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What if the next unicorn were a painter?

Kastel applies venture-capital discipline to living contemporary artists: rigorous selection, studio price, active stewardship of the artist's career.

By submitting, you agree to be contacted by Kastel. Details in our privacy policy.

Kastel.club applies the logic of venture capital to the market of living contemporary artists: identifying early, acquiring at studio price, actively stewarding the career, sharing value on the secondary market. Designed in collaboration with the artists themselves, the invitation-only club brings together art enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, investors, and collectors around a shared conviction, with the ambition of laying the foundations for the first VC fund dedicated to the Cultural and Creative Industries.

The observatory of the artists
we follow

These artists are not (yet) part of the Kastel portfolio: they map out the terrain on which we work.

Kastel artist studio

The art market works like the tech market

The same discovery mechanics, the same career signals, the same trajectories. No one had yet structured it with the selection rigor of venture capital. The thesis was tested on eleven artists, among whom:

Selection from the Daffourd private collection 2021-2024. The methodology and detailed elements relating to any potential investment opportunity are made available exclusively to qualified sophisticated investors, under a confidentiality undertaking.

The art market outperformed the S&P 500 over 22 years

The Artprice100 index, which tracks the 100 most liquid artists on the market, rose by approximately ×7 between 2000 and 2022. Over the same period, the S&P 500 (dividends included) returned ×3.

Source: Artprice100® and S&P 500 (Total Return), base 100 as of January 2000. Composition of Artprice100: the 100 most liquid artists on the secondary market, weighted by capitalization. Past performance is not indicative of future results and should not be the central element of an investment decision. Investing in art carries risks of capital loss, illiquidity, and market risk.

With Kastel, join a community of art enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, investors, and collectors

By submitting, you agree to be contacted by Kastel. Details in our privacy policy.

Vincent Daffourd

Vincent Daffourd

Serial entrepreneur · Business Angel

Arnaud Chaigneau

Arnaud Chaigneau

Entrepreneur · Ex-cofounder NUMA

Julie Daffourd

Julie Daffourd

Family office · Investor

Philippe Douste-Blazy

Philippe Douste-Blazy

Former French Minister of Culture · Unitaid founder

Stéphane Carricondo

Stéphane Carricondo

Artistic Director Desperados Foundation · Founder 9ème Concept

Laurence Thurion

Laurence Thurion

Senior Adviser · United Nations

Jérémy Blackwell

Jérémy Blackwell

Private banker · Business angel

Vincent Daffourd

Vincent Daffourd

Serial entrepreneur · Business Angel

Arnaud Chaigneau

Arnaud Chaigneau

Entrepreneur · Ex-cofounder NUMA

Julie Daffourd

Julie Daffourd

Family office · Investor

Philippe Douste-Blazy

Philippe Douste-Blazy

Former French Minister of Culture · Unitaid founder

Stéphane Carricondo

Stéphane Carricondo

Artistic Director Desperados Foundation · Founder 9ème Concept

Laurence Thurion

Laurence Thurion

Senior Adviser · United Nations

Jérémy Blackwell

Jérémy Blackwell

Private banker · Business angel

Vincent Daffourd

Vincent Daffourd

Serial entrepreneur · Business Angel

Arnaud Chaigneau

Arnaud Chaigneau

Entrepreneur · Ex-cofounder NUMA

Julie Daffourd

Julie Daffourd

Family office · Investor

Philippe Douste-Blazy

Philippe Douste-Blazy

Former French Minister of Culture · Unitaid founder

Stéphane Carricondo

Stéphane Carricondo

Artistic Director Desperados Foundation · Founder 9ème Concept

Laurence Thurion

Laurence Thurion

Senior Adviser · United Nations

Jérémy Blackwell

Jérémy Blackwell

Private banker · Business angel

Vincent Daffourd

Vincent Daffourd

Serial entrepreneur · Business Angel

Arnaud Chaigneau

Arnaud Chaigneau

Entrepreneur · Ex-cofounder NUMA

Julie Daffourd

Julie Daffourd

Family office · Investor

Philippe Douste-Blazy

Philippe Douste-Blazy

Former French Minister of Culture · Unitaid founder

Stéphane Carricondo

Stéphane Carricondo

Artistic Director Desperados Foundation · Founder 9ème Concept

Laurence Thurion

Laurence Thurion

Senior Adviser · United Nations

Jérémy Blackwell

Jérémy Blackwell

Private banker · Business angel

Four artists per year,
a selection discipline
borrowed from venture capital

For five years, the Kastel team tested the thesis on its private collection: eleven artists acquired at studio price and stewarded over time. Kastel now applies this mechanism at the scale of an invitation-only club, with the same selection rigor. Quantitative elements are communicated on request to qualified sophisticated investors, under a confidentiality undertaking.

Selection

Four artists selected out of one hundred, evaluated on ten criteria: market valuation, exhibitions, press, galleries, fairs. Each file goes through twelve to eighteen months of studio visits before any potential selection.

Acquisition at studio price

A direct relationship with the artist, who values the work as he would for himself, without the standard gallery markup. An early entry, before the market prices in the trajectory.

Active stewardship

PR, museum placements, brand collaborations, market tracking. The same intensity a VC fund deploys with its founders, transposed to the artist's career on a three- to five-year horizon.

Investing in art carries risks of capital loss, illiquidity, and market risk. Past performance is not indicative of future results and should not be the central element of an investment decision.

Meet the future Basquiats,
Matisses, and Niki de Saint Phalles

By submitting, you agree to be contacted by Kastel. Details in our privacy policy.

Work from the Kastel private collection

Year-round

A collection at studio price

A deal flow of rare works offered at studio price, off-fund: paintings, sculptures, series, multiples, paper. The work is in your home.

Dinner in an artist's studio

Quarterly

Dinners in artist studios

Intimate gatherings in the heart of studios, around a meal with the artist and a small circle of members. Private commissions possible.

Artist residency

Quarterly

Artist residencies

Two- to three-day immersions in residency. Live creation from the inside, from the first sketch to the final work.

Private venue of the art market

Monthly

Private venues of the market

Private collections, fair previews, established artists' studios, closed-door openings. Everything the public never sees.

Special issue Art Market 2025-2026, Connaissance des Arts × AXA

« A bet on the rise of an artist's market valuation, which Kastel contributes to building. »

Connaissance des Arts × AXA

Special issue Art Market, 2025-2026