Will rock the Russian app-market
With a music app, the Barents based start-up MuApps will conquer a share of the second fastest growing app-market in the world.
“I hope my app makes a difference for young, aspiring players”, exclaims Stein Medby, CEO of MuApps to BarentsObserver. He is the creator of an app for tablets and phones called Guitar Guru Technique. “Music is a universal language that knows no borders,” he advertises with great enthusiasm.
Entrepreneur and guitar player, Medby, uses his own experience from 20 years of teaching aspiring guitar players to create an educational app he himself would have found useful when learning to play guitar. Now he is looking to take advantage of the rapid growing Russian app market for phones and tablet.
Booming Russian market
MuApps and Stein Medby represent the new breed of entrepreneurs – small, born-global companies with great possibilities of scalability. In the world of start-ups scalability is viewed as the key value driver. A scalable idea is an idea which the ability increase volume without impacting the contribution margin. “We are already selling our product in 50 different countries through AppStore and Google Play, and our business model is highly scalable by nature,” Medby says as he burst out in a smile. “But we are looking to market and differentiate our app for the Russian market, as this market is booming as we speak”.
The steady growth rate of the Russian market in mobile applications will continue due to increasing popularity, marketing by application stores and mobile operators, and the development of new segments, according to a recent study by J’son & Partners. The report also predicts that the average annual growth rate for mobile applications on the Russian market for the period from 2013-2016 will total 171 percent.
A potent collaboration
The Russian market entry is a joint project by MuApps, the Norwegian Russian School in Murmansk and the Norwegian Barents Secretariat. “This triple helix approach where private businesses, governmental entities and educational institutions work in cooperation to generate new knowledge, innovation and economic development is very potent”, explains Morten Brugård, Project manager at the Norwegian Barents Secretariat.
Hands-on experience Entrepreneurship teacher from the Norwegian Russian School, Vera Syrovatskaya, adds to Morten’s comment; “For the students this project is an astonishing learning experience. They get hands-on experience working with a real start-up that is entering a new market and takes into account their views and advices when aiming to make the students peers their customers”.
In January Medby will give a concert in Murmansk and further develop the cooperation with newfound partners and customers.