Sotheby
1334 York Ave, New York, NY, 10021, United States
Overview
Sotheby’s conducts auctions and private sales of fine art, antiques and decorative art, jewelry, and collectibles. The company also offers related brokerage services. Sotheby’s was founded in 1987 and is based in New York, United States.
- Total investments
- 2
- Lead investments
- 0
- Investments · 12mo
- 0
- Active investors
- 8
Sector focus
- Art
- Collectibles
- Events
- Retail
Investment portfolio
- Mojito
Participated · Equity · Oct 2021
Mojito offers an all-in-one NFT commerce suite and platform that enables brands to build custom marketplaces with features like perpetual royalties, permissioned access, cryptocurrency management, security, and creative control. The platform is optimized to interoperate with Ethereum and EVM-compatible technologies so partners and assets are not locked into isolated networks and can access DeFi, DAOs, and other web3 innovations. Mojito is live and being used by customers, including a strategic partnership with Sotheby’s to power the Sotheby’s Metaverse marketplace. The product spun out of Serotonin and was created by Serotonin co-founders Amanda Cassatt and Matthew Iles alongside Serotonin Head of Technology Dan Kinsley; Kinsley will lead Mojito as CEO. The company plans to use its funding to build out a regulatory-compliant commerce suite with customizable APIs and SDKs to make it easier for brands to plug in and monetize IP in digital environments. Financially, Mojito announced a $20 million first funding round at a reported $100 million valuation.
- IfOnly
Participated · Series D · Apr 2018
IfOnly operates a curated online marketplace featuring more than 3,000 unique experiences, from affordable activities to high‑end, one‑of‑a‑kind events. The platform has expanded from three cities to eight and now serves two million registered users, approximately 25% of whom engage regularly. IfOnly is broadening its catalog to reach a wider, more price‑sensitive audience while retaining higher‑ticket offerings. Strategic partnerships with brands like MasterCard, Hyatt and Sotheby’s are intended to make partners’ offerings stickier and to expand distribution. The company faces competition from entrants such as Airbnb, which is pushing into bookable local experiences; IfOnly emphasizes vetting and quality control as a differentiator. Leadership recently changed as John Boris joined as CEO, succeeding founder Trevor Traina. IfOnly operates an online marketplace that offers curated adventure, culinary and athletic experiences. The company connects customers to high-end, often expert- or celebrity-led experiences and occasional auctions. It plans to use new funding to accelerate expansion into new domestic and international markets and to invest in its technology. IfOnly is launching a partnership with Sotheby’s called “IFONLY PRESENTS: The Experiences Auction,” featuring approximately 25 experiences, with a portion of each sale benefiting charitable causes. Founded in 2012 and led by CEO Trevor Traina, the company is backed by several venture firms and angel investors. The most recent funding round was an undisclosed investment from Sotheby’s. IfOnly operates an online marketplace for curated experiences, letting vendors ("luminaries") list and sell activities ranging from celebrity-led events to accessible local classes. The company has about 60 employees and serves the Bay Area, New York and Los Angeles, with more than 10,000 experiences on the platform. Its proprietary platform handles taxes, ticketing and complex logistics (including background checks and blackout dates), and the company holds three issued patents with seven pending. IfOnly is pushing to broaden its customer base by adding lower-priced experiences ($50–$125) while maintaining higher-end offerings; Traina expects lower-priced offerings to become the majority of revenue within five to six quarters. Operational metrics disclosed in the article include a claimed addressable market of $225 billion and that 30% of customers shop recurrently; the founder declined to detail annual revenue, though he said the prior pricier model was on a 100% yearly growth path. The company donates 10% of gross sales to more than 200 charities. IfOnly.com, operated by Traina Interactive, runs a website that provides direct connections between select audiences and the luminaries they admire. The company positions itself as a creator of unique marketplaces that deliver extraordinary experiences with notable people. It was founded and funded by Bay Area artists, athletes and entrepreneurs and is based in San Francisco. IfOnly emphasizes delivering extraordinary experiences and helping society in its activities. Financially, the company has recently completed a $12 million funding round, indicating outside investor interest in its model.