Music app and 3 other Pittsburgh startups selected for 9th annual PGH Labs cohort

That’s why she hopes Noteful, her app that offers daily practice in note reading, ear training and music theory, can create a one stop shop for all the different aspects of music — minus the barriers to motivation that typically lead to students losing interest.

“We’re on a mission to spread music literacy,” Billock said. “And so we wanted to be able to provide a way to give Pittsburgh residents access to music literacy in a context where there wasn’t, like, a financial barrier.”

As the CEO and cofounder, Billock is thrilled Noteful was chosen to participate in the City of Pittsburgh’s ninth PGH Labs cohort. It gives the company the chance to work with local government and take the app directly to interested students, she said. 

During the six-month program, the company’s leadership will be touring city recreation centers and even hospitals to give presentations on the Noteful app’s features, and giving attendees the opportunity to try it out.

“We’re deploying it through the recreation centers [because] we’re trying to make sure that music students in underserved areas are going to be having access to this,” Billock told Technical.ly.

Becky pitching at Ascender event. (Courtesy/Noteful)

The city-run accelerator, launched in 2016, connects local startups with local government and associated authorities to test new products and services. Over the course of the program, participants are given the opportunity to make connections with city gov that can develop into long-term relationships. 

“I would like to see a jump in [the] interest of music literacy and participation in different musical pursuits by the people who are using the app,” Billock said. “Just having users is helping us to fine-tune the product a lot.”

She added that the funding attached to this cohort of PGH Labs will enable Noteful to make progress on several long-planned projects and work.

Notable PGH Labs alumni include CleanRobotics, Honeycomb Credit, and Community Internet Solutions (fka Meta Mesh Wireless Communities). This year’s crop of companies were selected from a pool of 20 applicants and focus in areas like bike safety, and fiber technology. As has been the case for years prior, a few cohort members are also 2024 RealLIST Startups Honorees. 

The four cohort members as described by the announcement: 

• Aimilight Sensors and Intelligent Systems Inc. (AiMiLi): Partnering with the Department of Innovation and Performance, AiMiLi will test pilot the installation of proprietary sensor fiber technology to interconnect existing City network locations for a lower cost than current project installation methods.
• Qarar: Partnering with the Office of Management and Budget, Procurement Division, Qarar will test pilot their technology providing a comparison report of full lifecycle costs to the City, including any costs beyond initial contract issuance, for five City procurement services.
• Velo AI Inc.: Partnering with the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, Velo will pilot 20 proprietary digital sensors to improve the safety of bike transits for city staff, as well as providing transit map data.
• Noteful: Partnering with the Department of Parks and the Department of Human Resources, Noteful will pilot music education services both with city staff and residents at five of the City’s Parks and Recreation centers, leveraging in-person events with app engagement.