● Assets include artwork, watches, classic cars, sneakers, memorabilia, fashion pieces, and soon NFTs
● EQT Ventures led the round, with participation from Porsche Ventures, C3 EOS VC, and La Roca Capital
● 70 assets at high speed sell-out times — e.g. Banksy artwork in 11 minutes, Michael Schumacher helmet in 25 minutes
● Trading started with more than 3,500 shares traded in the first session
Frankfurt, Berlin, Germany – 29th November 2021, Timeless — the Berlin-based company that lets users buy fractional shares of a wide range of luxury assets, giving them access to new investment opportunities — announces it has secured €12m in funding to democratise access to assets including artwork, watches, classic cars, sneakers, memorabilia, fashion pieces, and soon NFTs. Led by EQT Ventures — with participation from existing investors including C3 EOS VC, La Roca Capital, and Porsche Ventures — the new funding will be used to grow the supply to meet consumer demand and bring a wider range of assets onto the platform.
The luxury goods market remains a thriving industry, with a compound annual growth rate of 6 per cent since 1996. In turn, culturally significant assets show great appreciation in value; the art market alone is now a $1.7 trillion asset class. However, due to the prices, the asset category is not accessible for the masses. Timeless is determined to change that by democratising access: users can purchase fractional shares of items from as little as €50. Timeless buys the items, fractionalises, and deploys them through a blockchain protocol — meaning it can fully trace the history of collector items. Alongside the funding, Timeless is also announcing the launch of its trading platform as a secondary marketplace.
Co-founded by Jan Karnath (CEO), Andreas Joebges (CTO) and Malte Häusler (CFO), Timeless launched in February 2021, with early backing from Porsche. The democratisation of assets fuelling Timeless goes beyond ownership with a historically good return. It’s about acquiring ownership of a piece of history and culture. Timeless launches items on the platform at 11am CET every Thursday, where the company’s 75,000 users can buy shares of the assets on offer.
70 assets have been sold on the platform so far, most sold out in a few minutes:
● Porsche 911-993 Targa — sold out in 15 minutes
● Banksy artwork — sold out in 11 minutes
● Michael Schumacher helmet — sold out in 25 minutes
● Michael Jordan Collection: Jordan 1985 sneakers and signed jersey — sold out in 11 minutes
Over the next 30 years, an estimated $30 trillion of wealth will exchange hands from the baby boomers to Generation Xers and Millennials. These demographics want to be their own financial advisor, investing directly in companies and ideas they believe in — enter Timeless.
Jan Karnath, CEO and co-founder of Timeless, commented: “We’ve seen a recent boom of physical and digital collectibles, whereby most investors can’t participate due to limited access, expertise and capital — leaving attractive treasures only accessible to the elite, closed to the average consumer. But that’s about to change. Timeless is for investors interested in rare collectibles, ranging from watches and shoes to classic cars and art. It is our mission to provide smaller investors the opportunity to attain such assets through tokenization and fractional ownerships, starting at just €50. I’m delighted to be working alongside EQT Ventures to enhance our knowledge, market understanding, and expand our cultural offerings at an affordable price.”
Jenny Dreier, Venture Lead at EQT Ventures, added: “We are entering a new era for investing, and Timeless is part of the next wave of disruptive tools that will inevitably propel a shift for good. By opening up this asset class to a wider range of customers, we can ensure investing is democratised and open for all. Timeless combines the passion for assets like art or classic cars with attractive financial returns. Their users are incredibly excited about the platform — and so are we. We are looking forward to being part of the Timeless journey!”
“Jan Karnath, Malte Häussler and Andreas Joebges – the founders of Timeless – established the ideal platform for investing in collectibles, which was previously only available for wealthy investors,” added Juan Rodriguez, Managing Partner of C3 EOS VC, who first invested in Timeless in 2020. “Timeless now also enables small investors to access another investment class that is perfect for building up wealth.”
Timeless
Timeless, a brand of New Horizon GmbH based in Berlin, is a digital platform that divides unique collectibles into shares that anyone can buy from 50 euros per share in order to participate in the value development. Timeless uses blockchain technology, which documents digital transactions in a reliable, secure and traceable way. The trade in sneakers and other collectibles such as high-quality watches, art objects and vehicles is now accessible to everyone thanks to this business model. The company was founded in 2018 by Jan Karnath (CEO), Andreas Joebges (CTO) and Malte Häusler (CFO), and the Timeless platform was launched in February 2021. More at: www.timeless.investments
About C3 Management and C3 EOS VC Fund
C3 Management GmbH is an asset management company focused on managing venture funds which invest in exceptional technology companies worldwide. With our C3 EOS VC Venture Fund, our mission is, among other things, to accelerate growth, development, and especially adoption of EOSIO-based blockchains and the EOSIO software.
The C3 EOS VC Fund is part of Block.one’s EOS VC and offers developers and entrepreneurs the funding they need to create community-driven businesses leveraging EOSIO. The C3 EOS VC Fund focuses on early and growth stage technology companies and typically takes a minority equity stake. C3 operates worldwide and is located in Frankfurt, Germany.
