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African Art Is Centuries Old.
How We Protect It Hasn't Caught Up.
Until now. Atsur is building the digital infrastructure Africa's art ecosystem has always deserved — using blockchain technology to preserve, authenticate, and empower African art and the people who create it.
Our Mission
Equity.
Preservation.
Legacy.
UNESCO estimates that 90% of Africa's cultural heritage is held outside the continent. Billions of dollars worth of African art has been lost, misattributed, or stripped of its provenance — denying artists their recognition, their credit, and their legacy.
Atsur was founded to close that gap. By combining AI-powered verification, blockchain record-keeping, and a network of trusted cultural partners, we give African artworks the institutional protection that Western art markets have taken for granted for decades.
""The mission is to preserve Africa's art legacy — putting our creative players at the forefront of the global market. We don't have enough visibility into our records, and technology can solve that." "
— Adaobi Orajiaku, Co-Founder & CEO
We are not reinventing the art world. We are making it more equitable — one verified certificate at a time.
Key Partnership
Nigeria's National Gallery of Art — 3,000+ works digitised and authenticated in 2025
Our Journey
From Idea toInfrastructure
2022
The Idea Takes Shape
During the NFT boom, Adaobi Orajiaku — leading a blockchain community for engineers — began questioning long-term sustainability and saw that blockchain's real power lay in authenticating physical African art, not speculative digital tokens.
2023
Research & Concept Validation
Months of interviews with artists, collectors, galleries, and institutions confirmed the gap: Africa had no credible, accessible infrastructure for art provenance and authentication. The concept for Atsur was born.
May 2024
Atsur Officially Launches
Co-founded by Adaobi Orajiaku and Emediong Umoh, Atsur launches as a marketplace model for physical artworks. First gallery partnerships established in Nigeria.
2024
National Gallery of Art Partnership
Atsur partners with Nigeria's National Gallery of Art to digitise and authenticate over 3,000 works from the national collection — a landmark step in institutional preservation.
Mid-2025
Strategic Pivot to Infrastructure
After listening closely to galleries — who loved verification but didn't want to switch platforms — Atsur pivots to a pure infrastructure and B2B model. Verification, dealrooms, and provenance tracking become the core offering.
2025
Top 4 at NBA Triple Double Accelerator
Atsur finishes in the top 4 out of 700+ applicants at the NBA Triple Double Accelerator, and joins the Carnegie Mellon incubation program. 6,000+ artworks verified. $300K+ in value archived.
2026
Pre-Seed Round & Continental Expansion
Atsur begins its pre-seed raise and expands partnerships across Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa — with ambitions to become the standard infrastructure layer for African art across the continent.
Recognition
Backed by the Best
NBA Triple Double Accelerator — Top 4
Finished among the top 4 startups out of over 700 applicants in one of Africa's most competitive startup programs.
Carnegie Mellon Incubation Program
Selected for CMU's prestigious incubation program — one of the few African art-tech companies to be recognised at this level.
Nigeria National Gallery of Art Partner
The only art-tech platform trusted by Nigeria's national cultural institution to digitise and authenticate the national art collection.
TechCabal, TechPoint & Technext24
Featured across Africa's leading technology publications as a standout infrastructure innovator in the cultural technology space.
Polygon Blockchain Partner
Built on Polygon for low-cost, high-throughput blockchain verification — with plans to expand to Ethereum mainnet for high-value transactions.
AVA — Atsur Verification Alliance
A growing network of verified galleries, art fairs, and custodians enforcing authentication standards across Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya.
Be Part of the Story.
Whether you're an artist, broker, or institution — Atsur is building the future of African art, together.