On EQT Ventures’ €12m investment in Timeless — democratizing access to new asset categories
Today, the Berlin-based company Timeless Investments announces a new funding round of €12m led by EQT Ventures alongside Porsche Ventures, C3 EOS VC (FinLab EOS VC Fund), and La Roca Capital. The platform enables the sale and trade of fractional luxury goods and memorabilia, democratizing access to this asset class for a wide base of retail investors.
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In the last few years, we have seen a shift to making investing and trading across various asset classes more easily accessible and convenient: consumers today can buy stocks on Trade Republic and crypto via mobile apps like Coinbase in a matter of seconds. Timeless opens up a new category for the retail investor: It is the team’s mission to provide everyone the opportunity to attain and trade real, luxury assets through tokenization and fractional ownership: “Invest in things you love”.
Retail investors are increasingly looking for alternative, financially attractive ways to invest their capital. Luxury collectibles — like classic cars, rare sneakers or watches, art, and memorabilia — have been gaining popularity for capital investments. In many instances, their value appreciation outperformed the stock market over the last few years, according to Knight Frank’s Luxury Investment Index.
In the past, however, most retail investors couldn’t participate in this recent boom of collectibles. Investing in a rare watch, piece of art or classic car requires expertise, access, and moreover significant chunks of cash: even if you realize that an air-cooled Porsche 911 from the 70s is a good investment, you might not be able to actually buy a whole one, just for yourself.
Timeless founders Jan Karnath, Malte Häusler & Andreas Joebges are determined to challenge the way we think of ownership today. On its platform, Timeless offers fractional shares, starting as low as €50. By opening up this asset class to a wide range of investors, Timeless ensures investing is democratized and open for all. It verifies and buys the items, fractionalizes and deploys them through a blockchain protocol. Users can then purchase the shares in weekly drops and later trade them on the Timeless platform. And Timeless won’t stop at real collectibles: soon, it will launch the first fractional sale of NFTs. After all, if something is virtual anyways, it matters even less if you own it fully or only a fractional amount.
Also, Timeless is soon opening its first pop-up showroom. While in the past, these assets had been locked up in vaults and garages for one person to enjoy — they are now being made accessible to a broader public via events, pop-up stores or exhibitions. I am getting real Robin Hood vibes: Taking from the rich and sharing it with the wider public.
Ever since Timeless launched the platform 9 months ago, users have excitedly waited for the next drop. Most items sell out minutes after they are made available on the platform. Investors build proper portfolios and return every week to buy a new share of a watch, sneakers or car. When Timeless first launched the opportunity to trade shares on the app a couple of weeks back, more than 4,000 shares were traded within the first hours.
Recent fundraises in the segment such as Masterworks (a platform that enables users to buy fractional shares of fine art; just announced a $110m round) or Alt (a platform that let’s users buy, sell and store sports cards; just announced a $75m round) demonstrate that we are entering a new era for investing that is more personal and more diversified. And Timeless is a frontrunner in this next wave of disruptive tools that will inevitably propel a shift for good.
We are looking forward to being part of the Timeless journey!
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If you also want a share of Michael Schumacher’s racing helmet, a Pokémon 1st Edition Booster Box, Ferrari Dino 246 GT, or a vintage Rolex Submariner, download the app and be ready on Thu at 11am CET (for now available in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxemburg & Liechtenstein).
If you share the team’s mission to help people invest in the things they love, join the team!
