Italy is estimated to hold more than 1.3 million small arts and crafts companies, employing 3 million people. In an increasingly globalized world where design is a commodity, craftsmanship is gaining importance for highly demanding customers and sector experts. Artemest disrupts this industry by supporting craft businesses and creators and connecting them to global customers looking for unique, handmade pieces.
Ippolita Rostagno launched Artemest after visiting Florence, where she realized many of the local artisans were going out of business as their customer base increasingly shopped online. Joined by Marco Credendino, they set out to create a global network connecting local businesses with affluent individuals across the globe.
Artemest today has become the realization of this vision: six years after launching, they connect 1,300+ Italian artisans and creators – offering 60,000+ products – with thousands of customers and design professionals across the globe. Artemest’s catalog looks more like an art museum than an interior design shop, offering a curated selection of home décor, art, and furniture.
Ippolita Rostagno said, “Craftsmanship has been central to the development of the civilized world and has coalesced generations around the idea that art matters. Our ambition is to further this tradition by bringing beauty into people’s everyday lives”.
Artemest has secured €15 million in funding, led by specialist fund IRIS Ventures and Olma Luxury Holdings. The marketplace will use this funding to accelerate growth, focusing on the US, further develop its technology, brand & community, and optimize its catalog and talent recruitment. Legal counsels Edoardo Canetta Rossi Palermo and Barbara Ballandi led the Chiomenti legal team advising Artemest on the deal.
The investment will also support the development of Artemest’s services for interior designers, brands, and hospitality partners, offering them best-in-class, end-to-end support thanks to its personal advisors and its content and tech-enabled tools.
Montse Suarez, Founder and Managing Partner of IRIS Ventures, finishes: “Finding visionaries building purpose-led brands that transform the way we live is what we do at IRIS Ventures, and Artemest is a perfect illustration of it. Artemest is the Italian guardian of craftsmanship, excellence and creativity, giving the community of artisans and small businesses the ability to preserve their heritage by making it accessible to a global audience”.
