On Monday, Christie's the renowned British auction company that was created 256 years ago, in 1766, announced the opening of a brand-new venture fund called Christie's Ventures. The company's venture arm intends to concentrate on technologies that enable seamless consumption of art, including Web3 innovation and financial goods and solutions related to art according to the release.

A new startup investment fund has been announced by the British auction house Christie's with the mission of assisting developing technology and fintech enterprises hoping to revolutionize the art industry. The company stated that in order to expedite growth and steer Christie's activities in novel areas, it intends to collaborate with the companies in its portfolio. According to Christie's Ventures stated on July 18, it will support firms and would start by investigating three general categories which offer Web3 innovation, financial products and solutions relating to the arts, and tools and technology related to art and luxury goods to facilitate seamless consumption of the arts.

The company stated on Monday that Christie's multi-site auction live streaming, augmented reality capabilities, support for NFT digital art, and award-winning digital marketing have improved accessibility and resilience. Ben Gore, Christie's chief operating officer, said in a statement that the company had "both a motivation and a responsibility to expand innovation and enrich experiences for our clients." "The nexus of financial goods and technology is becoming relevant and pervasive, and we strongly believe in the potential ahead."

The firm Layerzero Labs is the auction house's first portfolio company under Christie's new venture arm. In line with Christie's, Layerzero is a cross-chain interoperability company with a clear mission and viable business plan. The business lowers obstacles that clients have while transferring assets between blockchains.

Gore stated that the Christie's Ventures value proposition combines the strength of the brand and capital with their network and knowledge. It is another indication of the formidable Christie's advantage for the firms the company they select to collaborate with as well as for their clients.

Along with Christie's, rival auction houses, Sotheby's and Phillips have also entered the cryptocurrency and NFT arena.

About Christie :

Christie's auction house was located in London, New York City, and Hong Kong, and is the second-largest auction house after Sotheby's and ahead of Phillips and China Guardian. According to a news release from Christie's, was among the first worldwide auction house organizations to offer online auctions.

Christie is interested in Digital currency and blockchain technology.

The first bitcoin artwork was ever sold by the auction house when Christie's exhibited Block 21 of "Portraits of a Mind" in September 2020. The auction house accepted bitcoin (BTC) for a $6 million painting the next year. Keith Haring created the picture, which was purchased at the London Christie's "20th/21st century" sale.

Christie's has been holding high-profile non-fungible token (NFT) auctions for some time, and it was the auction house for Beeple's "Everyday: The First 5,000 Days" NFT, which fetched $69.34 million. Christie's has organized auctions that have included a complete set of NFT Curio Cards as well as Cryptopunks, Meebits, and Bored Ape NFTs.

Indrani bose

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA