It was a year of evolution for Zealot Interactive, which moved its headquarters to Buffalo and won a $500,000 award in the 43North competition.
The company also closed on about $350,000 in pre-seed funding that included local investors Dan Magnuszewski, a co-founder and senior adviser at ACV Auctions, and Jack Greco, also an ACV founder and angel investor.
All of this will support Zealot Interactive's growth going forward, CEO Shaun Masavage said. Significant projects are under development, and the company is preparing to increase the focus on its online marketplace of how-to-play lessons and curated content from musicians, bands and instructors.
Founded in 2017, the startup’s Fret Zealot device teaches people how to play guitar, bass and ukulele. Masavage said demand remains high for the device, but supply chain issues are hampering his expectations of how many can be made and thus sold.
After months of work, he is preparing to receive an electronics shipment to make about 3,400 Fret Zealot devices. But after that, the company will focus on its online community, which has always been its vision. Buffalo-based musician Ed Wyner and Syracuse-based groups Atkins Band and Jess Novak Band recently signed up to provide instructional content for their fans through Zealot Interactive.
Masavage had been building the company out of Arlington, Virginia, but Buffalo is his wife’s hometown. After repeated trips to Western New York over the years, he fell in love with the city’s post-industrial infrastructure and the momentum in its startup scene. He moved the company here this year, with fulfillment and studio space in the Tri-Main Center and the 43North incubator in Seneca One Tower.
The company now has a few local employees and is focusing its hiring efforts on account manager positions who can support its growing roster of musician clients, Masavage said. The pre-seed round is still open, and Masavage expects to embark on a larger round of fundraising this year.
Zealot Interactive is among 33 local startups that have raised private, growth-oriented capital this year. Others include Jerry ($103 million), Squire ($60 million), Centivo ($51 million), Tackle.io ($35 million), Torch Labs ($25 million), CleanFiber ($11.9 million), Circuit Clinical ($7.5 million), Kangarootime ($6 million), SomaDetect ($6 million), Kickfurther ($5.9 million), MimiVax ($5 million), Garwood Medical Devices ($4 million), Joblio ($4 million), Verivend ($2.5 million), HELIXintel ($1.6 million), Ognomy ($1.37 million), OxiWear ($1.25 million), Patient Pattern ($1.2 million), Ellicottville Greens ($1 million), Immersed Games ($540,000), braidbabes ($415,000), MemoryFox ($380,000), Zizo Technologies ($200,000), AirExpert ($200,000), Thimble ($165,000), Immunaeon ($100,000), Oro Sports ($100,000), Real Talk ($100,000), Alo ($100,000), Rally (undisclosed), HiOperator (undisclosed) and Classavo (undisclosed).
