Touchtalent

Touchtalent is an online art studio for professional and amateur artists to publish, share and socialize their self-made creations. It was founded by Ankit Prasad and Mohammed Wassem in 2011 and was released for public beta in June 2012 It operates under New Delhi based company named Talent Unlimited Online Services Pvt. Ltd Touchtalent aims to become an interest and theme-based social networking platform for innovative people. The website currently features opportunity to upload, share and get appreciated for original artworks under 19 categories that include 3D Art, Animation, Calligraphy, Comics, Crafts, Design, Digital Art, Fashion, Graffiti, Literature, Music, Painting, Performing Arts, Photography, Poetry, Sculpting, Singing, Sketching and Video Editing.
Audience
Touchtalent attracts users from 192 countries and a high percentage of its active audience are from South East Asia and Middle East More than fifty thousand likes and an engaging community later it became a proof of concept that people were open to the concept of an online creative community where they could share their talent and be a part of an engaging community. By April, 2012 Touchtalent was released in the form of a beta access service. In July 2012 it was made available for public usage.
Art Market and Touchtalent
The global art market is currently valued at $60 billion while the Indian art market is valued at around $400 millions, which is expected to grow to $750 million by 2015. With this kind of growth projections, a broad framework for the sector like Touchtalent is expected to promote art globally. Traditional banking system in India does not promote online market place like Touchtalent. Indian government is trying to create favourable platforms for providing financial support to the new and emerging online market places that have potential to change the economic landscape of the country. Tougher laws should also be enacted to deal with fake arts; some of the recent fake art exposure has damaged the reputation of Indian art market. Legal and policy stakeholders in India need to expedite resolution related to fake art.
Business Model
Touchtalent has launched its business model with Professional Studios on August 1, 2013. Professional Studios has received a positive response due to its advanced features like online art gallery (The creative shop), virtual studio, auction house, access to buyers and payment gateway services, sponsored visibility, and others which appeal to professional artists. Going further Touchtalent's Founder Prasad Ankit wants to undertake the launch of Brand Pages in November 2013, wherein individual brands could share their visual content and have a conversation running.
Precious finds

The youngest member on the Touchtalent community is a 13-year-old artist from Lucknow, Mansi Bachani. Mansi's parents wanted to send her to medical school but after seeing the appreciation her paintings attracted on Touchtalent, they decided to send her to an art institute.
The oldest artist on Touchtalent is 83-year-old Patrick Boussignac
Dubai-based artist Kiran Kumar's portrait of Aamir Khan, put up on Touchtalent, was praised by none other than the actor himself.
Touchtalent Founders
Touchtalent is started by Ankit Prasad and Mohammed Wassem.
A resident of Jamshedpur, Prasad wanted to have his own set-up. In 2006, he took the first step. In November the same year, Prasad launched Radiance Design Studio with his brother. Four years later, Prasad went in search of greener pastures, even as his brother continues to manage the firm in Bangalore. In the meantime, 31-year-old Wassem was busy climbing the corporate ladder. After bagging his master's degree from the Delhi School of Economics in 2005, he joined NTPC. He, too, was sure of starting his own venture. He started with Deloitte and moved to Mercer two years later.
It was in 2008 that TouchTalent's founders bumped into each other. Prasad was still with Radiance, working on a common friend's website model. Encouraged by his zeal, Wassem discussed opening a platform where all artists—painters, poets, visual artists, designers—could put up their work, be it for appreciation or monetising their creativity. However, the duo postponed the idea for lack of resources. They kept in touch, and in November 2011, armed with adequate resources and a more refined business plan, they put their plan into action.
The website will continue to serve as a free platform for people who are keen to showcase their work.
Competition
* deviantART
* tumblr

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