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Based in San Francisco, California, Cohart operates an AI-powered social marketplace and operating system designed to modernize the $65 billion global art market. The platform provides essential backend infrastructure, including payment processing, sales-tax automation, and curation tools, alongside front-end community features that connect independent artists, galleries, and millennial collectors. Serving a target demographic of five million independent artists and 70,000 galleries, the company generated approximately $2 million in direct sales volume during its first two years of operation prior to a full public product launch. The six-employee startup has raised approximately $5 million in total venture capital funding from institutional investors including Courtside Ventures, Slauson & Co., and BDMI, while also securing strategic advisory support from Paris Hilton and Canva executive Silvia Oviedo Lopez. Cohart was founded in 2021 by Kendall Warson and Shyevin S'ng.
Cohart has raised $4.0M across 1 funding round.
Cohart has raised $4.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Cohart has raised $4.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $4.0M Seed in August 2023.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 1, 2023 | $4M Seed | — | Accomplice VC, Alumni Ventures, Anderson Angels, Bascom Ventures, B Capital Group, Bling Capital, Flybridge Capital Partners, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Kleiner Perkins, KRM Interests LLC, Modern Venture Partners, NextView Ventures, Parkway VC, Alain Hanover, Louis Beryl, TOM Williams | Announced |
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]
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]
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]
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]
Cohart has raised $4.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Cohart's investors include Accomplice VC, Alumni Ventures, Anderson Angels, Bascom Ventures, B Capital Group, Bling Capital, Flybridge Capital Partners, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Kleiner Perkins, KRM Interests LLC, Modern Venture Partners, NextView Ventures.
