Services

Christie’s Ventures

Christie’s Ventures works with early-stage companies and proven founders who sit at the intersection of art and technology.

We focus on four broad categories covering innovations in Web3, AI, FinTech and Hardware that we believe will enable improved engagement, immersion and consumption of art for our clients, partners and creators alike.

By delivering on our value proposition — direct capital investment, brand recognition backed by over 250 years of expertise, deep multi-industry networks and unparalleled market access — we help companies accelerate their build-out, while simultaneously supporting Christie’s role as a leader and innovator in the art-market ecosystem.

Our portfolio

Art Money
Atomic Form
Collagia
Conserv
EchoMark
LayerZero
Manifold
mmERCH
MNTGE
Proto

Contacts

Devang Thakkar

Global Head of Christie’s Ventures

ventures@christies.com

Devang is a multi-disciplinary product, technology and business leader who has throughout his career specialised in zero-to-one products, technologies and teams with global scale.

From 2015 to 2019, Devang was VP of Consumer Marketplace at Artsy, where he led Artsy’s efforts to enhance the art buying and selling experience and oversaw the build-out of Artsy’s auction technology and business.

Before joining Artsy in 2015, Devang spent 11 years at Microsoft in Seattle, where he contributed to the development of major operating systems from Windows XP to Windows 10 and product lines such as Bing apps and MSN. For his last product at Microsoft, he was a member of the founding team of Microsoft Teams.

Devang holds an undergraduate in Computer Science, master's degrees in Computer Science from Columbia University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Washington.

He is also an artist — he paints and maintains a studio practice.

Ryan Ludgate

Vice President, Christie’s Ventures

ventures@christies.com

Ryan has been with Christie’s since 2014, most recently serving as a Co-Head of Information Strategy, shaping how data and technology can strengthen our ways of working.

Leveraging his past career in alternative investments, Ryan has guided many projects throughout his time at Christie’s, exploring art as a financial instrument and identifying opportunities to engage with the financial services industry.

Prior to joining Christie’s, Ryan had a 10-year career in financial services. In his last role, he served as Head of Alternative Investment Funds Management at Barclays Wealth Americas, where he oversaw the operations of its $6 billion private funds platform.

Sarah Buccarelli

Director of Platform, Christie’s Ventures

Sarah joined Christie’s in 2017 managing continuing education, certificate and online courses at Christie’s Education.

The programming that she led covered subject matter such as the art market, art law, luxury and art history. Most recently, Sarah has been the Business Manager for Business Development and Client Management. In that role she provided strategic support to the department and closely managed and built the annual operating budget. She has worked as project manager on several projects including the Art + Tech Summit and the 2022 sale ‘Visionary: The Paul G. Allen Collection’ which grossed $1.6B.

Before joining Christie’s, Sarah worked at The Frick Collection and The Hispanic Society Museum & Library. She has an undergraduate degree in Art History from Rutgers University and a master’s degree from New York University.

Molly Triana

Analyst, Christie’s Ventures

ventures@christies.com

Molly joined Christie’s in 2023 and is responsible for deal evaluation and investment execution, as well as strategic ventures projects.

Prior to joining Christie’s, Molly worked at Goldman Sachs as an investment banking analyst in the Consumer Retail Group, where she advised companies on mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity offerings, and leveraged buyouts in the consumer retail and consumer tech verticals. Molly earned a joint degree in Economics from the University of Southern California and the London School of Economics.