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Christie’s, a world leading auction house founded in 1776, announced this week that it will create ts own in-house investing firm, Christie’s Ventures, which will focus on three areas: Web 3.0 (incorporating non-fungible tokens (NFTs), cryptocurrencies and blockchains), art-related financial products and “technologies that enable seamless consumption of art."
Christie’s has already contributed significantly to bringing NFTs into the mainstream, most notably through the NFT auction of Beeple’s First 5000 Days. It generated widespread publicity as the most expensive NFT at the time when it sold for $69.3 million. Christies also recently partnered with OpenSea to curate NFT auctions.These ventures have not only generated revenue for Christie’s but have also established its digital art credentials while bringing mainstream art investors into the metaverse.
It’s part of a trend. Some 57% of companies across sectors are currently testing in the metaverse, according to McKinsey. Some 26% expect to create a dedicated metaverse business unit and 21% expect to do business in the metaverse. (For more on business opportunities in the metaverse see The Innovator's Interview Of The Week With McKinsey's Eric Hazan).
Read on to learn more about this story and the week's most relevant technology news impacting business.

GravitHY, a new France-based green iron company will not only support the growing demand for zero carbon steel; it was set up as part of a larger plan to accelerate industrial value chains and clean tech innovation. The aim is to develop an annual €100 billion green hydrogen economy in Europe by 2025, a goal made more urgent by the war in Ukraine.

Partners in GravitHY include ENGIE, which offers deep knowledge of hydrogen, renewables and electricity markets, Plug, a manufacturer of electrolysers, which offers experience on integrated hydrogen projects. GROUPE IDEC, a major player in all segments of the real estate market (development, investment, design-build, energy), which will provide services for the industrial site, Primetals Technologies, which will provide cutting edge technologies and expertise to enable green and low carbon steel production and FORVIA, a green mobility technology company, which represents the off-take side of the value chain. Technologies developed by startups are also expected to be integrated.

It is an example of how legacy businesses and young tech companies can team to help solve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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Corporates understand that becoming innovative requires more than setting up rooms with bean bag chairs and foosball tables, but they struggle with how to change their company culture and the mindsets of their employees. That’s where CraftJam comes in. It organizes in-person, virtual or hybrid craft workshops that help employees unleash their creativity. Customers include Boston Consulting Group, Chase, Netflix, and Albertsons supermarket chain.

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Amount Amazon agreed to pay to purchase primary care provider One Medical, expanding the e-commerce giant's virtual healthcare and adding brick-and-mortar doctors' offices for the first time, according to a Reuters report. The all-cash deal would combine two relatively small players as Amazon continues its push into U.S. healthcare, seeking to grow at a faster pace.The online retailer first piloted virtual care visits for its own staff in Seattle in 2019 before offering services to other employers under the Amazon Care brand. It bought online pharmacy PillPack in 2018, underpinning a prescription delivery and price-comparison site it later launched. Amazon Care recently made its virtual care accessible nationwide and added the option for house-calls in Los Angeles, Washington, Dallas and elsewhere. The COVID-19 pandemic helped increase demand as Amazon Care started signing up clients such as Hilton Worldwide Holding.