Raul Rodrigues had always been passionate about music and drumming. In the early days of developing his idea for an app to digitize drum lessons and scores, he knew gaining recognition could help take the concept to the next level. That’s why presenting at the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation proved so pivotal. Rodrigues walked away with an award valued at €5,000 for his plans to preserve musical knowledge through technology.
The timely funding allowed Rodrigues to transition his prototype into a fully-fledged product. “That money let me get out of the prototype to be able to grow,” he explained. Just as important as the capital, however, was the validation from such a respected award show. “Of course, the recognition from the Grammys helped me a lot,” Rodrigues noted.
Emboldened by this early backing, Rodrigues incorporated his startup in Valencia, Spain. He had originally come to the country from his native Brazil six years prior in search of new opportunities. While in Madrid, Rodrigues discovered he loved Valencia and decided to set up shop there. The city’s thriving entrepreneurial scene, including incubators like Lanzadera, provided the perfect environment to scale his vision.
Now called Drumap, the app had around 30,000 users, with 1,000 paying subscribers. Those monthly membership fees generate an estimated €5,000 per month currently. Rodrigues aims to grow that tenfold by years’ end. Beyond monetizing through subscriptions, Drumap gives drummers at any skill level easy access to lessons and tools to create their own scores. “It’s very easy for people who don’t know music to learn,” Rodrigues noted.
Securing that early validation from the Latin Grammys helped launch Drumap on its path to global success. With a dedicated team growing and revenue increasing, this drumming app is poised for even greater impact in the music education world.
