The Wall Street Journal spoke to some of Paddle 8’s backers to find out where the $6m invested from Jay Jopling, Damien Hirst and others will go to improve and expand the company’s operations:

“One of the most exciting things about this company is not just its technology and the great user experience, but the context,” said David Frankel, a Founder Collective managing partner and early investor in Paddle8. “People are finally ready to make important, personal purchases online, if they trust the brand, which couldn’t have happened six years ago.”

The company should use its new funding, he said, to “maintain a beautiful platform, and continue to address consignment, so there is always great stuff that collectors are interested in buying on the platform. And so that collectors come back over and over again.”

[Alexander] Gilkes said that Paddle8 also plans to improve and streamline the process for uploading listings of artworks for sale, and enhance search capabilities on the site, so that collectors and sellers alike can ascertain important details instantly about a work’s provenance. Paddle8 is also working on a “private” auctions feature.

But the man who knows everything, Josh Baer, gives a more immediate expenditure: new hires.

Paddle8 has hired Sharon Squires and Jason Stein from Bonhams and Tess Standa from Leslie Hindman in Chicago.

With Damien Hirst Backing, Paddle8 Aims to Do for Fine Art What StubHub Does for Tickets (Wall Street Journal)