Christie’s Ventures invests in fine art packaging and development company ROKBOX

Leading international packaging and development company ROKBOX announces a strategic investment from Christie’s Ventures, the investment arm of Christie’s, the 259-year-old international auction house.

This investment in ROKBOX demonstrates the auction house’s ongoing commitment to a more sustainable art market and the importance of driving systematic change in fine art shipping and logistics. 

ROKBOX’s award-winning reusable crates and global rental network, ROKBOX LOOP, mitigates risk and lowers the cost of fine art shipping, whilst eradicating packaging waste and reducing carbon emissions by 90% per trip.     

The partnership aims to unite logistics, insurance stakeholders and customers to adopt new industry standards and best practices globally towards more sustainable packaging and shipping solutions.

“I am thrilled to welcome Christie’s Ventures as an investor. Christie’s established Sustainability programme and efforts to promote innovation have been an inspiration. Future-proofing the art world requires bravery from early adopters, and this investment is testament to Christie’s vision and tenacity.  

This pivotal partnership will drive collaboration and sustainability. Everyone can benefit as ROKBOX crates are scientifically proven to protect art and the environment better.”  – Andrew Stramentov, Founder & CEO, ROKBOX.

“At Christie’s, we aim to provide our clients with the best service and most efficient solutions across every aspect of our business. This investment in ROKBOX is a testament to the strength of our years-long relationship with their fantastic team, who have unequivocally led the charge in sustainable packing and shipping globally. From firsthand experience, we have seen that ROKBOX operates with the highest level of innovation and has set a new standard within fine art shipping. We are excited to continue to collaborate with them and other partners to promote systematic change in our industry.” – Emily Klug, Director of Operations, Christie’s Americas

ROKBOX is grateful to all its supporters so far, including the existing ROKBOX LOOP collaborators; Haas & Co, Gander & White, Dietl, Helutrans, Regency and Harsch, and AXA XL and the Gallery Climate Coalition

ABOUT ROKBOX 

ROKBOX was started in 2015 by art world professionals who had had enough of artworks being damaged in transit plus single-use crating & packaging waste. ROKBOX’s award-winning cost effective art crates eliminate unnecessary waste, costs, risk, and pollution by up to 90%; safeguarding art, budgets and the planet. ROKBOX LOOP works in collaboration with forward thinking shippers, conservators and insurers, and is backed by climate scientists, AXA XL and the GCC. 

• ROKBOXs are the lightest cases on the market, yet maintain superior protection.
• ROKBOXs are made using tough, durable, repairable and recyclable materials.
• ROKBOX crates can be used hundreds of times and owned outright or rented in 15 major fine art hubs via the global ROKBOX LOOP network, a first of its kind collaboration between fine art shippers Gander & White, Haas & Co, Dietl, Helutrans, Regency and Harsch.
• ROKBOX is used and trusted by museums, auction houses, galleries, governments, artists and collectors.
• Read the summary of ROKBOX independent performance testing data and environmental Life Cycle Analysis.

ABOUT CHRISTIE’S VENTURES 

Christie’s Ventures works with early-stage companies and proven founders who sit at the intersection of art and technology. Through direct investment and both brand support and market access, Christie’s Ventures helps startups to accelerate their build-out and adoption, while simultaneously advancing Christie’s role as a leader and innovator in the art-market ecosystem.