The music education market is full of apps that listen to you play. The procurement cycle for a school district, however, is about more than just listening. It's about proving that practice is happening between lessons, that a student is progressing, and that a teacher's time is being amplified, not replaced. Notey Inc. is trying to answer those questions not with another metronome app, but by building a video game where the instrument is the controller.
Founded in 2021 and based in Los Angeles, Notey has developed an AI-powered mobile game called Notey's World. The core proposition is simple: a student plugs in their real instrument or sings into a microphone, and the game's proprietary audio engine translates their pitch and rhythm into actions on screen, guiding them through structured mini-games and a library of songs [f6s.com]. The company's recent $3 million seed round, led by Tivoli Ventures and including a $1 million non-dilutive grant from Malta Enterprise, is a bet that this gamified wedge can crack both the consumer and institutional education markets [The SaaS News, October 2026].
The wedge of turning practice into play
Notey's bet rests on a specific user behavior. For a child, the gap between a weekly music lesson and the next one is often filled with reluctant, solitary practice. For a teacher, that time is a black box. Notey aims to fill that gap with a game loop that provides instant feedback and makes repetition feel like progression [notey.co]. The company reports its app supports any instrument or voice, and its library includes hundreds of songs sequenced to build technique [notey.co]. The key metric the company highlights is retention: it claims a 67% user retention rate at day 90, a figure that would be compelling for any subscription-based consumer app [startupswithstu.com].
A founding team built for credibility
The company's leadership brings a rare blend of artistic pedigree and technical rigor, a combination that speaks directly to its dual audience of musicians and technologists.
- Artistic authority. Co-founder and CEO Mak Grgić is a two-time Grammy-nominated classical guitarist and a former assistant professor of guitar at the University of South Carolina [Forbes, February 2025] [Forbes, February 2026]. His credibility with music educators is not theoretical; he founded the Virtual Guitar Orchestra, which was honored by the Library of Congress [EIN Presswire, October 2026].
- Technical execution. Co-founder and CTO Adithya Bellathur, a machine-learning engineer with prior experience at Bloomberg and Amazon, leads the engineering of the game's "WorldBuilder" and the core audio recognition engine [EIN Presswire, October 2026].
This table outlines the core leadership and their relevant backgrounds:
| Role | Name | Key Background |
|---|---|---|
| Co-founder, CEO | Mak Grgić | 2x Grammy-nominated guitarist, former music professor, founder of Virtual Guitar Orchestra. |
| Co-founder, CTO | Adithya Bellathur | Machine-learning engineer, former Bloomberg and Amazon. |
| Early Co-founder | Damjan Krajacic | Part of the founding team per a 2022 announcement [LinkedIn, July 2022]. |
Traction across two fronts
Notey is pursuing a classic dual-market strategy, building a consumer base while layering on an institutional sales motion. The company reports it has grown to more than 100,000 consumer users [Fireround]. Perhaps more strategically, it claims to serve 60 schools across four U.S. districts and has been appointed as a vendor for the New York City public school district [Fireround] [notey.co]. Revenue was reported at $660,000 in 2025 [getlatka.com]. The recent funding will support the opening of a European operation in Malta, facilitated by the development grant from Malta Enterprise [EIN Presswire, October 2026].
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Reported Consumer Users | 100000 |
| Reported School Deployments | 60 schools |
| Reported 2025 Revenue | 0.66 M USD |
The competitive and operational reality
For all its early momentum, Notey's path is not without friction. The consumer music-edtech space is crowded with well-funded incumbents like Yousician and Simply Piano, which have massive user bases and sophisticated marketing engines. The school sales cycle is long, relationship-driven, and budget-constrained. Notey's reported $660,000 in 2025 revenue against a backdrop of 100,000 users and 60 schools suggests it is still in the early phases of monetization, likely relying on freemium or low-cost individual subscriptions [getlatka.com]. The company's answer appears to be its unique product wedge,the game layer,and the teacher dashboard that provides the visibility schools pay for. Its appointment as a vendor for NYC schools is a significant credibility signal, but the scale and renewal value of those contracts remain unproven.
What the next year must prove
The next twelve months will be about proving the enterprise side of the equation. The company needs to convert its vendor status and pilot deployments into multi-year, district-wide contracts with clear annual contract values. The product roadmap will need to demonstrate that the game engine can scale to support classroom management features and standardized reporting that administrators require. On the consumer side, the challenge is improving conversion from its large user base to sustainable subscription revenue, while maintaining the high retention rates it claims.
The ideal customer profile here is clear: a middle school or high school music department head who is tech-forward, frustrated by student engagement between lessons, and has a budget for supplemental digital tools. For them, Notey isn't just another app; it's a potential solution to the practice problem that doesn't add to their grading workload.
The realistic competitive set splits into two lanes. On the direct instruction side, Yousician and Simply Piano are the giants, though they focus less on the pure game environment and teacher dashboard integration. In the broader classroom management space, tools like SmartMusic have long served school band programs with assessment features, but lack the immersive game layer. Notey's bet is that its fusion of these two worlds,credible pedagogy wrapped in a compelling game,creates a category of its own. The $3 million seed round is the fuel to test that thesis where it matters most: in the procurement meetings of school districts and the daily routines of students.
Sources
- [EIN Presswire, October 2026] Notey Closes $3M Seed Round and Opens Its European Operation in Malta | https://www.einpresswire.com/article/947470656/notey-closes-3m-seed-round-and-opens-its-european-operation-in-malta
- [The SaaS News, October 2026] Notey Raises $3M Seed | https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/notey-raises-3m-seed/
- [f6s.com] Notey, Inc. develops an AI-powered music-education game... | https://www.f6s.com/company/noteyinc
- [startupswithstu.com] Notey retention metric | https://startupswithstu.com
- [Forbes, February 2025] Mak Grgić Grammy nomination for "Entourer" | https://www.forbes.com
- [Forbes, February 2026] Mak Grgić Grammy nomination for "Slavic Sessions" | https://www.forbes.com
- [LinkedIn, July 2022] Early investor announcement identifying Damjan Krajacic | https://www.linkedin.com/posts/adithya-bellathur_edtech-musiceducation-music-activity-6953890910287884288-DkHK
- [Fireround] Notey user and school metrics | https://fireround.com
- [getlatka.com] Notey 2025 revenue and valuation data | https://getlatka.com
- [notey.co] Notey product details and NYC vendor appointment | https://notey.co