Cohart

High-Level Overview

Cohart is a vertical social marketplace for artists and collectors, enabling creators to sell art online with lower commissions (25% vs. traditional 50-70%), while providing buyers with personalized discovery, direct artist interactions via chats and livestreams, and tools for managing collections.[1][2][3][4] It serves independent artists lacking gallery representation and millennial buyers seeking accessible, social art experiences, solving issues like high fees, impersonal purchasing, and fragmented tools for artists.[2][3] Backed by investors including Courtside Ventures and Paris Hilton, Cohart has raised over $4M, achieved ~$6.5M in artwork sales, sold 40,000+ pieces, and grown to 8,000+ active collectors, with a full product launch planned across iOS, Android, and web.[2][3][4]

Origin Story

Cohart was founded in February 2021 by Kendall Warson and Shyevin S’ng, who met at an immersive art event and discussed revolutionizing the market for "new art."[3] Warson, with experience as the first employee at Wonderspaces and founder of an art curatorial company in Shanghai, paired with S’ng, who established Vin Gallery in Vietnam two decades ago and launched InPages Publishing House to boost emerging artists' careers.[3] Early traction came through word-of-mouth, generating ~$2M in sales within the first two years among millennial buyers, setting the stage for expanded tools and a mobile-first iOS launch.[2][3]

Core Differentiators

• Low commissions and artist empowerment: Takes only 25% per sale (covering shipping, insurance, authentication), vs. galleries' 50-70%, with tools for inventory, payments, custom websites, emails, events, portfolios, promo codes, and CRM—freeing artists from multiple platforms.[1][2][3][4]
• Buyer personalization and social features: AI-powered curation matches tastes, enables chats/livestreams with artists, secure private views, resale with artist royalties, and community building for a warm, interactive experience over traditional "cold" buying.[2][3][4]
• All-in-one infrastructure: Unified platform for discovery, sales, business management (data insights, logistics, workshops via upcoming subscription), and global reach, supporting 40,000+ artworks sold without gallery dependency.[3][4]
• Investor and network backing: Supported by Paris Hilton, Courtside Ventures (behind StockX), and advisors like Art Jakarta founder Tom Tandio, enhancing credibility and growth.[2][3][5]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Cohart rides the creator economy and Web3-adjacent trends in democratized art markets, where 84% of artists lack galleries amid rising demand for digital-native, social commerce in "new art" for millennials.[2][3] Timing aligns with post-pandemic shifts to online art sales, AI personalization, and mobile marketplaces, fueled by market forces like declining physical gallery viability and explosive growth in creator tools (e.g., similar to StockX for sneakers).[3][4] It influences the ecosystem by empowering independents, fostering artist royalties on resales, and bridging tech (AI curation, livestreams) with culture, potentially accelerating vertical marketplaces in niche creative sectors.[3]

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Cohart is poised to scale as the go-to hub for modern art commerce, with upcoming Android/web launches, AI enhancements, livestream studio visits, resale features, and artist subscriptions driving deeper engagement and revenue beyond $6.5M in sales.[3][4] Trends like AI-driven discovery, social video commerce, and tokenized art ownership will amplify its momentum, evolving its influence from niche disruptor to ecosystem leader—putting power back in creators' hands in a $65B+ global art market. This builds directly on its mission to make art accessible, social, and creator-first.[2][3][4]