Skoove (Skoove.com), the piano e-learning platform founded in 2014, is on a mission to make music education accessible to everyone regardless of income or education. With genuine guidance and feedback from the app (available on iOS and in browser), people of any age can develop their piano or keyboard skills. They acquire theoretical music knowledge and learn the principles of composition and freestyle playing. Already, piano enthusiasts across 211 different countries have taken more than 1 million lessons on Skoove.
«With Skoove, we are pleased to invest in a leading company in the booming e-learning market. Skoove convinced us with last year’s dynamic growth of more than 300 percent in sales and its international positioning. The USA is currently its largest market. What Babbel is for language learning, Skoove is for instrument learning», said Benjamin Solenthaler, Investment Manager, Ringier Digital Ventures.
Skoove’s carefully crafted lessons combine theory with practice playing favourite music pieces. Regardless of skill-level or taste in music, users can choose from 13 different courses as well as hundreds of popular tracks. While playing, an audio-analysis algorithm, developed by Skoove in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute, analyses the student’s playing technique through the microphone on their smartphone or computer. Every student receives personalised feedback together with guidance to help them learn the correct technique. Upon request, an individual consultation by Skoove’s own music teacher can be arranged.
Out of the millions of lessons played Skoove extracts new, quantifiable results concerning the students’ progress. These results are used in developing individual learning methods which are being directly integrated into the curriculum. Skoove’s didactic concept combines established music education with the possibilities of modern digital technology.
«With this new investment we are excited to take the next step in product development and growth. Expanding our team gives us the opportunity to further develop the technology and didactics that define Skoove and further push the growth of our customer base, especially in our core markets of North-America and Europe», says Florian Plenge, co-founder and CEO of Skoove.
Ringier AG, Corporate Communications
About Skoove
Skoove (Skoove.com) is an online platform that teaches piano in an interactive way. Based on skill level, this includes how to read music sheets and tips to compose original music. At the moment 13 courses with more than 400 lessons and hundreds of popular pieces are available. Skoove is suitable for beginners as well as advanced students. The Berlin based company was founded in 2014 by Dr. Florian Plenge and Stephan Schulz. The team currently consists of 20 music enthusiasts. Students can start with free lessons on several skill levels. A Skoove Premium subscription is available from just €9.99 per month.
About Ringier Digital Ventures
Ringier Digital Ventures AG is a Ringier AG company. The focus of the venture capital firm, founded in January 2015, is investing in innovative digital start-ups that can benefit from the extensive media reach and expertise of successful companies within the Ringierand btov network. Since January 2018, Marcau Partners GmbH, founded by Thomas Kaiser, David Hug and Benjamin Solenthaler, has been responsible for the development of Ringier Digital Ventures.