Today, Christie’s has announced the launch of Christie’s Ventures, a new investment fund that will provide financial resources and expert support to Emerging Technology and FinTech companies creating solutions with art market relevancy. Christie’s Ventures will work alongside these portfolio companies to help accelerate their progress, simultaneously advancing Christie’s activities in the presentation, education, and sales of Fine Art and Luxury Goods.
Bryan Pellegrino, LayerZero Co-Founder and CEO, remarked:
“LayerZero is incredibly thrilled to partner with Christie’s Ventures. We’ve seen firsthand how Christie’s has been on the forefront of web3 and a pioneer in the space. 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 Ventures will start by exploring three broad categories: Web3.0 innovation, art related financial products and solutions and technologies that enable seamless consumption of art. Our first portfolio company sits perfectly on this spectrum: LayerZero Labs, a cross-chain interoperability company with a strong vision and business model within a broad addressable market. The company reduces friction in a client’s ability to move assets between blockchains.
Ben Gore, Christie’s Chief Operating Officer, described the motivation for starting Christie’s Ventures:
“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. For the companies we select to work with, as well as for our clients, the Christie’s Ventures value proposition combines the power of our brand and capital together with our network and expertise; it is another example of the formidable Christie’s Advantage.”
Christie’s has a long history of fostering technological innovation, launching online bidding in 2006 and being the first international auction house to hold dedicated online-only auctions in 2011. More recently, Christie’s multi-site auction livestreaming, augmented reality tools, support for NFT digital art and award-winning digital marketing has made the business more accessible and resilient. This week, on July 19th and 20th, Christie’s Art+Tech Summit series premieres its fifth iteration in New York, offering a premier platform for audiences and market leaders to explore thought-provoking ideas and engage in dialogue between industries. Christie’s Ventures will build upon these experiences to further cement Christie’s position as a leader in its field.
About LayerZero Labs
Founded in 2021, LayerZero’s vision is to create a community of cross-chain developers, building decentralized applications that are no longer constrained by individual blockchain capabilities. With LayerZero’s simple, generic messaging protocol, builders will develop cross-chain decentralized applications designed to unify the power of individual blockchains
