Artfinder becomes the art world’s first B Corporation

6th August 2019 Download PDF 

Press Release

1 August 2019

Artfinder becomes the art world’s first B Corporation

Artfinder, the online art marketplace, today announces that it has officially become a Certified B Corporation, a new kind of company that uses the power of business to address society’s greatest challenges. Artfinder is the world’s first art business to successfully achieve this prestigious certification, which measures a commitment to meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.

Artfinder joins a rapidly growing global movement of more than 2,900 Certified B Corporations in 150 industries across 64 countries, including companies like Patagonia, Etsy, Innocent Drinks and Ben & Jerry’s.

Artfinder’s CEO Michal Szczesny comments:

‘We started Artfinder to create a world where art benefits everyone, not just a few. It is an honour to be independently certified as a business that is a force for good in the art world. Our mission is to make art accessible, affordable and a viable career for artists, and we’re committed to operating in the right way in order to achieve that. Our community of artists and customers can now be independently reassured that we’re here for the right reasons, and will do whatever it takes to push the art world into a more sustainable future. One, where benefits are distributed fairly and our community’s work leaves a positive impact on the environment.’

Certified B Corporations achieve a minimum verified score on the B Impact Assessment — a rigorous assessment of a company’s impact on its workers, customers, community, and environment — and make their B Impact Report transparent on bcorporation.net. Certified B Corporations also amend their legal governing documents to require their board of directors to balance profit and purpose. B Corp Certification is administered by the non-profit B Lab. Artfinder’s overall impact score can be viewed here.

The largest online marketplace for art, Artfinder is a VC funded startup, backed by the investors behind Spotify and Zoopla. Investors include Wellington Partners, Oxford Capital, Cambridge Angels, plus private investors in the UK, the US and Switzerland.

For press information, please contact Jane Verity, Head of Communications for Artfinder: jane.verity@artfinder.com, +44(0) 203 637 4235, +44(0)7854 759 480

About Artfinder

Artfinder is the art marketplace.

We’re on a mission to make art accessible, affordable and a viable career for artists.

The site is growing fast, currently connecting 600,000 subscribers around the world with:

• 10,000 artists and galleries internationally • 500,000+ artworks in categories including painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, drawing and collage www.artfinder.com

Key People

Michal Szczesny, CEO

Artfinder’s CEO, Michal Szczesny, has a background in technology. Working in software development for over 15 years, he has architected and worked with amazing teams to build a number of highly complex projects, including The Labour Party's Membership system and multi-channel marketing communication delivery platforms. He joined Artfinder as CTO in 2013, then worked alongside Jonas Almgren as COO, before taking over the business in December 2017.

Alice Phillimore, Lead Curator

Alice has worked with contemporary galleries and artists for over a decade. She studied History of Art at Nottingham University and has an MA in Arts Management and Policy from Birkbeck, University of London. She has worked on exhibitions at art fairs including Masterpiece, London; the London Art Fair; the Affordable Art Fairs and Buy Art Fair, Manchester.