Photo Credit: Tommy Diner
Amid classical’s much-publicized streaming expansion, digital sheet music startup Enote has announced the “first closing” of a nearly $11 million pre-Series A round.
Berlin-headquartered Enote, which arrived on the scene in 2018 and says that it boasts “an advanced AI system,” just recently unveiled the multimillion-dollar raise. Having launched an iOS app about 18 months back, the platform uses the mentioned AI technology to analyze “millions of static pages and critical findings to reconstruct a definitive digital version of each work,” according to higher-ups.
North of 70,000 musicians have tried Enote thus far, the company disclosed. And while the aforesaid iOS app is equipped with a free tier, its premium plan costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually, the appropriate App Store page shows.
Back to the initial closing of Enote’s pre-Series A round, though, Cologne’s Dieter von Holtzbrinck Ventures (DvH Ventures), the Rudolf Fuchs family office (which is a longtime Enote backer, its Crunchbase profile shows), and the EU’s European Innovation Council (EIC) put up the €10 million/$10.90 million at hand.
According to the startup, the capital will enable team members to continue building out “the accessible, affordable and interactive sheet music standard” that they’ve developed during the past five or so years. Additionally, Enote indicated that it intends to “bring new innovations to the app, empower educators, and give more musicians the chance to access our library” moving forward.
Expanding upon the latter point, Enote likewise emphasized that investors can participate in the forthcoming “second closing of our Pre-Series A funding round.” The EIC is set to match this raise “Euro for Euro,” per the business.
Addressing the round’s close in a statement, Enote co-founder and CEO Boian Videnoff, who’s also the chief conductor of the Mannheim Philharmonic, stressed “the enormous business opportunity that lies in the still undigitalized sheet music market.” And in comments of his own, DvH Ventures managing partner Peter Richarz highlighted the perceived significance of Enote’s “proprietary artificial intelligence.”
“We are excited to join the founding team in their dream of improving the lives of musicians through technology, making quality sheet music accessible and affordable to everyone, and transforming the music industry in the process,” said Richarz, who relayed on LinkedIn that his firm had led the raise. “Their proprietary artificial intelligence is the key to a unified digital sheet music format.”
During the past month or so, Apple Music has rolled out a standalone classical music app, Universal Music Group (which operates a classical streaming service of its own) has acquired Hyperion Records, and classical publisher Faber Music has purchased Manners McDade.