Timbucktoo: Visions of the Future through Unbreakable Digital Ownership

In the era of digital expansion, the proliferation of creative content across the internet has been both a boon and a bane for artists and creators. While the digital age has democratized the access to and distribution of art, it has concurrently introduced significant challenges in the realms of intellectual property rights and ownership verification, especially for Black creatives. Marginalized artists, who often operate outside the mainstream art market's protective mechanisms, find themselves at a significant disadvantage in claiming ownership and protecting their intellectual property. This issue is not confined to a single community or region but is a global challenge affecting millions of creators. The lack of a reliable system for verifying the authenticity and ownership of digital works not only diminishes the economic value of the creators' intellectual property but also hampers their ability to gain recognition and financial stability from their creations.

This issue of verifiable ownership, particularly among marginalized creatives, is the multifaceted problem our solution Timbucktoo seeks to address. 

The significance of addressing this issue extends beyond the financial implications for individual artists. On a broader scale, ensuring verifiable ownership and protecting intellectual property rights are crucial for fostering a vibrant, diverse cultural ecosystem. It enables marginalized creatives to participate more fully in the global economy, enhancing cultural diversity and promoting economic prosperity within underrepresented communities.

The social impact of Timbucktoo's solution is profound. By empowering artists with the tools to protect their work, it not only bolsters their economic prospects but also affirms their identity and value within the global art community. This recognition and empowerment can have a cascading effect, encouraging the preservation and proliferation of unique cultural expressions and narratives that might otherwise be marginalized or appropriated without proper acknowledgment or compensation.

The challenge Timbucktoo addresses is not merely a technical problem but a critical societal issue that impacts economic equality, cultural diversity, and creative freedom. By providing a platform for secure, transparent verification of ownership, Timbucktoo not only solves a pressing problem for marginalized creators but also contributes to the broader goal of fostering a just, equitable global economy where every artist's work is valued and protected.

Timbucktoo aims to tackle this problem head-on by leveraging blockchain technology and our provenance prediction algorithm to provide a secure, immutable platform for artists, designers, and creators of collectibles to register and verify the authenticity of their work. 

Utilizing Timbucktoo's digital certificate of authenticity (DCA) technology, we verify the authenticity of the artist's artwork and capture data related to its provenance. By linking this technology to the artwork, Timbucktoo safeguards both the artist and collector from fraud, ensures automatic royalties to the artist on every resale transaction, and enables immersive experiences for collectors to connect with the artist and like-minded enthusiasts.

Blockchain's inherent characteristics of transparency and resistance to tampering make it an ideal solution for establishing a verifiable, permanent record of each piece of art or creative work. This not only ensures that the origin and ownership history of a piece are easily traceable but also restores control over intellectual property to the creators themselves.

Our solution was designed with Black Creatives at heart. In working with marginalized creatives, we find the recurring theme of having little evidence of their art's impact through sales, re-sell value, and provenance statistics. In our need finding interviews, we have had several artists mention that the proliferation of generative AI dampers their expectations of being able to maintain their intellectual property.  

Our team uniquely blends deep-rooted passion for the art world with cutting-edge technological expertise, making us exceptionally qualified for this opportunity. As avid art collectors, we possess an intimate understanding of the art ecosystem, enriched by our direct relationships with galleries and artists. These connections offer us unparalleled insights and access within the art community.

Equipped with advanced technology degrees, including Mamadou’s master's in international development, and a combined 24 years of experience in the tech industry, our expertise spans product development, software and mobile app development, and AI research. This technical acumen allows us to innovate and address the unique challenges of the art world, leveraging technology to support artists and galleries in reaching broader audiences.

Our team stands at the intersection of art and technology, enabling us to develop solutions that are not only technologically sophisticated but also deeply aligned with the artistic expression and collection. From AI-driven curation to enhancing digital experiences for collectors, our approach is holistic and forward-thinking.

