid in the platform’s curatorial processes. “We want to help shape the digital revolution in art dealing,” said Karl & Faber CEO Dr. Rupert Keim.

In a statement, Boros suggested that the additional partners provided further proof of concept for Artusiast and would allow it to continue on a healthy growth trajectory. The partners no doubt hope to cash in on the feverish grown in the the online art sale sector. The most recent TEFAF report suggests that the market segment could top €10 billion in annual revenues by 2020, up from €2.2 billion in 2013 (see “TEFAF Art Market Report Says 2013 Best Year on Record Since 2007, With Market Outlook Bullish“)