QVentures Invests in BRUSHWRK, an Online Marketplace for Affordable Artwork 

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, 2 March 2022 – QVentures has announced their latest fund investment into BRUSHWRK, an online community and marketplace for up-and-coming artists. 

BRUSHWRK is designed to bridge the gap between up-and-coming artists and customers looking to buy original, affordable art , encouraging inclusion for those looking to buy and sell art. Affordable artwork is currently an overlooked market due to the lower commission earned on sales, with pieces under £500 predominantly being sold on Instagram and Etsy, meaning the artists are finding it hard to be discovered and consumers are having difficulty discovering art within their criteria. 

BRUSHWRK aims to provide artists and creatives from all backgrounds a platform to showcase, sell, and get their work off the ground. Similarly, BRUSHWRK aims to help art lovers access unique pieces and talent by showcasing a wide range of art to the buyer using a powerful algorithm that quickly learns the buyer’s taste. 

While many industries have seen rapid movements to online operation, the art world has been relatively slow in making this transition. This is largely due to the traditional approaches of established art players. However, millennials and Gen-Z, the next generation of art buyers and artists, have a digital-first mindset. 

BRUSHWRK has identified a $4B segment of the art market with 23% of buyers (millennials) claiming to have never bought from a physical store or location. This 23% is expected to continue to rise as consumers increasingly use online channels to discover and buy art. Despite this, there exist no platforms catering to this generation in a vibrant, new way. 

Robert Walsh, Managing Partner at QVentures says,

“Millennials and Gen-Z are buying art like never before. The alternatives to access affordable art today are not specifically designed to trade art and so the process to discover as a buyer and upload as an artist is dull and unfit for purpose. We believe that digital art is the stepping stone for millennials and Gen-Z to engage with the NFT market and are very excited to be supporting Odie and the BRUSHWRK team as they challenge traditional ways of the art market.” 

Odie Edo-Osagie, Founder of BRUSHWRK adds,

“At BRUSHWRK, we’re dismantling the traditional and often exclusionary paradigms of the art world. It’s a pleasure partnering up with investors, such as QVentures, who believe in our fight and want to join us on our journey of bringing new life to art in a modern world.” 

The team is made up of Odie Edo-Osagie, Michelle Serrato and Ally Faughnan. Odie currently oversees all BRUSHWRK technology and operations. He holds a PhD in machine learning and AI and has a strong and impressive understanding of the space, having worked as a Lead Data Scientist at fashion marketplace startup, Depop. Michelle looks after the marketing efforts, while Ally is in charge of communications and is the content editor. Michelle and Ally worked at Google as a marketing specialist and editor at Google and Google Arts and Culture respectively, where they cultivated their

skills. Together, each member of the team brings a rich set of experiences to the operation of BRUSHWRK. 

For more information on BRUSHWRK, please visit www.brushwrk.co.uk 

ABOUT QVENTURES 

QVentures is a Venture Capital firm providing direct investment opportunities and fund management. QVentures sources, screens, and invests in top-tier start-ups from Seed to Series B for their investor base consisting of Family Offices, Institutional Investors, UHNWIs, and Cashed-out Entrepreneurs. QVentures has participated in rounds with an aggregate combined size of over £351m in 115 companies. 

If you are looking to invest in early-stage companies, please Self Certify as an Investor at www.qventures.co/register 

If you are seeking funding, please apply on www.qventures.co/fundraising