Auctionata

Auctionata was an online auction house and eCommerce company specializing in luxury goods, art, antiques and collectibles based in Berlin with offices in New York. Auctionata had a team of 250 art experts who worked on commission and were not directly employed by Auctionata.[2] These experts were paid by the minute via PayPal[3] for valuing, authenticating, and curating objects including art, cars, watches, antiques.[4] Since opening in February 2012, Auctionata had evaluated and verified over 21,000 pieces of art.[5] Notably, Auctionata's experts discovered a watercolor by Egon Schiele, which was valued at a starting price of $1.3 million (€1 million).[6] Auctionata was declared insolvent on February 29, 2017 by announcing it has ceased operations.[7]

Auctionata AG
AG
IndustryOnline auction
Founded2012
FounderAlexander Zacke, Susanne Zacke
Defunct2017
Headquarters
Berlin
,
Germany
Area served
Global
Key people
Thomas Hesse (CEO), Alexander Gilkes (CIO), Lucas Hulsmann (CFO), Osman Khan, Jan Thiel, Johannes Riedl,
ProductsLivestream Auctions, Online shopping, Online auction
ServicesArt valuation
Revenue$150 million (2015) [1]
Number of employees
approx. 120 (as of June 2013 excl. experts)
Websiteauctionata.com

History

Auctionata was founded in 2012 by Alexander Zacke, Susanne Zacke and Georg Untersalmberger with investment capital provided by the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group and the Otto GmbH Group.[8] The online shop was launched in September 2012,[9] and Auctionata's first auction was held in December 2012.[10]

On 22 May 2013, Auctionata announced a strategic partnership with Chrono24, a large specialty marketplace for luxury watches. This partnership included 52 auctions over several years.[11]

In February 2013, Auctionata raised $20.2 million of funding through investment firms Earlybird Venture Capital, E.ventures, Bright Capital, Edward Shenderovich of Kite Ventures, as well as with previous funders Holtzbrinck, Otto and the Raffay Group.[12][13]

In March 2015, Auctionata raised €42 million ($45 million) from a group of investors led by Bernard Arnault, the Polish private equity fund MCI Management SA and the Hearst Media Corporation.[14]

According to media reports, Auctionata could not pay its employees in December 2016 after expected financing had not arrived.[15] Auctionata filed for preliminary insolvency on 16 January 2017 [16] and had to let go over 70 employees. [17] Following the conclusion of its preliminary insolvency proceedings on 28 February 2017, Auctionata had ceased its German operations. The subsidiaries Paddle8 in the US and Value-my-Stuff in the UK were subsquently sold and continued to operate.[18] Auctionata is included in a list of the top 189 startup failures.[19]

Technology of live stream auctions

Prior to every auction, Auctionata provided information for all items to be auctioned on its website. The auctions themselves were held in a TV-studio and streamed live on the internet using a content delivery network. The auctions were led by a licensed auctioneer and bids are accepted by phone, online, by absentee bid, as well as from the studio floor. Auctionata used a system developed by its founders, Zacke and Untersalmberger, allowing it to transmit the live video stream from the auction using a Real-time operating system without delays.[20] According to the founder, Alexander Zacke, the technology of live auctions primarily was developed to compete with multinational auction houses, including Christie's and Sotheby's.[21] Since potential bidders no longer have to physically attend the auctions, Auctionata's online auctions have been criticized for not promoting the same aura as may be found in traditional auction houses.[22]

Notable auctions

In December 2012, Auctionata auctioned the painting "Roses II", which is attributed to Oskar Kokoschka. Though the painting had been sold to the Bremen tobacco entrepreneur Wolfgang Ritter for 80,000 deutschmarks in 1966 (approx. €151,469 / $204,679 taking into account inflation), and Kokoschka himself wrote a handwritten note of authenticity for the painting, the painting's authenticity was later being questioned by the Oskar Kokoschka Foundation. Auctionata published the Foundation's critique immediately upon receiving it and the painting eventually sold for only $9,975 (€7,500).[23]

Auctionata also auctioned a newly discovered watercolor, "Reclining Woman" by Egon Schiele.[24] The painting was sold for $2.4 million (€1,827,250), the highest grossing piece of fine art sold at an online auction.[25]

Online auction world record

On June 23, 2015, Auctionata sold a rare enamel, ivory-mounted, and paste-set musical and automaton clock from the late 18th century for 3.37 million euros ($3,8 million) to the Shanghai-based billionaire and art collector Liu Yiqian.[26]