In essence, our unique blend of passion for art, strategic relationships within the art community, and technological innovation positions us to drive meaningful progress and transformation in the art world, making us ideally suited for this opportunity.

We selected pivot as we have just launched the Art Loan program, a program that pairs Black creatives’ works of art in museums, high end restaurants and libraries. By launching the Art Loan program, we aim to test the efficacy of our provenance prediction algorithm (PPA) and its correlation with art value.

In addition to beginning to test our provenance algorithm, we have been working with a small group of arts to authenticate their original works. We have already authenticated almost USD $130,000 worth of art. We have an established partnership with a DC gallery, where we will render our DCA services and manage the gallery.

SOLVE represents an opportunity for Timbucktoo to transcend the boundaries that currently limit our solution's potential and impact. By joining the MIT Solve community, we seek to leverage the collective expertise, resources, and networks available to overcome these hurdles and scale our impact significantly. Joining the MIT SOLVE network also would open new venues for our art loan program, in addition to benefiting the artists’ provenance by partnering with well respected institutions and collectors.

One of the primary barriers we encounter is the need for increased visibility and credibility within the art world and beyond. Our participation in SOLVE would enable us to tap into MIT's prestigious network, enhancing our solution's visibility and bolstering its credibility among artists, collectors, and institutions. This enhanced visibility is crucial for the expansion of our Art Loan program, which aims to create more opportunities for artists by connecting them with respected institutions and collectors. The program benefits not just the artists, in terms of revenue and recognition, but also contributes to the cultural vibrancy of the communities it touches.

Furthermore, our ambition to incorporate into the greater Boston ecosystem, including prestigious venues like the Institute of Contemporary Art, hinges on the connections and partnerships that Solve can facilitate. These relationships would not only elevate the profiles of the artists we work with but also integrate them into a broader cultural and economic narrative, thereby quantifying the impact of our solution in tangible terms.

The global reach and influence of MIT and its Solve initiative are particularly appealing to us, given our existing deep relationships in Botswana, Ghana, Lebanon, and Philadelphia. We believe that the legitimacy and international network provided by MIT can catalyze our efforts to expand our footprint, ensuring that our solution benefits a wider array of artists and communities worldwide.

In addition to visibility and network expansion, we are in pursuit of financial and technical support to further refine and enhance our digital authentication platform. Specifically, we seek expertise in algorithm development for art authentication—a crucial area for us as we strive to maintain the integrity and reliability of our service in the face of evolving digital challenges. Access to a network of experts for consultation and potential collaboration would significantly advance our technical capabilities, enabling us to stay at the forefront of innovation in art authentication. The technical and financial backing from Solve and its partners would be instrumental in achieving these objectives, allowing us to provide a more robust and reliable solution to the artists and creators we serve.

Our goal in applying to Solve is not merely to secure funding but to embed ourselves within an ecosystem that thrives on collaboration, innovation, and mutual support. We believe that with Solve's assistance, we can overcome the financial, technical, legal, cultural, and market barriers that stand in our way, thereby amplifying our impact and contributing to a more equitable and prosperous global art community.

Currently, there is no solution to verify ownership of a collectible that is being utilized on a broad scale. Utilizing Timbucktoo's digital certificate of authenticity (DCA) technology, we verify the authenticity of the artist's artwork and capture data related to its provenance.

The importance of Timbucktoo becomes apparent when considering the challenges creatives face in securing royalties from resales, or accurately valuing their work after initial sale. Many artists struggle to track the provenance of their pieces, leading to lost revenue for the artist and minimizing the value of their pieces to the owner. We aim to further incorporate AI to account for dynamic appraisal based on provenance.

By linking this technology to the artwork, Timbucktoo safeguards both the artist and collector from fraud, ensures automatic royalties to the artist on every resale transaction, and enables immersive experiences for collectors to connect with the artist and like-minded enthusiasts.

We hope to build up a new Timbucktoo. 

