Announced in TechCrunch, April 28, 2021
We first met in 2012 at Christie’s as art — a $2T+ asset class — was exploding onto the global stage. After countless late nights pouring over excel sheets and take out, we knew there had to be a better way. Our department alone was responsible for $3B in annual sales, making us the largest art business in the world. Our world was global and 24/7. We were responsible for the go-to-market strategies for $100M+ artworks by Mark Rothko, Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Andy Warhol and Francis Bacon with clients in New York, Hong Kong, the Middle East and everywhere in between and yet our tools were excel, books, pen, paper and a calculator bought at Duane Reade. We knew there had to be a better way to power the world’s largest asset class. We built the tool we wish we had.
In 2018, we launched Lobus — the platform designed to empower all owners of art. We are redefining what it means to be an owner — it is not just collectors, but at Lobus, we are on a mission to make artists owners and to put them in control.
NFTs have created the proof of concept that is on its way to changing an entire $2.4T asset class. NFTs are at once about digital art (the art of our time — we believe if Picasso were alive today, he would be experimenting with NFTs) but perhaps most importantly, NFTs create a framework for empowered ownership where the artist is in control.
We are thrilled to have backing from major institutional and industry partners. We have closed a $6 million round led by Upside Partnership with participation from 8VC, Franklin Templeton, Boost VC, Weekend Fund, Dream Machine, Shatter Fund and EvoNexus alongside angel investors Rob Hayes, Troy Carter, Suzy Ryoo, Rebecca and Cal Henderson, Henry Ward and Lex Sokolin. To read about what we are building, check out TechCrunch.
This funding allows us to further invest in building out our product and engineering teams and continuing to bring artists into the fold. We are humbled by our investors’ support and excited to have them at our side for the next chapter in this adventure.
Interested in building the future of art with us? We’re hiring for key roles across the company and we’d love to hear from you.
Learn more about Lobus at https://lobus.io.
