Catawiki is Europe's leading online auction platform for special objects. Founded in 2008 by comic book collector René Schoenmakers and IT developer Marco Jansen, the company began as an online community for collectors. The name Catawiki is a combination of 'catalogue' and 'wiki', reflecting its original purpose as a place for collectors to interact and track their collections. In 2011, the founders introduced an auction feature, hiring experts to review and select each submission to ensure quality and authenticity.
Today, Catawiki hosts over 75,000 objects in weekly auctions across more than 80 categories, including art, collectibles, classic cars, watches, jewellery, wine, and design. Each item is carefully vetted by 240+ in-house experts before being listed. The platform serves millions of users globally, with buyers and sellers from over 60 countries. In 2023, Catawiki sold over 3 million special objects, adding to a total of over 15 million objects sold to date. The company obtained a €150 million investment led by Permira in 2021 to fuel its global expansion.