Self-Sufficient Marketplace Software for Commissioned Art | Scalable B2B/B2C System (Turnkey)
Company Description
Fully functional, turnkey platform for digitally brokering commissioned graffiti projects (B2B/B2C). The self-contained software infrastructure includes automated pricing, Stripe escrow processing, and chat communication. Monetization via a 12.5% commission on projects ranging from €500 to €40,000. Initial verified artist profiles and test transactions are available. A system ready for immediate use with no development delays (time-to-market)—ideal for buyers with strong sales capabilities.
Industry sector
ServicesThe company operates a specialized online matching platform for managing graffiti art and wall design projects in the B2B and B2C segments. The platform digitizes the entire lifecycle of a commissioned project—from the initial inquiry to the final payment.
Core Features & Matching Process
- Dual Booking Approach: Matching for custom commissioned works (facades, office spaces, properties, canvases) as well as supervised art workshops.
- Smart Matching & Public Bidding: Clients can submit targeted requests to specific artists or use a public bidding system for competitive proposals.
- Automated Pricing & Approvals: Integrated price calculation when requesting artists, including a milestone feature for intermediate steps and subsequent budget adjustments.
- Automated escrow processing via Stripe: Clients make a down payment directly at the start of the project. The remaining payment remains securely held in the escrow account and is released to the artist only after successful project completion. This ensures high buyer liquidity while providing default protection for the contractor.
- Communication & Asset Management: Dedicated in-app chat for discussing designs, approving drafts, and providing feedback, as well as automated generation of tax-compliant invoices.
- Artist Tools: Creation of individual QR codes per profile for external client acquisition (e.g., on business cards or completed wall murals) and an integrated customer rating system.
Monetization & Order Volumes
Monetization is achieved solely through an automated revenue share of a 12.5% commission on the gross order value. Target order sizes per project range from €500 (small private orders/properties) up to €40,000 (large-scale commercial or facade designs).
The business model is based on a two-sided marketplace. The platform serves both the demand side (clients) and the supply side (artists & service providers).
1. Demand Side (Clients & Target Groups)
The target groups include all segments that seek professional wall and commercial space design or artistic formats:
- B2B / Corporate Clients: Commercial businesses, restaurants, hotels, retail stores, and agencies that commission the design of interiors, facades, or trade show booths as branding and advertising spaces.
- Municipalities & Public Sector: Cities, towns, schools, and youth centers for legal wall art, urban beautification, or supervised prevention and art workshops.
- Real Estate & Construction Industry: Real estate developers, architects, and property management companies seeking to enhance the visual appeal of new buildings, garage complexes, and facades, as well as to prevent illegal graffiti.
- B2C / Private Customers: Homeowners and renters for custom designs of living spaces, exterior walls, garage doors, or commissioned canvas artwork.
2. Supply Side (Service Providers)
- Graffiti & Street Art Artists: Freelance urban artists, illustrators, and muralists who use the platform as a digital sales channel, lead generation tool, and for secure payment processing (escrow).
Current Status of the Customer Base
Due to the pre-revenue phase, the focus is currently on the technical infrastructure that has already been implemented as well as the first verified artist profiles. The target groups mentioned represent the addressable market potential, which will be tapped through targeted B2B and B2C marketing.
The target market encompasses commercial wall and interior design, as well as the segment for custom commissioned art in the DACH region. The total market for professional facade and interior design is in the range of hundreds of millions and is divided among commercial branding projects, municipal contracts, and private design projects.
Market Situation & Digitalization Gap
- High Fragmentation: The market is highly fragmented. To date, projects have primarily been secured through analog channels such as word of mouth, regional networks, or traditional agencies, which retain high margins.
- Lack of Price Transparency: B2B and B2C clients lack a market overview with standardized pricing structures.
- High Default and Settlement Risk: Both artists and clients suffer from unclear payment terms, a lack of certainty regarding project acceptance, and lengthy approval processes.
Growth Drivers & Market Potential
- Urban Art as a Marketing Tool: Companies are increasingly using street art for visual branding, social-media-friendly content spaces, and modern spatial concepts.
- Prevention Through Graffiti Art: Municipalities and real estate developers specifically commission legal art projects to enhance the visual appeal of buildings and protect them from uncontrolled tagging.
- Need for a Platform Economy: B2B customers demand streamlined, legally compliant digital processes with proper invoices and payment security instead of informal agreements.
The platform occupies precisely this intersection as a digital orchestrator and bridges the gap between the highly dynamic creative market and professional B2B processing.
The competitive landscape in the field of brokerage for commissioned graffiti and urban art is highly fragmented and, to date, has no dominant, purely digital platform player in the DACH region. The market is essentially divided into two groups of players:
1. Analog & regional graffiti agencies (indirect competition in the DACH region)
- Market situation: Established players (e.g., regional specialty agencies such as Lackaffen, Urbanskillz, or Graffitibox) act as traditional intermediaries.
- Weaknesses of the agencies: Manual, time-consuming coordination processes via phone and email, high inefficiency and a lack of price transparency, long turnaround times, and limited scalability. Additionally, agencies typically represent only a very exclusive, manageable portfolio of artists and charge high commission fees.
2. International Platforms (Proof of Concept)
- Market Situation: The Australian portal Book An Artist (bookanartist.co) successfully demonstrates the viability and high scalability of this marketplace model internationally (including in the Australian, British, and U.S. markets).
- Market Gap in the DACH Region: Book An Artist currently has no significant presence in the German-speaking region. The DACH market has not yet been fully tapped as a target region for a specialized, localized platform.
Unique Selling Propositions (USPs) & Differentiation
- First digital first-mover in the DACH region: As a first mover, the platform bridges the gap between manual agencies and unstructured direct contact with individual artists.
- End-to-End Process Automation: Instead of days of phone calls, the system offers automated pricing, in-app messaging, milestone approvals, and integrated Stripe escrow payments for maximum security for both parties.
- Open Platform / Network Effect: No limitation to just a few exclusive artists. Open registration with verification enables a broad selection across all price segments and styles.