In this new NFT art space facing a general lack of curation, LaCollection stands out by offering a unique highly tailored model, away from traditional marketplaces. The company is creating a new way of owning digital versions of physical artwork by partnering with cultural institutions. Like a limited edition “digital lithography”, collectors are now able to own certified digital twins of masterpieces from the world’s greatest museums, galleries and artists.
Ambitioning to become the leading platform for new communities of art, culture and NFT enthusiasts, LaCollection has just closed a $10 million seed round led by Alven, with participations from Aglaé Ventures (backed by Agache, the holding company of the Arnault family and the controlling shareholder of LVMH), Cygni Capital, Kima Ventures, Artnova, Motier Ventures (the venture Family Office of the Moulin-Houzé family, owner of Galeries Lafayette Group) and Premier Janvier Capital among others.
The art NFT space has seen spectacular growth in the last few months – NFT sales volume totalled $24.9 billion in 2021 (compared to just $94.9 million the year before) and just hit $15bn for the month of January according to DappRadar – and LaCollection has rapidly stood out in this brand new space.
“At Alven, we’ve been looking at NFT models for a while now. Clearly, discovering LaCollection was a rare excitement given it combines every factor we see as compelling: passionate founders’ knowledge for the fine art space, explosive early traction, and most importantly evidence-based utility for each player in a deep emotional market ready to enrol”. __ François Meteyer, Partner at Alven
The funds will be used to further develop the platform and offering including developing more avenues for growth such as secondary marketplaces, curated wallets, the possibility for multi-currency purchases, integration with the Metaverse, play-to-earn, virtual and immersive exhibitions and a Mobile version of its platform. It will also help secure partnerships with more museums and artists, keep growing a global team across Europe, Asia and the US, and invest in an ambitious social and climate positive plan roadmap.
LaCollection was launched in September of 2021 by 2 Jean-Sébastien Beaucamps Co-Founder and CEO and Fabian Langlet, Co-Founder and CTO, both fine art space passionates and Ethereum blockchain technologies specialists.
Since its inception, LaCollection previously has raised a $400,000 pre-seed funding round from founders of prominent blockchain unicorns Sorare and Ledger among others and secured an exclusive long-term partnership with The British Museum last fall, hitting a 7 digits NFT sales performance in less than 4 months.