Bal Harbour

Fall 2016

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112 BAL HARBOUR "I'm a natural problem solver, so I sought out to find a great one," says Madelaine D'Angelo, who is part of a new generation of entrepreneurs using technology to make art more accessible. The Harvard grad—who wrote her thesis on collector behavior in collaboration with then-director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philippe de Montebello—set her sights on the opaque and often exclusionary contemporary art market. "My long-term goal is to have everyone investing in the art market," says D'Angelo, who last year launched the art investment platform Arthena, which she describes as "a structured set of funds in the form of collections." "I want Arthena to increase transparency in the market so that new entrants feel comfortable investing and current collectors can make more informed decisions." Historically, collectors spent years developing both the eye and the knowledge that allowed them to buy art that became more valuable over time. But, as the idea of art as an alternate asset has taken hold—spurred on by the fact that the art market rebounded faster after the last recession than other traditional assets—more people have rushed into the field, many of whom "don't have the time, or connections, to build up the necessary connoisseurship," says D'Angelo. Through Arthena, the investment platform relies on advice from art and finance experts whom most new buyers wouldn't have access to. Collectors buy shares in one or more of the funds, which are spread across modern, contemporary and emerging art, and capital is pooled to create a larger base for investments and a broader spread of risk. D'Angelo workshopped the idea of an online fund when she was accepted into AngelPad, the start-up incubator that was recently ranked by MIT as the number-one seed accelerator in the country. She began the program with "an egregiously awful PowerPoint presentation" and left with a viable business plan. D'Angelo explains that Arthena's analytics are what sets it apart. She uses auction data, but also scrapes the web for private sales information, breaking down the data into categories such as growth, inflation, sales over time, price by years and market volatility. And it's gaining traction: Major supporters include Arianna Huffington, while a deal with UBS is rumored. With a little help from Arianna Huffington, digital entrepreneur Madelaine D'Angelo is on a mission to change the way we collect. BY CHARLOTTE BURNS PORTRAIT BY GEORGIA NERHEIM THE ART OF INVESTING Founder and CEO of Arthena Madelaine D'Angelo

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