24. Artfinder

Founder: Jonas Almgren
Founded: March 2013
Website: www.artfinder.com

During his 20-years working for start-ups in Silicon Valley and New York, Jonas Almgren found himself immersed in the world of high-end art. Research led him to discover that there were an estimated “eight million starving artists in the world” and many more people who don’t think they could afford art.

In a bid to overcome the perception that art is elitist and unaffordable, he wanted to create an online marketplace to connect these “starving artists” with art lovers all over the world: Artfinder.

Artfinder takes its moniker from an earlier business of the same name that aimed to act as a gallery of all the famous art in the world, enabling people to buy posters of the work they liked. After completely pivoting and with a brand new team and business model, the start-up re-launched with Almgren at the helm.

Charging a 30% commission on every sale, today the platform has more than 500,000 users globally; selling everything from paintings and printmaking to sculpture and digital art.

The next year will see the company open an office in the US – its second biggest market. The business also plans to build an app that provides an automated shipping solution for its artists, making it easier for them to deal with the hassle of shipping costs, including different duties and taxes in different regions.

With Sherry Coutu on the board, and an experienced entrepreneur at its helm, Artfinder seems to have really found its feet the second time around…