Blockchain-Startup disrupts the art world

Provenance - origin and history - of an artwork is of great importance in the art world. Among other things, it allows to prove and justify the authenticity of a piece of art. «An estimated 30 to 50 percent of all works of art are either counterfeit or at the very least of dubious origin», says Niko Kipouros founder of 4ARTechnologies. With their 4ARTechnologies App, Kipouros and co-founder Rolf Maier want to create a digital, tamperproof provenance directory via Blockchain.

The idea of a Blockchain-stored certificate of authenticity is nothing new. However, 4ARTechnologies takes it one step further and connects the certificate with the object itself. A smartphone photo of the image is enough for the app to create a digital fingerprint. For this, the app captures characteristics such as structure, material and surface and links them to the certificate of authenticity. If one scans a forgery of the image, the app recognizes this immediately. It is also able to detect any damage caused to the original.

Behind the recognition software is Atlantic Zeiser, one of the world market leaders for serialization, personalization and track and trace solutions. The German company has also turned Swiss banknotes, among others, forgery-proof. Kipouros is not about to disclose how the technology works. Only this much: 4ARTechnologies owns exclusive license rights.

A lucrative market

The app is set to launch in the first quarter of 2019. This year, the Luxembourg National Museum will test the 4ARTechnologies app on about a thousand works of art in its holdings. Potential customers of the Zug-based startup, however, are not only museums but also artists who wish to compile a catalogue of their art as well as transportation companies who wish to insure themselves against damage done to artworks while in transit. Each year, 77 important art fairs and around 39 million changes of ownership of artworks take place worldwide - a lucrative market.

If the Zug-based startup only covered one percent of the global art market, it would translate into a turnover of about one billion dollars. The business model managed to convince many institutional and private investors; over 18 million euros were raised during a Pre-ICO phase. Thus, the soft cap was hit even before the ICO-phase was made public.

4ARTechnologies has ambitious plans concerning these funds. Kipouros expects the company to grow from 20 employees to 50 within the next year. «We strive to become the global market leader in safety standards for art», Kipouros explains the goals of his startup.