Jen Bekman Projects, which runs an e-commerce site for art collectors, 20×200, has raised over $800,000 in Series A funding led by True Ventures with angel investors participating. Notable investors included Caterina Fake, Chris Dixon, Zach Klein, James Joaquin, Scott Heiferman and others.
20×200’s platform simulates the feel of a gallery, except online. Each “online exhibit” is curated with limited-edition prints and photos, all priced affordably. The site introduces two new pieces a week: one photo and one work on paper.
Bekman also has a gallery in New York, which exhibits a variety of art in different mediums. And she sponsors a competition to help discover and promote photographers. Bekman herself is a techie turned curator, who was the former Chief Creative Officer of a video streaming company and the VP of User Development at Meetup.
score! because raising money is like making money.
We’ve been making money from day one, @nustik. We were 100% bootstrapped and cash-flow positive from the get go. We had over $1.2M in sales last year and with over 50% growth YTD, we’re on track to exceed that number by a large margin in 2009.
Then why the need for VC? This isn’t exactly a start-up..
This is great news. Any support for the arts and artists is a step in the right direction. Congrats.
@joshua, growth is more important for us than profitability right now. We have a big vision and VC investment is going to help us fulfill it. The money is just part of how they’re supporting us.
I thought long and hard about whether or not we should raise money, and feel fortunate that I was able to connect with a group of investors that understand the opportunity.
As for not being a start-up, you can talk to the seven people working out of our 230 sq ft office about that.
Wow, I have more space than that and I’m a one man shop.
You might just win a secondplace Crunchie for “most painful working conditions” after all the people who worked out of Arrington’s house.
What about paying the artists? Shouldn’t that be more important than growth?
you’re an artist you’re supposed to have a trust fund that pays you, duh!
ohh, ouch. but +1
Great company. Received a gift from an art director friend. Enjoyed the purchase and the model is great.
Congrats Jen. Those financial metrics are very impressive and the sites looks great. Cool set of angels too.
Very nice. I was not familiar with the site. I maintain a list of links on my blog to websites to buy affordable art. I will be adding 20×200.
Hey Chris,
You should check out http://www.inprnt.com too.
This seems very cool, have to keep an eye on this.