Catawiki, one Europe’s fastest growing online auction houses, today announced a €10 million Series B investment led by leading global venture firm Accel Partners.
The traditional auctioneering industry has been slow to innovate, and the majority of online auction sites can be unspecialised and overwhelming. Catawiki, a Netherlands-based online marketplace for buying and selling exceptional objects and collectibles, was established to address this gap, making it easier for buyers to discover truly unique items.
It has rapidly amassed three million monthly unique users while offering 35 sought-after auction categories as varied as comics, video games, antique cars and fine wine. Recent sales have included first edition Tintin comics, Rembrandt etchings, dinosaur fossils and Jaguar E-Type sports cars.
Currently, Catawiki is operating in Belgium, Germany, France and The Netherlands. The company will use the investment to expand through Europe, extend the number of specialist auction categories available and build a world-class online marketing team. In addition to to Accel Partners, Berlin-based investor and company builder Project A Ventures, Booking.com’s former CMO Arthur Kosten, and Dutch media and internet entrepreneur Willem Sijthoff, an existing investor, also participated in the round.
Catawiki was founded by René Schoenmakers and Marco Jansen; Schoenmakers commented on this news: “Prospective buyers who seek unique and special objects have struggled to find a reliable and dedicated destination online. We’ve put expert curation at the heart of Catawiki, which has proven immensely popular, attracting buyers from around the world seeking our specialist lists. This investment takes us one step further on our journey to becoming the global destination for unique objects.”
Concerning the investment, Michiel Kotting, partner at Accel Partners, says: “Catawiki quickly impressed us with their innovative business model and solid execution. They have tailored the process to the buyer and professional seller and seamlessly inserted the professional auctioneer into the process. The Catawiki team is truly passionate about their subject matter, something we also saw in the Etsy team when we invested, which has been a key factor in their success. We look forward to working with them as they continue their rapid expansion.”
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