Christie’s rolls out its first venture capital fund as VC makes debut bet on LayerZero Labs

moneycontrol.com:

Art and luxury auction house Christie’s on July 18 announced that it is launching its first venture capital fund called Christie’s Ventures which will invest in emerging technology and fintech solutions relevant to the art market.

Ben Gore, Christie’s chief operating officer, said the motivation and incentive is to further innovation and deepen experiences for clients. He added that the “intersections of technology and financial products are increasingly relevant and prevalent” with strong opportunities ahead.

Devang Thakkar, the newly appointed global head of Christie’s Ventures, said investments would focus on products and services that “solve real business challenges, improve client experiences, and expand growth opportunities” – directly and indirectly for the art market.

“Our leadership has provided us with an excellent vantage point thus far and the launch of Christie’s Ventures will allow us to develop further and faster with entrepreneurs who have a strong track record of building great products and companies,” Thakkar added.

Focus will be on three broad categories — Web3 innovation, art related fintech solutions, and tech and solutions that enable seamless consumption of art. The first investment is in LayerZero Labs, a cross-chain interoperability company that reduces facilitates movement of a client’s assets between blockchains.

There was no word on the funding size for LayerZero.