TRLab, a platform for collecting art in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT), raised $4.2 million in a funding round, according to a press release shared with CoinDesk.
- The company will use the funds to diversify its collection and add art projects of “varying scope and scale, ranging from full-production genesis drops to curated multi-artist projects united along a common theme, to large-scale editions that integrate shared learning and direct access to artists into the collecting process,” the statement said.
- The platform is geared towards the higher end of the contemporary art market, with one listed artwork by Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang selling for $2.5 million in July.
- NFTs saw breakthrough adoption in the world of expensive art last year, and featured in the catalog of world-renowned auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s, where Digital artist Beeple sold an NFT for $69 million in March.
- The new funds bring TRLab’s total fundraising to $6.2 million. Incubated by Dragonfly Capital and launched in May, the Hong-Kong based company is co-founded by Xin Li-Cohen, who is also non-executive deputy chairman at Christie’s, and Audrey Ou.
- The round saw participation from funds including Animoca Brands, one of the world’s most valuable NFT and metaverse venture capital firms; Bertlesmann Asia Investments (BAI), the Asian VC of German media and education conglomerate Bertelsmann; Hong Kong-based Kenetic Capital; INCE Capital; Metapurse; Plutus Capital; StableNode, a project that uses blockchain validator rewards to invest; and Willoughby Capital.
- From the art world, WhaleShark, the Digital Renaissance Foundation, Pace Gallery and its associated Web 3 arm Pace Verso joined the funding, as well as art collectors Adam Lindemann, Pablo Rodriguez-Fraile and Svetlana Kuzmicheva-Uspenskaya. Art entrepreneur Loic Gouzer also joined the round. Private investors like Marc Bhargava, Gabby Dizon, Sabrina Hahn, Andrew Steinwold, Olivia Wang, and Jennifer Zeng, also invested.
- TRLab plans to announce two new NFT projects as well as expand its membership benefits, this quarter.
Read more: Christie’s Exec’s NFT Platform TR Lab Plans Artwork Drop by Cai Guo-Qiang
