The star at the right place and the right time. That’s the statement under which the startup Reasoned Art was born: at the dawn of 2020, just before the digital acceleration caused by the pandemic. Its goal? To enhance digital art using the possibilities offered by web3. A venture born from the fortunate, intersection of willpower and talent – those of Giulio Bozzo (CEO) and Andrea Marec (CFO), who were still very young university students at the time: Giulio studying Conservation and Valuation of Cultural Heritage in Genoa, and Andrea studying Economics and Social Sciences at Bocconi University in Milan. Their paths crossed with the right capital, like that of Woori Technology Investment, a Korean fund pivotal in the closure of the second funding round (€1.4 million) at the beginning of the year. Today, in May 2023, Reasoned Art can boast three lines of business: Curated Digital Art Gallery, Brand Collaborations, and Monuverse. What do these involve?
Lorenza Liguori, Ara Pacis
Giulio Bozzo (left), Andrea Marec (right)
What does Reasoned Art do?
We asked both of the startup founders. “The first is the activity we started with, the digital art gallery, designed to exhibit and enhance artists in not just virtual places, certifying the works with NFTs. It’s a first-of-its-kind marketplace with a deep curatorial work at the exhibition level.” Which blockchain do you use to certify the works? “Polygon: It’s an Ethereum sidechain, environmentally friendly and much faster.” Are you certifying only works native to the blockchain era? “Yes.” This initial activity has garnered the attention of brands like Adidas Originals and Bulgari, who intend to leverage it to promote their products. Thus, at the end of 2021, the second business line (B2B) of Reasoned Art was born in response to market demand: Brand Collaborations. “We aim to be somewhat like what Depero was for Campari. We want to initiate an artistic and cultural revolution.”
The startup’s third commercial activity – perhaps its flagship – is Monuverse, a point of convergence between the physical and digital worlds, “a vehicle for the digital artists’ interpretation of the past and its local, national, and international cultural legacies. To preserve and enhance them.” The first project began with the video mapping of the Arco della Pace (and the sale of the first 1,111 NFTs) on New Year’s Eve 2022. “We set a precedent,” says Andrea Marec. “Thanks to an agreement with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage of Milan, we were able to tokenize a monument reimagined by a digital artist through a 3D model, creating a third artwork, sellable through NFTs. For the first time, digital art was applied to a historical public asset.”
Giovanni Motta, Under the Rock
But how did these two Ligurian youths, Born around the turn of the Millennium, Arrive here?
Giulio became passionate about ultra-contemporary art during his studies. On social media, he got to know digital artists whose significant community success didn’t have a similar counterpart in the official art system. He began to wonder how to introduce them to a broader audience. He organized his first exhibition in Genoa thanks to a university grant. By the end of 2019, during his master’s studies at Iulm, he delved into the world of blockchain and NFTs. He grasped their potential. He developed the business model of Reasoned Art and, at the beginning of 2020, he met Andrea through mutual friends. The two of them – aided by the forced halt imposed by COVID – began working on the project in a structured manner. Despite coming from different backgrounds, they aligned toward a common goal, also thanks to the incubation process with Grownnectia. The subsequent inclusion of specialized individuals helped solidify the operational team.
Evento all’ex Macello, Milano
“Professor Stefano Armando Ceci’s mentoring (from Iulm) was also crucial in this phase, providing training and daily stimulus,” the two reveal. After incubation and the closure of the first investment round, they accelerated at LUISS Enlabs. How did the Korean connection come about? “Woori Technology Investment contacted us directly. The investment round saw follow-on from previous investors – LVenture Group and Rosario Bifulco – and the entry of B Heroes, MetaVenture Holding, Urania, and some national business angels.”
Dreams for a “Monuverse” Future
At this point, what are your perspectives, and your dreams? Giulio responds: “We want to replicate the Monuverse model for many more monuments, enrich the user experience with activities that go beyond mere asset sales, and create the most efficient platform possible. Build an ecosystem to bring value to humanities education, to go beyond the passive experience of a book thanks to tools that can be used in schools – perhaps an avatar that serves as a Virgil with the help of AI.”
What are the common concerns among digital artists? Still Giulio: “Those encompassed in the acronym ESG – environmental sustainability governance; but also themes of physical and digital identity, concerns about the increasingly pervasive human-machine connection. I’m interested in the field of inquiry, and the reasoning more than the aesthetic level. Balancing the needs of the gallery with those of art.” Which sentiment prevails? “Pessimism; there’s more dystopia than utopia.” What have you liked and not liked about the ‘wealth’ world? “We love engaging with new realities, learning constantly, and networking. A less pleasant aspect is having to immediately account for metrics. The contact with Korea has opened us to a reality where we’ve found greater attention to people, to ideas. The Monuverse project resonated with its vision. Often, we’re expected to provide answers that are ‘on the cutting edge.’ If we already had them, we wouldn’t be here.”
Arco della Pace, Milano
