The Business Of Art: Painting The Startup Ecosystem Startups doing something extra and different to make sure that every artist is given a fair chance

Internet has emerged from being that weird place where people corrected everybody, to being a thread that has been weaving people's lives and businesses together. The effect is so intense that the penetration of internet now determines how developed a country is or will be in the coming years. And though it could do a lot better, India sure is getting there.

A great industry Internet has revived for the world is the art business. Creating, selling and buying art has been a niche market for years. Young artists are available at the nook of every street, but what lacked was a system where they could go and make money out of their talent amongst a pool full of famous artists. Internet bridged this gap by giving platforms to artists, young and old, painters, musicians, dancers, designers and many more to put their art on display for the world to see. Startups like PosterGully and Colorvan have been doing great here. But a few startups are doing something extra and different to make sure that every artist is given a chance. And below are the ones we found with mentioning.

Rang Rage

Why hang that piece of art on the wall when you can wear it around? This is what Rang Rag is all about. A hand painted fashion products brand, they sell sells hand-painted lifestyle products across apparel, accessories and home décor segments.

Claiming to be art-crazed people bitten by the aesthetic bug so much so that each of our designs slips into our lives, founders Gagan Jain and Neeti Jain want your pillow cover as aesthetic as that cotton tee you will wear for that party.

What's unique: Material such as apparels, cushions, tissue box, alarm clocks make the canvases for artists, so once a design spills out of the artist's mind onto these products, it will not be replicated.

ClayShoppe

This is your place to get all things clay. Reviving a tradition that goes back centuries, ClayShoppe is aimed to provide the society with bio-degradable products made up of fine pottery clay and give your modern life filled with high-tech gadget a touch of the oldies. Hundreds of Indian potters and clay product manufacturers in Tier II and Tier III cities have joined as a community and are reaping fruits of selling their handmade products online. From plates, cups, sculptures, statues, god idols, showpieces, there is nothing made of clay that you wouldn't find here.

Founders Pankaj Kushwaha and Dhaval Parekh have also made sure that no potter has to compromise with its art, and thus, sonates 2% of the total earnings from a product to the family of potters as our part of Corporate Social Responsibility.

What's unique: Helps save the environment, employs hundreds of potters and makes your house beautiful, what more do you want?

ArtEnthuse

Founder Shravani Vatti believes that the right to art is universal and it shouldn't be restrained to ownership. Different pieces of art represent different states of mind and a person finds a painting beautiful when it connects to certain aspects of it.

ArtEnthuse wants and will help you develop a taste in painting by not selling them to you, but renting. It takes away the regret of buying an expensive painting and regretting later and the place gets a new look every time you rent a new one.

What's unique: Offers work on rent to strengthen your belief in the art world or art as a credible vehicle of investment. Once you are satisfied, you can purchase the art.

Shurua(r)t

Based out of Varanasi, Shurua(r)t is giving wings to all those student artists who are unable to join the business due to economical reasons. CEO and Founder, Sana Sabah works with students from poor background that comprises of local house painters and students of IT BHU who are gifted, yet lack access to a market focused on promoting their efforts.

Artists are given professional training to not only improve their art and learn new methods but they are also helped in creating a marketplace to showcase their artwork.

What's unique: They are not only helping artists finance their education but also opening doors for them to develop into professional artists. And you get to but it!