Auctionata, a Germany-based company that provides live broadcasts from auction houses, has secured €42m ($45m) from backers including Hearst Ventures, the corporate venturing division of media company Hearst Corporation, TechCrunch reported earlier today.
The round was led by MCI Management and featured Holtzbrinck Ventures, the venture capital firm spun out of and backed by publisher Holtzbrinck, E.Ventures, backed by retailer Otto Group, and corporate-backed Bright Capital as well as Kreos Capital, Yuan Capital, Earlybird, Kite Ventures, Raffay Group, TA Ventures, and REN Invest.
In May 2014, Auctionata attracted €21.5m for a series B round from Holtzbrinck Ventures, E.Ventures and Earlybird. In 2013, Earlybird, Bright, E.Ventures, Kite, Holtzbrinck, and Raffay Group backed a $20m series A round.
In 2012, the company collected a total $7.5m in angel funding across several transactions from E.Ventures, Holtzbrinck, Bright, and Raffay.
The company was launched in 2013. The fresh funding will support international expansion as well as used to also broadcast auctions for musical instruments, memorabilia, architectural and garden pieces, diamonds and real-estates in the future. Currently, Auctionata focuses on luxury items such as art, jewellery, design, wine, classic cars and watches.