COMPANY: accessART
ELEVATOR PITCH
accessART is a global online art platform linking hand-picked artists to art buyers that are looking for something unique, yet affordable. accessART aims to make art under €1000 from anywhere in the world accessible and easy and fun to purchase while empowering individual artists to sell their works online.
PRODUCT/SERVICE DESCRIPTION
accessART is first and foremost an online art platform providing a marketplace for affordable art. accessART does not charge artists for operating a store or listing products. Only when an artist sells a piece of art, a commission is charged. This commission is low compared to other platforms as well as physical galleries. This is possible because the artist is responsible for the creation, digitization, packing and shipping of the art.
accessART creates additional revenue streams by providing specialized services for both artists and art buyers. The artist services help individual artists thrive online by providing, for example, art photography and shipping services. The first services are currently being developed and will soon be available in the Netherlands and afterward rolled out internationally. accessART is also working on state of the art technologies and tools that help art buyers find, select and purchase art for their homes and offices.
DIFFERENTIATORS VS. THE COMPETITION
Within the maze of online art platforms, auctions and dealers, accessART clearly positions itself in the online art market by combining an online art platform for art under €1000, with services that help its customers easily buy and sell art online. In addition, accessART differentiates itself from its competitors by transparency, globalization and digitization.
Transparency: accessART talks ART in a way that anyone can understand. No difficult terminology, clear terms and conditions. All art is unique or a limited edition print and is available for less than €1000. Only individual artists can list their work on accessART and determine the price their work goes for.
Globalization: Art should not only be on display at a local workshop or gallery. People should be able to buy art from anywhere in the world and in that way explore new places and cultures (or think back of places they visited!). accessART runs a multilingual platform that facilitates global exchange of art in a comfortable environment for both artists and buyers. Artists are supported in packing and shipping their works worldwide.
Digitization: accessART uses the latest technologies and media in the smartest ways possible. accessART connects with artists and art buyers through social media techniques, helps artists with digitizing their work and market it online in a beautiful and effective way, and brings art to life in a buyer’s home through an innovative app.
FOUNDER’S STORY
Sabrina lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and is 27 years old. She has a strong international background showing in both her academic and corporate career. Sabrina graduated from the double-degree program CEMS / International Management from the Rotterdam School of Management. After that, she joined Accenture as an IT consultant where she worked on a global ERP implementation at an international beer brewer for almost two years. In March 2015, Sabrina decided to say farewell to the security of her consulting job but remained working part-time until the end of July. Working on accessART for only 2 days a week, Sabrina managed to turn the idea into a live website in two weeks time and generate revenue from it within three months. From August 2015 on, she put all her energy in accessART and the company has been growing ever since. Sabrina currently focuses on putting accessART on the map and learning more about the industry and potential art buyers.
“The idea for accessART emerged from the pure and utter frustration of seeing my friends buy beautiful apartments, and then leave their walls empty or use the prints from their student houses (which hang in millions of living rooms across the planet). I thought – this has to be done better! At the same time, I got to know artists that were desperately looking for a way to make a living out of their art, but either were no stars in, or did not want to perform marketing and sales activities. I am super excited to bring my affinity with technology to an industry that has not digitized yet – the art industry! At the same time, the online art industry is growing very fast so it’s an exciting time to enter this industry with an art startup!” (Sabrina Bos)
HEADQUARTERS: Amsterdam
WEBSITE: accessart.nl
FOUNDERS: Sabrina Bos, Ralf de Ruijter (Co-Founder), David Ferreira (Co-Founder)
INVESTORS: Bootstrapped
YEAR FOUNDED: 2015
TWITTER: @accessartnl
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/accessart.nl
LINKEDIN: linkedin.com/company/accessart-nl
CRUNCHBASE: crunchbase.com/organization/accessart
ANGELLIST: angel.co/accessart
*Featured Startup Pitches are submitted by individual companies, vetted, and lightly edited by StartUp Beat for spelling and grammar. Any claims made or errors otherwise are the sole responsibility of the author.