Our goal is to launch our Art Loan program to elite institutions. We hope to jumpstart this initiative with our inaugural art fair called Sankofa Visions. Sankofa Visions is a collaborative project with an Atlanta based Art Gallery. It will be a renaissance that integrates the work of contemporary black artists, along with elements of culture, and innovation immersive technology. Through Sankofa Visions we will drastically increase the network of black creatives, DCA certify a greater value of original artwork, and create a traveling art fair that will work in tandem with our Art Loan program. As we will take the exhibitions from Sankofa Visions on the road to the network of elite institutions.  

Timbucktoo is a digital authentication platform designed specifically for creative professionals. It enables artists, designers, and creators of collectibles to securely register and verify the authenticity of their work online while maintaining ownership of their intellectual property. By leveraging blockchain technology, Timbucktoo creates a permanent, unforgeable record of each piece of art or creative work, ensuring that the origin and ownership history are transparent and traceable.

Timbucktoo allows creatives to directly link their creations to a digital certificate of authenticity using AI to enhance blockchain technology. This certificate is easily shareable and verifiable by buyers, galleries, and other stakeholders in the art ecosystem, making it a powerful tool for combating forgery and unauthorized reproductions. This functionality is crucial for creators to receive due royalties, especially in secondary markets. This digital certificate is the foundation for capturing data around the provenance which will be used for appraisal.

With the art market expanding into digital and online spaces, tracking and enforcing royalty payments has become increasingly complex. Timbucktoo addresses this issue head-on by providing a transparent and immutable ledger of ownership and transactions that assesses the value of a piece over time. This not only enhances trust between creators and buyers but also ensures that creatives are fairly compensated for their work, regardless of how many times it changes hands.

Timbucktoo stands out not just as an authentication platform but as a means to empower creators with control over their work and its future value. By focusing on the concrete benefits it offers to creatives—such as securing intellectual property rights, simplifying the authentication process, and facilitating royalty payments using AI to increasing provenance transparency —Timbucktoo positions itself as an essential tool for artists and creators navigating the complexities of the modern art market.

Currently, only our founder and CEO, Mamadou Ndiaye works full time on Timbucktoo. Our other co-founder and Chief of Product, Derek Gauthier works 30 hours minimum on Timbucktoo. We have a dedicated developer part time for 20 hours per week and AI consultant for an additional 20 hours per week. 

We have been working on Timbucktoo since 2022. 

Our entire team is comprised of people of color from various disciplines. We aim to be accessible to all marginalized communities. 

Timbucktoo operates in a B2B2C model. Where on the B2B side we service art galleries and artists/creatives. On the B2C side we are servicing art buyers or collectors.

We earn revenue in three different ways:

1. Commissions - We charge a standard commission of 10% on all transactions on the platform. In the cases of event partnerships this may increase up to 30%.

2. Art Loan Program - We charge commercial establishments a fee to feature original artwork within their establishments (i.e. luxury hotels, high-end restaurants, and more).

3. Enterprise Subscriptions - We charge a subscription to enterprise accounts such as galleries and luxury brands.

We have a three tiered approach for our go-to-market strategy.

1) Art Galleries - At the foundation is our onboarding of art galleries, where we will render our DCA technology services to them. Through the onboarding of galleries we are able to increase the value of the artist network and original art we have certified. It also allows us to receive consistent revenue from the transactions.

2)  Art Loan Program - From there the galleries join our network for the Art Loan program. Here certain pieces will be featured in exhibitions across a network of galleries, cultural institutions, and commercial establishments. This transaction data will feed into our provenance prediction algorithm. 

3) Curated Experiences - At the apex of our strategy are our experiences, such as our Sankofa Visions Fine Art Fair at Art Basel. This will allow us to capture market share and establish the Timbucktoo brand.

We have already received validation from artists, galleries, collectors, and institutions. For this reason we were able to establish formal partnerships with galleries, such as our management of a DC gallery (HOMME) and partnering with another gallery (Landen Prather) for Sankofa Visions.