Blockchain-Based Digital Art Registry Artory Collects $7.3 M. in Series A Funding -ARTnews

Artory, the blockchain-based digital art registry, raised $7.3 million through a Series A funding round supported by firms invested in the digital-music platform Spotify and other technology services. Nanne Dekking, Artory’s founder and chief executive—as well as the chairman of TEFAF (The European Fine Art Foundation)—said in a statement, “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.”

In March, Artory acquired more than 22 million individual records from 4,000 auction houses through Auction Club with money secured through its first funding round.

Among the investors in the platform 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. Williams stated in a release, “The Artory Registry brings transparency and trust to an industry that is overly exclusive and opaque. In many ways similar to how Spotify re-invigorated the music industry, we believe Artory is poised to transform the art industry by offering collectors and buyers a trusted place to research provenance, conduct due diligence, and make more informed purchasing decisions.”