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Auctionata was an online auction house and eCommerce company specializing in luxury goods, art, antiques and collectibles. It became insolvent in 2017. Based in Berlin with offices in New York, Auctionata employed 250 experts who valued, authenticated, and curated art objects. Since opening in February 2012, Auctionata has evaluated and verified over 21,000 pieces of art. Notably, Auctionata's experts discovered a watercolor by Egon Schiele, which was valued at a starting price of $1.3 million (EUR1 million). Before shutting down, Auctionata merged with Paddle8.
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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. The online shop was launched in September 2012, and Auctionata's first auction was held in December 2012.
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.
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.
In March 2015, Auctionata raised EUR42 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.
According to media reports, Auctionata could not pay its employees in December 2016 after expected financing had not arrived.Auctionata filed for preliminary insolvency on 16 January 2017 and had to let go over 70 employees. Following the conclusion of its preliminary insolvency proceedings on 28 February 2017, Auctionata Paddle8 AG will cease its German operations, since it is insolvent. The subsidiaries Paddle8 in the US and Value-my-Stuff in the UK were sold and will continue to operate.
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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. 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. 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.
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. EUR151,469 / $204,679 taking into account inflation), and Kokoschka himself wrote a handwritten note of authenticity for the painting, the painting's authenticity was now 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 (EUR7,500).
Auctionata also auctioned a newly discovered watercolor, "Reclining Woman" by Egon Schiele. The painting was sold for $2.4 million (EUR1,827,250), the highest grossing piece of fine art sold at an online auction.
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.
Notable mergers and acquisitions
On September 25, 2015, Auctionata bought the London based valuation website Valuemystuff.com, one of the largest online valuation companies in the world with over 469,000 valuations and 400,000 customers.
On May 12, 2016, Auctionata and Paddle8 announced that they will merge. The merged company would have a turnover of more than $150 million.
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.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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