MIND comes from an idea of Michele Benincaso, an Italian “Maestro” from Cremona’s Antonio Stradivari Luthiery’ School. After working in the guitar world for more than 10 years producing guitars for world-famous guitar players, in April 2013 Michele understood that while the world was changing at a fast pace and musicians’ needs were constantly evolving, guitars and most music instruments were stuck in the ’60s – with artists increasingly resorting to electronic equipment and computers to fill this gap.
Michele decided to do what Stradivari did in the ‘600s and Fender did in the ’60s: use state of the art technology and design to build instruments that satisfy the needs of contemporary musicians, constantly looking for new sound and new ways to express themselves and reach more people. Music players’ needs and habits have changed, and so need to do their instruments.
To accompany him in this mission, he has put together a dream-team of experts in the most diverse fields, from physical acoustics to wireless networks and computer engineering – contemporary versions of the skilled scientists and craftsmen that supported Stradivari in its creations. Among them are Prof. Carlo Fischione, a mathematician and leading scholar in IoT technologies, currently teaching at MIT and Harvard, Luca Turchet, an expert in Electronic Music and Virtual Reality and Stefano Zambon, an audio and embedded systems designer with a broad experience in advanced digital musical instruments.
After two years during which the team worked non-stop in the company’s headquarter – a small basement in the suburbs of Stockholm – MIND is now part of STING, Sweden’s leading startup incubator – and is ready to present to the World its first creation: Sensus, the World’s first REAL smart guitar. Sensus is the natural evolution guitar players have been waiting for 50 years, and its technology is as diverse as the members of MIND’s team: a unique mix of acoustic tradition and state of the art technology covered by 3 international patents.
Among the people who already believed in MIND’s mission and invested in it are music and technology angel investors Jacob Key – former Vice President of Digital Strategy for Europe at Warner Music Group – and Ludvig Linge – co-founder of TAT, a world leader in mobile user interfaces acquired by RIM at the end of 2010. With them are Per Brilioth, CEO at Vostok New Ventures LTD and Marcelo Benitez, founder of Proaltus Capital Partners S.L.
