The Parisian online art gallery Singulart has raised a round of €1.5 million. The funding came from business angels including Denis Fayolle and Chantal Baudron, as well as with F3A, managed by Bpifrance as part of the Investments for the Future program. The company had previously raised €1.1 million in 2017 when it launched.
Founded in 2017 by Véra Kempf, Brice Lecompte, and Denis Fayolle, the online art sales platform allows art collectors to discover works from the hottest artists in 80 different countries, while allowing nationally recognised painters and photographers to sell their art more easily around the world.
Singulart boasts a collection of more than 45,000 paintings and photographs, featuring 2,200 artists from 80 different nationalities. In a growing online art market, Singulart faces competition such as Saatchi Art in the US and Rise Art in the UK. However, the French startup planned to strengthen its position in the British market last September and tried to acquire its competitor NewBloodArt. A deal which has not been closed in the end.
In 2017, the online art market reached a total value of €3.7 billion, and now exceeds €4.4 billion. According to Hiscox, an insurer specialising in fine art, the market for online art will take place more and more on Instagram. Hiscox indicates that “79% of art buyers under 35 use Instagram to discover new artists”.
Singulart will use the funding to expand internationally and strengthen its workforce. The startup also plans to incorporate sculpture into its collection this month, and begin to develop its brand outside digital channels.