Web3 startup making NFTs of Picasso and Hussain's art receives funding

NFT startup Artfi plans to use the additional funding to grow its staff and create an NFT marketplace for NFTs related to the fine arts

By Shashank Bhardwaj

Image: Shutterstock

Blockchain NFT ecosystem Artfi, situated in Dubai, earned $3.26 million in funding at a $100 million valuation. Sheikha Hend Al Qassemi, a member of the Sharjah ruling family, and Raza Beig, director of Landmark Group, are among the investors who took part in this round.

This firm, founded by art enthusiast Asif Kamal, will focus on producing beautiful art NFTs. With this money, Artfi will develop its team, products, and a specific marketplace for fine art NFTs.

Artfi's founder and CEO, Asif Kamal, stated, "Artfi was launched with a vision to make art accessible to everyone. With Artfi, we are making it possible that rather than selling one painting to one individual, we will utilise blockchain technologies to fractionalised the piece of art into 5,000 to 10,000 pieces. So democratising it this way will expose people to the most exclusive asset class as fractional ownership in a painting as NFTs."

The project will focus on building fine arts NFTs for legendary blue-chip works of art by well-known artists, including Picasso, VS Gaitonde, MF Husain, Sacha Jafri, and Banksy.

Reputable artists produce works of art that are in demand. The platform plans to introduce its first offering of fine art NFT in August. It is trying to build a museum where the art collection will always be available in the metaverse.

The funding was provided after a drop in NFT transaction activity from $3.9 billion in February 2022 to less than $1 billion in March 2022. Statista estimates that the worldwide art market has total annual sales of $65 billion. The fine art fintech startup is preparing to whitelist its offerings starting in August, giving customers early access.

The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash

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