Online art gallery Rise Art is out to raise another €730,000 (£650,000) in crowdfunded investment in its platform, together with almost €170,000 (£150,000) from an institutional funding round. 

Founded in the UK, Rise Art operates an art tech platform that “curates extraordinary art from around the world and makes it easily accessible to anyone”, according to the company. 

In addition to owning an equity stake in the company, the new investors will receive rewards which include a private tour of a well-known artist’s studio, a personal curator to come to your home and help make your art collection ‘museum-worthy’, and invitations to Rise Art’s pop-up Supper Club with art world celebs. Investors can subscribe to shares in Rise Art from as little as £10 to over £25,000 (€28,000).

The money raised will be used to “enhance content and storytelling” and expand the business into Asia.

Co-founder Scott Phillips said: “We are really excited about our plans for expansion into Asia. We have already received a lot of investment in the region and we’re starting to build an extensive network of experts and advisors there. 

In Association with

“We’ve also made inroads into the market with pop up events and exhibitions, and we’re making our first hire, who will be based in Hong Kong from September 2018. We will be focusing primarily on Hong Kong and China, which is now the second biggest art market in the world, and where we see potential for massive growth as a company.”

The company also plans to invest more in technology and has already built an advanced recommendation engine that uses AI and machine learning.

The company says it is “looking for one thing: talent”, which is why it showcases work in every medium and budget. 

But, says Phillips, it’s “not just a website”: “The platform is engaged, active, alive. Rise Art has a range of services, all designed to help get people discovering, owning, loving, buying and feeling things about art. And as well as selling great art, we also offer a try-before-you-buy service – we really want more people to experience art in their lives. So customers can road-test artworks at home or in the office before committing to buying them. 

“Rise Art doesn’t do business as usual. It gets experts and artists working together, so that more people around the world can buy great art easily.”

Two years ago, the company raised £516,800 in a Crowdcube round which had an initial target of £150,000, and includes among its backers Andrew Grahame, co-founder of Mr & Mrs Smith, Jeff Fluhr, founder of Stubhub, and Derek Collins, Dean of Arts at Hong Kong University.

Since then, Rise Art has doubled its revenue and in 2017 had transactions of over £1m on the site. In 2017 it launched the Rise Art Prize, a global competition to find exciting contemporary artists. The contest involved five regional competitions around the world and culminated in a final exhibition and awards ceremony in London.

In 2016, Rise Art acquired Irish startup Artfetch for an undisclosed sum. An e-commerce platform for emerging artists, Artfetch was founded by Patricia and Katie Tsouros (pictured), both of whom joined Rise Art following the acquisition.

Pic by Fran Veale