Photo Credit: Lindsay Martin
Performing arts platform Artelize secures a $1.1 million pre-seed funding round to invest in its AI services to support global visibility of the performing arts.
Artelize, a platform focused on the world of the performing arts, has announced a successful pre-seed funding round of €1 million ($1.1 million). The investment round fuels the launch of two AI-powered services to enhance global artist visibility and empower audience growth and engagement for arts organizations. Funding will also enable Artelize’s growth into the UK and European markets, having already secured a foothold in the US.
The $1.1 million investment round has been led by Bjørn Bruun, founder of Danish fashion brand Bruuns Bazaar, and active angel investor. Bruun has seen support by a range of investors, including early-stage VC investor Peter Jakobsen of Human Act Development, and a group of other angel investors.
As part of the funding round, Artelize also received a government grant from the Danish Innobooster Programme, and a loan facility from the Danish Export and Investment Fund. The investment follows an initial round with Tesla founders Marc Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard, raising €350,000 ($384,000).
Launched in 2022 by founders Sune Hjerrild, Paola Cacciatori, Peter Somogyi, and Jan Pilgaard Carlsen — a group of former artists, entrepreneurs, and technologists — Artelize uses AI to collect information about concerts and events in the performing arts.
Artelize’s range of events includes opera, classical music, ballet, dance, musicals, spoken theatre, and jazz. Having gathered the relevant information, Artelize then creates performer and event pages that artists and presenters can use to promote themselves.
Currently, the platform features 24,000 upcoming events and 29,000 artists, primarily focused on the US market, with the latest round of funding helping Artelize to expand into the UK and European markets.
“Our investors clearly recognize the importance of our mission to transform the way artists and producers connect with existing and new fans,” says Sune Hjerrild, founder and CEO of Artelize. “It’s increasingly important for artists to have a strong online presence in order for them to be able to promote themselves and their concerts.”
“But the problem is that the lives of artists can be highly focused on rehearsal time, which often requires 100% of their concentration. With the mobile-friendly features of (Artelize’s) Career Booster, it’s really easy for artists to prepare and publish posts during a free moment in the rehearsal room.”
Artelize’s Career Booster is free to artists for up to two social media posts per month, after which they can upgrade to the paid tier from $10 per month. The next iteration of the platform’s audience-building tools is preparing for a launch early this year.
