Munich Startup: What does Vocalisto do? What problem are you solving?
Gerd Birzele, Vocalisto: With our mobile practice room, we enable singers to pursue their passion anytime and anywhere without disturbing others.
The problem we’re solving is that in Germany alone, over 3 million singers want to practice regularly at home but can’t do so as flexibly as they’d like due to inadequate soundproofing. As a result, some face conflicts with neighbors or are afraid to make audible mistakes and sometimes stop singing altogether. This situation has become even more pronounced with the increase in home office work.
Our solution, the mobile practice room consisting of a soundproofing face mask and its accompanying mobile app, provides privacy and flexibility for singers. First, it dampens sound outward toward others, but also inward to protect vocal recordings from external noise. The singer can hear themselves through headphones and also mix and record songs live.
Vocalisto combines soundproofing, integrated recording, and location independence
Munich Startup: But that already exists!
Gerd Birzele, Vocalisto: The classical option is a stationary practice room, often rented somewhere. The problem here is the low availability of such spaces. Frequently, there’s also the large distance between home and the room, or having to share the space with other artists. This dependency and consequently low flexibility is often the reason why people want and need to practice at home.
Existing home soundproofing solutions have high space requirements, sometimes requiring complicated and permanent installation, and are expensive. In a city apartment, this is usually not possible.
With our solution, we combine soundproofing, integrated recording, and location independence for the first time. This means you can practice while traveling and right before a performance, and you won’t have any problems when moving. Users can actually carry our mobile practice room in a backpack or handbag.
Munich Startup: What’s your founding story?
Gerd Birzele, Vocalisto: I’ve been a musician for over 20 years and, as the singer of our band, had the problem that when I moved to Munich, I no longer had our band practice room nearby to rehearse. To prepare for studio sessions or performances, I even sat in my car sometimes.
When looking for a solution for my apartment, I was disappointed by the space requirements and installation effort. Eventually, I had the idea to make the whole thing much smaller and more mobile. After building some first prototypes, I teamed up with a co-founder in 2021, who unfortunately is no longer involved for professional reasons. Through many months of development work and customer testing, we were able to validate our hypotheses and develop the basic principle of the mask and app far enough to now plan the next step toward market entry.
The challenge of finding co-founders
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Gerd Birzele, Vocalisto: Initially, the technical challenge was to realize soundproofing in a very limited space such that it’s both effective and doesn’t compromise comfort, sound, or breathing. We were able to manage this balancing act through numerous iterations and tests with a variety of materials and design principles – starting with laboratory tests and progressing to intensive customer testing. Tools like AI design and 3D printing enabled us to implement new ideas quickly. Through extremely constructive feedback, we were eventually able to find a very useful solution for our customers.
Financing and finding co-founders certainly present additional challenges. Finding good people who not only have the right skills but are also at the right point in their lives to start a company and take on the associated risk is quite demanding. Interested readers can reach out at Gerd.Birzele@vocalisto.com.
“An established brand and platform for experienced singers as well as beginners”
Munich Startup: Where do you want to be in one year, and where in five years?
Gerd Birzele, Vocalisto: In one year, we want to be represented in the market with our mobile practice room, and then use even more customer feedback to comprehensively optimize our solution and offering.
In the longer term, we’re pursuing the goal of becoming an established brand and platform for experienced singers as well as beginners. With our solutions, we want to make an important contribution to making singing accessible to everyone. Regardless of life circumstances or perceived talent, everyone should be able to experience progress in singing with joy and ease. We want to enable people to continually live out their passion for singing.
Beyond that, new customer groups like podcast creators or online gamers will also play a role for us.
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup hub so far?
Gerd Birzele, Vocalisto: As a very active and vibrant location. There are countless networking events, opportunities to exchange with experts and creative minds from startups to established companies. The support landscape in Munich is also a very valuable factor. With the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship of the Hochschule München, we had our first partner who supported us with coaching and financial support. As a hardware startup, that was essential for us very early on. Industry-specific offerings are also worth their weight in gold for market entry, which is why we’re really happy to have been accepted into the Wavelab incubator of the Munich University of Music and Theater. Overall, Munich is highly recommended as a startup location.
Munich Startup: Quick exit or long-term commitment?
Gerd Birzele, Vocalisto: Currently, both are conceivable. For us, it’s important to be able to help customers long-term with our offering. If this goal can be better achieved in implementation through a partner with established structures, then by all means.
