Moombix – a mix of music, beat, and a bit more

Moombix, a marketplace and teaching space for live music lessons online, is the trademark of the month for February. "I guess you could say I've become a serial entrepreneur," says Margrét Júlíana Sigurðardóttir, founder of the startup Moombix, when asked to share a bit about herself. Throughout her career, she has founded two startups, both related to music. Moombix, aimed at revolutionizing online music education, is her latest creation, and the word and lfigurative trademark "Moombix" has been selected as the registered trademark of February by staff of the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office.

It's no surprise Sigurðardóttir found her innovative niche in music, given her musical education, including studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. After completing her studies in 2006, having just had a daughter and acquired a mortgage, the 2008 financial crisis made her reconsider her reliance on music for a livelihood. Thus, she decided to become an entrepreneur! "Of course, there's nothing certain about becoming an entrepreneur, but this role and the innovation environment suits me well. I feel completely in my element now," she says.

The Challenge of Having Children as Customers

Previously, Margrét had established a company around the music app Mussila, which teaches children the basics of music theory. The app received considerable attention at the time, with Mussila being selected as the App of the Day in the App Store and winning the Nordic EdTech Awards. Although Mussila was quite successful, Sigurðardóttir notes the complexity of having children as customers. Their preferences change rapidly, and the actual purchasers of the product are different from its users. Margrét sold her stake in the business in 2020, enriched with experience, and soon began developing Moombix.

Moombix, however, is designed with adult users in mind. It serves as a marketplace and a teaching space for live online music lessons, akin to the Airbnb or Uber of the music world. "It's fascinating that traditional music education has barely evolved since Mozart's times," Margrét observes cautiously. "While the classical method works well for many, it can be intimidating for others. There's a chance to make music education more accessible and tailored to the diverse needs of students. I want to reach those many who once bought a guitar, only to let it collect dust in a corner without ever learning to play. Access to music education for adults - with a teacher - is very limited. It also takes a significant commitment to practice an instrument enough to become proficient. With Moombix, we can use technology to help people maintain their interest and achieve success."

She acknowledges that there are other apps and websites to assist people in learning an instrument, but nothing replaces personal instruction. "It's crucial to adopt correct physical postures from the beginning, and there are many subtleties in music that can only be taught through personal instruction," she says.

Launching This Year

The plan is to officially launch the site this year, focusing on international expansion due to the need for a broad customer base to get the project off the ground, both for teachers and students. This would be challenging in Iceland due to the small market size. "If Tinder had started in Iceland, it probably wouldn't have gotten very far," she says, laugingly. However, she is confident that music-loving Icelanders will quickly adopt this new service.

The Importance of Protecting the Entrepreneur

For young entrepreneurs taking their first steps, Margrét advises, firstly, to boldly seek advice from more experienced individuals. The challenges faced are largely always the same, and early missteps can have long-lasting effects. "It's crucial to start with the right team. Launching such a company can be demanding, and having a strong team is essential. People need to be open to collaboration but also brave enough to end it if it's not working. This might be the hardest part of working in innovation." Secondly, she recommends always having a lawyer by your side during any contract negotiations, ensuring all agreements are clear and transparent. Finally, she urges those involved in the creation and financing of startups to take good care of the entrepreneur. "A startup losing its founder too early is often doomed. The value a founder adds to a startup can't be quantified in hours, experience, or capital, and this is something founders themselves must remember. You can't buy passion in a store, and it's that passion that drives the team forward and convinces people to believe in the project. This is often forgotten when money becomes involved. Therefore, I would advise entrepreneurs to secure their position from the start - it's not just in their interest but in the company's interest as well."

The Name: A radio show in Vienna, a mix of everything, music, and beat

And how did the name and trademark idea come about? "There's quite a story behind it," says Margrét. "I lived in Vienna in 1997-1998 and had enrolled in musical theatre and operetta studies. I wasn't particularly happy there; I had misunderstood what the studies were about and found the city's atmosphere too negative and conservative. Then, a friend, also studying music there, brought me to an interview on a radio show named La Boom de Luxe, which turned out to be an oasis in the desert. The scene around the show, playing new music, was like being fast-forwarded through centuries. So, that's the 'mix and music and beat and a bit more' behind the Moombix name. The design was created in collaboration with an international design studio.
She emphasizes the importance of registering trademarks to protect the value behind them. They have big plans for Moombix, and securing the trademark on key markets is crucial to prevent others from jumping on the bandwagon once the company gains recognition.

Trademark V0131209 registered on January 15

The application for the word and figurative trademark was filed in July, published for registration on November 15, and registered on January 15, in class 41 for various teaching, training, and music performance services.

The staff of the Intellectual Property Office selects the trademark of the month

The trademark of the month initiative, modeled after similar practices in other Nordic intellectual property offices, aims to highlight the importance of trademark registrations and introduce the activities of the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office. The institution's staff selects the trademark of the month from a pool of newly registered and renewed Icelandic trademarks that represent Icelandic goods and/or services. The chosen trademark of the month is distinctive, with strong differentiation potential, and cannot be descriptive or likely to be confused with other marks.