Entrepreneur Nika Koda believes art galleries are broken, both for buyers and artists.
The art world has a reputation for being lofty and prestigious, she said, a misconception that can make galleries intimidating for first-time buyers. At the same time, most galleries split revenue with artists 50/50 which means artists have to produce and sell more work to be sustainable.
"The old gallery system needs to change," she said. "It needs to make it more profitable for artists."
That's why the School of the Art Institute Chicago (SAIC) alum is launching Hermit, a startup that connects buyers with artists through a tailored algorithm and website, so buyers can commission original works of art that fit their tastes and the majority of proceeds go directly to the artist. Koda, along with cofounder and fellow SAIC alum Paulina Parra Ramirez and CTO Dixit Patel, hope their startup can introduce more first-time buyers to the world of fine art while helping artists make more money off their specialized skills.
On the Hermit platform, buyers answer 15 to 20 questions on their preferred aesthetic, medium and price range, and Hermit's algorithm connects them with three to ten artists that match their taste. Buyers then browse artist profiles and message artists within the Hermit platform to decide on a project. Once a buyer and artist have matched, Hermit sets up a contract, holds the money until a project is complete, and resolves any issues between the two parties.
Koda said they're targeting people ages 25 to 38 who are interested in purchasing a unique piece of art for a first apartment or condo. Commissioned art is often sold on Etsy and DeviantArt, she pointed out, but Hermit is the only site that uses an algorithm to assess users' taste and connect them with artists that have a matching skillset, such as sculpting, oil painting, or graphic design. Hermit will get 15 percent of the transaction, with the rest going to the artist.
Koda spent eight years doing commissioned and freelance digital art, but often found friends and family would ask her for sculpture or oil paintings ("Not a lot of people understand that not all artists are suited for each medium," she pointed out). However she did have friends and colleagues who could do this work, and she wondered if there was a platform that could better connect buyers to artists.
Koda first pitched the idea for Hermit during a design competition put on by Wired Japan, and further developed the idea while working on a residency in New York City and as a 2016 fellow with entrepreneurship organization Future Founders. The Hermit team is currently working out of the University of Chicago Polsky Exchange's incubator. Hermit is bootstrapped to date.
They're aiming to launch a beta test of the site in mid-February, and already they've signed up over 500 artists from around the country, Koda said. They also hope to tap into SAIC to recruit artists and further tap into the art world's ecosystem.
Note: The story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Paulina Parra Ramirez's name.
