Juniqe raises $15.7 million for art marketplace

Juniqe, an online marketplace for curated art, has raised €14 million (about $15.7 million) in a round led by Highland Europe with participation from Vorwerk Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds, and Redalpine.

The Berlin startup, launched in 2014, connects artists and sellers with buyers. The company experienced a year on year revenue growth of 500% in 2015 it said, with a successful French launch last year too.

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“It was only last autumn that we launched in France, on juniqe.fr, and not even a year later, we are generating over 15% of our revenue from the French market,” said Lea Lange, managing director.

With these new funds, the startup plans to continue expanding its service into more countries around Europe and will “double down” on its investment in technology and product to make the shopping experience more personalised and grow its creative community.

“The impact of our curated collections, social media and editorial magazine on how individuals experience and purchase art online is huge. We tell the stories behind our artists and their designs to inspire our customers with creative content,” said Lange, adding that 55% of Juniqe’s traffic now comes from mobile.

There is a huge market opportunity for JUNIQE in Europe, according to Highland Europe partner Irena Goldberg. “Juniqe is breaking boundaries and helping reshape our traditional understanding of contemporary art,” she said. “As a result, it’s revolutionising the European online art market by helping grow a new segment for popular art and design.”

This post first appeared on Tech.eu.