Peggy, a Toronto, Canada-based secure marketplace to buy and sell contemporary art, launched, expanding the art market by providing everyone the opportunity to collect and resell the art, and also announced that it raised CAD 10.8 million ($8M) in funding.
Investors include Real Ventures, ZVC, Garage Capital, Portage, Nomad Capital, and angel investors such as Bob Harding (former Chairman, Brookfield and former President, Board of Trustees, Art Gallery of Ontario), David Marcus (EVP Head of Music, Ticketmaster), and Tinie Tempah, an avid art collector.
By introducing industry-first artificial intelligence for verification, paired with marketplace and social features, new collectors now have the ability to resell if they choose, while artists earn royalties.
With Peggy, artists across the globe can earn royalties, and collectors have the flexibility to resell. With Peggy's patent-pending digital fingerprint, artists, galleries and collectors can finally authenticate artwork.
This authentication process enables secondary sales and automatic royalties. Only possible today given advancements in artificial intelligence, Peaggy’s digital fingerprinting process utilizes the ease of taking a smartphone picture to create a seamless experience.
By enabling collectors to reliably and independently authenticate artwork, Peggy opens the door to secure reselling while continuing to support artists and galleries with royalties.
"Peggy creates a new economy for art, one where everyone can participate," said Craig Follett, Co-founder & CEO of Peggy. "For the first time ever, collectors can buy art with the flexibility to sell it on the other side, should they one day need to rehome the artwork. This unprecedented flexibility, previously only available to billionaires, is now available to the rest of us, and we're excited to be at the forefront of this movement."
Company: Peggy Inc.
Raised: $10.8M CAD
Round: Unknown
Funding Month: February 2023
Lead Investors:
Additional Investors: Real Ventures, ZVC, Garage Capital, Portage, Nomad Capital, Bob Harding, David Marcus, and Tinie Tempah
Company Website: https://peggy.com/
Software Category: Social Marketplace
About the Company: Peggy was founded by Craig Follett and Adam Meghji in 2020, Peggy is a secure marketplace to buy, and sell art. Peggy has partnered with contemporary art galleries worldwide to bring collectors the most sought-after art on the market. The app features artists that push the boundaries of contemporary art—artists on the platform have shown at museums such as the Venice Biennale, Centre Pompidou, MOCA Geffen, and Louvre Abu Dhabi. By providing artist royalties, Peggy expands the art market to support artists and enable secondary sales. Peggy brings together galleries, artists, collectors, and other stakeholders in the art ecosystem to make a living with and invest in art accessible to all.
Source: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230207005234/en/Peggy-Raises-10.8-Million-Introduces-a-Way-for-Artists-to-Earn-Royalties-With-the-Official-Launch-of-Its-App