Trala, an app that teaches violin, has raised an oversubscribed $1.29MM seed investment round from Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn; lead investor Origin Ventures; and Techstars Ventures. Other notable investors include Luis Von Ahn (CEO at language-learning app Duolingo), Bob Meese (VP of Business at Duolingo) and Severin Hacker (CTO at Duolingo).

The Trala app promises to teach violin faster and more effectively than "your standard private teacher," says Sam Walder, CEO of Trala. "First-time violinists can learn their first song in 10 minutes instead of 3 weeks. We're unlocking a skill that has been out of reach to most people for hundreds of years."

"Origin is excited to back the Trala team and the technology it has built. For the first time, anyone can learn violin from an app," says Prashant Shukla of Origin Ventures. "We bet on technology that drives dramatic improvements in efficiency and value, and Trala's rapid early growth shows it is delivering this for users."

Trala supporters include notable violinists such as Chicago's Rachel Barton Pine (https://rachelbartonpine.com/) and former Juilliard professor Stefan Milenkovich (http://www.stefanmilenkovich.com/).

Headquartered in Chicago, Trala is part of Techstars Chicago located within 1871. Its co-founders are Sam Walder and Vishnu Indukuri, 2017 graduates from the University of Illinois.

About Trala, Inc.:
Trala is a Juilliard-approved app that teaches users how to play the violin. The app uses advanced signal processing and easy-to-follow tutorials to teach absolute beginners how to play songs like 'Amazing Grace' in 30 days. With over 60,000 downloads, Trala is available exclusively on the App Store. Learn more at http://trala.com or search 'violin' on the App Store.

About Origin Ventures:
Origin Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 1999 based in Chicago and Salt Lake City, primarily focused on Series A equity investments in software and technology-enabled marketplace companies capable of exponential growth. Previous investments include Grubhub, Teem (acquired by WeWork), and Ahalogy (acquired by Quotient). The four partners are former operators and engineers with a combined 64+ years of venture investing experience. Visit http://www.originventures.com for more information.