EdCircuit StaffSoundtrap, a cloud-based music and audio recording platform, has raised $6 million in Series A funding. Nordic VC firm Industrifonden led the round, with participation from an array of existing investors and other new backers, including Peter Sterky, former CFO and COO of Spotify. It brings total funding to $8.5 million.
Perhaps comparable to a collaborative and multi-platform version of Apple’s GarageBand, Soundtrap lets you record music or things like podcasts and comes with its own software instruments and MIDI sequencer.
It’s available for iOS, Android, Chromebook, Mac and Windows (the latter three via a technically impressive browser-based version of Soundtrap) and it’s this cross-device compatibility where the software’s strengths really kick in.
All work-in-progress is stored in the cloud — you can pick up where you left off from one device to another — and there are features that let you collaborate with others online.
That’s because, says Per Emanuelsson, CEO and co-founder of Soundtrap, the idea wasn’t just to create something easy to use but also a tool that recognises that making music is a heck of a lot more fun with others.
This, along with Chromebook support, has seen Soundtrap become popular with teachers and students, something that initially took Emanuelsson and his team by surprise. However, as of earlier this year, the Swedish startup has made education one of its explicit target markets, with educational licensing baked in.
Soundtrap is also an official Google for Education Partner, Google’s program targeting schools where Chromebook penetration is now a real thing. I’m told this is resulting in 200 new schools a week adding Soundtrap to their classroom toolkit.
Meanwhile, other investors in the company include Swedish producer and composer Andreas Carlsson; Truecaller founders Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam; Magnus Bergman, an early investor in Truecaller and Prezi; Kristoffer Melinder, Joakim Karlsson and Ulf Rosberg from Nordic Capital; Linus Andreen, CEO and co-founder of management company, record label and publishing house Aristotracks; and Lars Bergström.
Original Press Release – Tech Crunch
