Online subscriptions system start-up Piano Media has scored €2
million in funding from private equity fund 3TS Capital Partners, TechCrunch
reported.
The Bratislava-based firm is a platform that aggregates various online publishers in the test markets of Slovakia
and Slovenia. Readers only pay for a single subscription fee and get access to
all content on a national Piano site, a model similar to cable TV.
“Our €300,000 seed funding, raised in 2011, enabled us
to launch in two countries and prove Piano’s model works. This deal represents
the next step in Piano’s growth; helping speed our expansion, recruit top
talent, ramp up our marketing, broaden our sales channels and keep improving
our software,”
“We are
impressed with the depth and quality of the management team at Piano and
believe that 3TS has the resources, skills and market experience to assist
Piano in strengthening and expanding its unique market position,” added Jiří
Beneš, partner at 3TS, who led the investment.
Piano
Media was launched in May 2011, with nine major publishers in
Slovakia. It took in €40,000
in its first month of operation within an online population of 2.5 million. Subscribers
pay €3.90 per month (raised from €2.90 in March this year), press
release explained. Earlier this year, Piano Media expanded to Slovenia, and made €26,000
in its debut month, according to paidContent.
Subscribers in Slovenia pay €4.89 per month to access content from 20 participating publishers, encompassing more than 60 websites,
according to a press
release.
Payments
are split between publications according to where a digital reader enrolls in
the Piano system, how much time is spent on each publisher’s sites and the type
of content consumed. This means the most-read publications receive more. Then, Piano Media keeps a commission of 30 percent, Bella said at the Guardian's Changing Media Conference, and this payment system generates a revenue six times more compared to the individual system (publisher-specific).
Image: Piano Media
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