Notable mergers and acquisitions

On September 25, 2015, Auctionata bought the London based valuation website Valuemystuff.com, founded by Patrick van der Vorst, one of the largest online valuation companies in the world with over 469,000 valuations and 400,000 customers (stats as of November 2017).[27]

On May 12, 2016, Auctionata and Paddle8 announced that they will merge. The merged company had a turnover of more than $150 million.[28]

Awards

At the 2012 Digital Life Design conference Auctionata was awarded the Digital Star Award as one of the most promising German internet start-ups.[29]

gollark: It might actually be more reliable to host it on my spare Raspberry Pi 3B+ on terrible home interwebbernet uplinks powered by 2500 lemon batteries or something.
gollark: OH WAIT, RIGHT NOW.
gollark: How long until other "inharmonious relations" come up?!
gollark: I don't really trust you to deliver a remotely reliable server, given, well, the previous events, and the fact that you can apparently not agree on this.
gollark: G Ŋ Q

References
  1. Strauss, Karsten. "A Tale of Two Auction Houses". Forbes. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  2. Yumpu.com. "auctionata-information-folder-for-us-dealers-art-market-monitor". yumpu.com. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  3. "From Berlin, Bringing Art Auctions Online: Auctionata CEO Alexander Zacke (Part 3)". Sramana Mitra. 2014-02-05. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  4. Strauss, Karsten. "Online Auctions Hit The Big Time: Breaking The $1.3 Million Andy Warhol Record". Forbes. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  5. Wilkinson, Julia. "New Funding and an Egon Schiele: Excitement at Auctionata". AuctionBytes Blog. EcommerceBytes. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  6. "Auctionata: Sensationeller Schiele-Fund". Handelsblatt (in German). 10 March 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  7. "Auctionata".
  8. Krisch, Jochen. "Auctionata setzt mit Holtzbrinck und Otto auf Live-Auktionen". Exciting Commerce (in German). Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  9. Krisch, Jochen. "Auctionata bringt vorab schon mal seinen Shop online". Exciting Commerce (in German). Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  10. Krisch, Jochen. "Auctionata freut sich über 345.000 € bei der Live-Premiere". Exciting Commerce (in German). Archived from the original on 2013-02-11. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  11. "Uhrenauktionen online: Chrono24 und Auctionata schließen Allianz". FocusOnline (in German). 22 May 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  12. Wauters, Robin. "Online auction house Auctionata wins $20.2m from Earlybird, Kite and others". TheNextWeb.com. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  13. http://www.gruenderszene.de/allgemein/auctionata-insolvenz-entlassungen-auktionen-startup
  14. "Auctionata Raises $45M To Build Out Its Live-Streamed Auction Business". Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  15. "Auctionata on the Edge? Startup's Closure Is Imminent, According to German Mag". Observer. 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  16. "Auctionata Files for Insolvency in Berlin | artnet News". artnet News. 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  17. "Entlassungen bei Auctionata". Gründerszene Magazin (in German). Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  18. "Auctionata Shutters After Failing to Find Investor | artnet News". artnet News. 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  19. "189 Of The Biggest, Costliest Startup Failures Of All Time | CB Insights". CB Insights Research. 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  20. "Computer System for the Exchange of Messages". WIPO Patent Application WO/2012/159665. SumoBrain. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  21. Strauss, Karsten (15 April 2013). "Disrupting The World's Great Auction Houses". Forbes. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  22. Karich, Swantje (15 July 2013). "Online-Auktionshaus "Auctionata": Die digitale Wende erreicht die Kunst". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  23. Kronsteiner, Olga (6 December 2012). "Auctionata: Kalkulierter Aufreger". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  24. Ruthe, Ingeborg (6 March 2013). "Auktion: Millionenbild im Altpapier". Berliner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  25. Strauss, Karsten (15 April 2013). "Disrupting The World's Great Auction Houses". Forbes. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  26. Forrest, Nicholas (23 June 2015). "Auctionata: Liu Yiqian sets online auction record". Blouinartinfo. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  27. Treija, Leva (25 September 2015). "Auctionata acquires valuemystuff and pursues international growth trajectory". EU Startups. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  28. Douglas, Sarah (12 May 2016). "Auctionata and paddle8 merge in sign of consolidation in online art market". Artnetnews. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  29. "Digital Star Perspective: Auctionata "Den Kunsthandel online bringen"". Focus Online (in German). 17 January 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
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