Prague startup ArtMaster raises $2.4m for its AI music teacher

Prague startup ArtMaster, founded by Radim Vysoký and Michal Novák, has raised $2.4 million, more than 50 million crowns, in a seed round. The money will go into developing AI models that help people learn musical instruments on their own and, in time, into expanding to other areas of learning.

Among the project’s first investors are Warner Music Group chief Robert Kyncl and Jaroslav Beck, founder of Beat Saber, which he sold to Meta. They have now been joined by Factorial Capital, Reflex Capital, Moises, Nir Zicherman (whose service Anchor was bought by Spotify) and Eliška Forel, a Gemini product manager at Google/DeepMind.

Matt Hartman of Factorial Capital, who was the first to invest in Hugging Face, considers helping people learn one of the best uses of AI: the models can not only work with language but also “listen” to how a person plays and adapt to their level. In his words, ArtMaster proves that AI in education really works.

How it works. The app combines the fun of a Guitar Hero-style game with real instrument tuition, an ideal option for people put off by classical lessons. For now it is available in English and aimed at the global market. Over the past year it has been downloaded more than 500 thousand times, and its social media videos have gained over 100 million views.

The founder’s story. The idea grew out of Radim Vysoký’s personal frustration with playing the piano: “I wanted to dive straight into music rather than endlessly drill individual techniques. To play what I like, not the classical repertoire.” Together with Novák, he first opened an ordinary music school in Prague, moved it online during covid and filmed successful video lessons. The next step was AI able to give personal feedback like a live teacher.

“Beginners often make six mistakes at once and don’t know which to start with. Even the best video can’t give that kind of help. So we built an app that structures practice and helps people reach their goals,” Vysoký explains.

The business in numbers.

• The model is a monthly subscription; in the US it costs $35 a month, and the most popular plan is the annual one, at $150.
• Since last October the number of paying subscribers has grown by 38%, and monthly recurring revenue (MRR) by 39% in a month.
• The most active 10% of users spend an average of 36 minutes in lessons.
• By the end of the year the company expects revenue of about $1.2 million (roughly 25 million crowns); the main season is autumn and winter.

Vysoký compares the growing interest in self-education to the success of Duolingo, which breaks language learning into short daily lessons. ArtMaster is built on the same principle.

By the Around Prague newsroom