Pirate Studios raises $20m to revolutionise the music industry

Music technology company Pirate Studios, which operates fully automated self-service 24 hour music studios, has secured $20m from Talis Capital, a London-based VC family office.

The funding will enable the company to continue its expansion across the UK, Germany and the US.

Founded by musicians, the company also raised money from a syndicate of high-profile investors including Eric Archambeau (Spotify investor and ex partner at Benchmark & Wellington Partners), Bart Swanson of Horizons Ventures; and partners of Gaw Capital, the $20bn Hong Kong-headquartered PropTech fund.

The startup has built a platform which offers online booking, 24 hour keycode access, automated recording and live streaming and complete IoT control of their studios.

David Borrie, co-founder and CEO of Bristol-based Pirate Studios, commented on the raise:

“When we founded Pirate Studios our dream was to create innovative spaces to support emerging talent. We want to see music thrive and help musicians get their music out to their fans, through whatever route they think is most appropriate. We are building both the physical space to create, as well as the technology to record and share, that puts power back into the hands of musicians in a period when the digitisation of music continues to radically upset the old order of this industry.”

“We are so excited about the next stage of our expansion, which has been made possible by Talis Capital’s big commitment to this project, with the potential to put musicians back at the heart of the music industry. It’s also exciting to see so many new investors come on board with Talis and to help us with the next stage of our journey.”

Matus Maar, managing partner ventures, Talis Capital and executive chairman of Pirate Studios, went on to add: “The music industry has changed fundamentally. Distribution was previously controlled by the major record labels, preventing the majority of artists from sharing their content. Pirate Studios has unpicked that hegemony and is putting the power back in artists’ hands, unlocking a significant and largely untapped market opportunity. We greatly look forward to continuing to partner with David and the team to make this vision a reality.”