Collectrium
Browsing Art Fairs from the Couch
Collectrium
Boris Pevzner
While the Internet has changed the way people buy and sell many things, most of the art market still operates as it has for decades, with collectors and galleries scouting art fairs and buying art after they see it in person. Boris Pevzner aims to change that. "What I wanted to do, really for as long as I could remember, is figure out a way to combine art and technology," says Pevzner, 39. He's a veteran of three previous startups, including game company XFire that Viacom acquired for $102 million. Pevzner's latest venture, Collectrium, is a mobile app that acts as an electronic catalog for art fairs. Collectors can point their phones at artworks to learn about the artist, the gallery, the price, and save it to a list of favorites. Since the business's launch in Basel in May 2010, Pevzner says he has enlisted about half of the 180 art fairs around the world, which pay up to $20,000 per event for the service. Other versions are available for galleries, collectors, and artists for $20 to $50 per month. Galleries use Collectrium to manage their inventories; collectors browse works in distant places. Pevzner projects more than $1 million in revenue in 2011 for the seven-employee New York company.
—John Tozzi (posted on April 15, 2011)
Boris Pevzner
While the Internet has changed the way people buy and sell many things, most of the art market still operates as it has for decades, with collectors and galleries scouting art fairs and buying art after they see it in person. Boris Pevzner aims to change that. "What I wanted to do, really for as long as I could remember, is figure out a way to combine art and technology," says Pevzner, 39. He's a veteran of three previous startups, including game company XFire that Viacom acquired for $102 million. Pevzner's latest venture, Collectrium, is a mobile app that acts as an electronic catalog for art fairs. Collectors can point their phones at artworks to learn about the artist, the gallery, the price, and save it to a list of favorites. Since the business's launch in Basel in May 2010, Pevzner says he has enlisted about half of the 180 art fairs around the world, which pay up to $20,000 per event for the service. Other versions are available for galleries, collectors, and artists for $20 to $50 per month. Galleries use Collectrium to manage their inventories; collectors browse works in distant places. Pevzner projects more than $1 million in revenue in 2011 for the seven-employee New York company.
—John Tozzi (posted on April 15, 2011)
