Christie's launches venture capital fund to support Web3 and blockchain investments

On Monday, British luxury art auction house Christie's, announced the launch of an investment fund called ‘Christie’s Ventures’, to support fintech companies with emerging technology that are focused on the art market.

According to Christie’s, the fund will be used to ‘work alongside portfolio companies to help accelerate their progress, simultaneously advancing Christie’s activities in the presentation, education, and sales of fine art and luxury goods.’

Apart from offering financial support, ‘art-related financial product solutions’ and mentorship to the companies is also on the table, with the ultimate goal of enabling ‘seamless consumption of art’. 

‘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.’ Christie’s chief operating officer, Ben Gore, said in a statement.

The initial investment will go toward LayerZero Labs, a fintech company that is developing tools to enable omnichain decentralized apps, which will allow a more seamless process of transferring assets between blockchains. 

LayerZero Lab’s co-founder and CEO Bryan Pellegrino said in a statement, ‘We look forward to working with their team to find new and innovative ways to create the most accessible, frictionless experience with assets indexed over multiple blockchains.’

Christie’s has a long track record of hosting online auctions. Back in 2006, the art house initiated online bidding and in 2021, it held an auction where it sold the most expensive NFT artwork to date. The NFT artwork was created by Beeple and raised more than US$ 69 million. 

Photo: Getty