Marcus Richards
Artsted.com is a global online art marketplace, working on encouraging transparent and meaningful connections between artists and art collectors. Based on an innovative proprietary algorithm, Artsted strives to put a halt to confusion, price-fixing and information asymmetries in the art market.
As a result of this framework, the project positions itself in the niche of trusted market insight, which in turn brings the attention of a new generation of art collectors interested in affordable investment opportunities and looking to build future-proof collections that hold value.
The mission is to nurture emerging creators’ careers, allowing them to operate as self-auditors as they make their way up the global art market.
It wants to help a new generation of art collectors make use of unprecedented tools that display transparent price analytics and market insights into the emerging creators’ work.
Artsted’s focus on emerging artists is because the founders are convinced that the market disruption can only happen in a bottom-up movement, where a unified self-audit standard is set for all artists pursuing a professional career.
It starts with creating a publicly available and comprehensive set of analytics connected to artwork evaluations.
The system Artsted platform is using is based on non-transactional data analytics and charts connected to artists’ CV entries, processed using a proprietary algorithm.
Once an artist joins the Artsted platform, they are immediately able to create a digital track record that later develops over time to reflect their career performance & progress.
At the same time, this tool also benefits collectors, as they are provided with instant analytics and evaluations about the artists, including real-time market updates.
In addition, the platform provides targeted advertisements to favor creators’ visibility and sales. The best part is that all these services are free for the artists.
The company behind the project — a UK-based Artisfact ltd has been backed by a number of angel investors and venture capitalists, among which is the Atomind Group.
Tell us about yourself?
My journey in the art world probably starts at a very young age, when I first encountered the fascinating and magical worlds of the Renaissance and Impressionism.
It grew into a full-scale passion when I started my bachelor’s degree majoring in Cultural Heritage, I then interned at a museum, and was a frequent gallery hopper.
The world of art has always been a space where I felt like I was in my element, so I stuck with it, and my mission has become solving real-life problems various actors in this industry face on a daily base.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Never doubt an idea that shows traction. Delegate all of the operations as soon as you can, to free up the time for strategy development and networking.
What problem does your business solve?
On the one hand, we aim to provide a comprehensive answer to a question “Why does an artwork Y cost an X amount?” – based on the proprietary AI technology.
On the other hand, we are still a marketplace, which puts the supply and demand side of the primary art market in contact with one another, solving the “intermediary” problem.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
It really was a natural progression, I have always had a problem-solver mindset and an entrepreneurial drive, so it was only a matter of time until I found problems in the space I was working on that I believed needed solving.
In an effort to understand the intricate passageways and the secret modus operandi of this industry I then joined a Master’s Degree course in Arts Management and Economics, expecting to find the answers to all of the questions I had.
Spoiler alert, I found out that not every question I was struggling with had an answer, and out of one of these existential questions the Artsted project was born.
What is your magic sauce?
Our proprietary AI-based algorithm is unlike anything else on the market, that’s why I personally believe it could truly disrupt the art industry.
Our competitors, such as other art marketplaces are rarely providing comprehensive insight into prices and market movements of single creators, and that’s where our real USP lies.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
We want to expand and scale to become a truly global enterprise and a market leader within our niche – it is a very clear trajectory and so far we have outpaced our original roadmap.
The vision is, of course, to transform the art market as a whole, to make the first-time transactions seamless, information accessible to anyone who needs it and fine art investment ever more mainstream among the wider public.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Building an MVP and putting together a tech team coming from a humanities background, I had to learn the development stack along the way – this was, and still is the most challenging, nonetheless exciting part of my work at Artsted.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
We welcome artists looking for online representation, as well as aspiring and seasoned collectors to discover the unique curated offering and unparalleled early-bird investment opportunities.
Follow us on Linkedin (www.linkedin.com/company/14810659/) or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/artstedcom/?hl=en) or reach out to [email protected] with any inquiries.
