Artsy, a US startup whose platform allows people to learn about visual art and explore buy or sell opportunities, has just raised $50 million in equity funding at a $225 million pre-money valuation, TechCrunch and Pitchbook reported yesterday.
In the long list of investors is Darya (Dasha) Zhukova, the wife of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and a figure of the Russian cultural scene, who also co-founded the startup.
Among the 55 other investors are Rich Barton (Expedia, Glassdoor, Zillow), Sky Dayton (Earthlink, Boingo), art dealer Larry Gagosian (founder of Gagosian Gallery), Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, Greg Maffei of Liberty Media, Artsy co-founder Wendi Murdoch, Bob Pittman (MTV co-founder, iHeartMedia CEO), members of the Rockefeller and Acquavella families as well as investment firm L Catterton, Thrive Capital, and Shumway Capital, reports TechCrunch.
The Series D brings the total raised by Artsy to around $100 million.
Artsy claims that auctions quadrupled in number on the platform in the last year. Artsy core business consists in developing and hosting sites for 1,800 commercial galleries in 90 countries, and selling their work online. The platform generates $20 million of sales each month from a user base of 2 million unique visitors per month.
