Music education platform Yousician has closed a $28 million Series B round of funding for its platforms, bringing its total raised to $35 million.
The company states that its on-demand music school Yousician and instrument tuner platform GuitarTuna are used by 20 million people worldwide each month and that in 2020, its “recurring revenue increased by 70% from $30m to $50m”.
In the past 12 months, Yousician says it has had 14 million downloads, up 52% year-on year, while GuitarTuna hit 32 million downloads, up 10% year-on-on-year.
Silicon Valley venture firm True Ventures is the company’s lead investor.
New investors in this round include Amazon’s Alexa Fund and Paul McCartney’s investment arm MPL Ventures LLP.
Angel investors include Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga; Jason Calacanis, founder of LAUNCH Fund; David Helgason, founder of Unity Technologies; Rolf Schrömgens, co-founder of Trivago; Moaffak Ahmed, founder of Cooler Future, Bryan Meehan, executive chairman of Blue Bottle Coffee Company, and Anne Badan, CEO and Co-Founder of The Shortcut.
Yousician claims to be “reimagining music education” using interactive learning techniques.The platform offers lessons for guitar, piano, ukulele, bass and singing.
Yousician’s audio feature listens to users play and provides real-time feedback. The platform also provides lesson plans created by in-house music teachers.
With the new funding, Yousician says it will further develop its product offering, make key new hires and invest in both brand marketing and artist partnerships.
Yousician says that it has activated Artist Sessions with Phil Collen from Def Leppard, Jason Mraz, Declan McKenna, Mark Bryan from Hootie and the Blowfish and Nancy Wilson from Heart.
“We’re proud to stand behind a company and team that brings the joy and excitement of playing an instrument into more homes and families.”
Jon Callaghan, True Ventures
Jon Callaghan, co-founder of True Ventures, said: “Yousician has been the leading platform for music instruction for nearly a decade, and people – now more than ever – are turning to the pursuit of creativity and music with renewed vigor.
“We’re proud to stand behind a company and team that brings the joy and excitement of playing an instrument into more homes and families.”
“With this new funding round, and investors that really understand what we are doing and why, we are poised to bring learning and playing music to more people, in more places, than ever before.”
Chris Thür, Yousician
Chris Thür, co-founder and CEO of Yousician, added: “This is a very exciting time for Yousician and aspiring musicians everywhere.
“With this new funding round, and investors that really understand what we are doing and why, we are poised to bring learning and playing music to more people, in more places, than ever before.”Music Business Worldwide