Why we invested in Teenage Engineering

Sometimes an entrepreneur creates something so iconic, that one immediately realizes upon first glance, that this is different from what has been and will shape what is to come. This is how David Möllerstedt and his team must have felt, when they created the OP-1. A sleek, timeless and rather minimalistic yet durable and handy design for a versatile synthesizer.

You might know the OP-1 from SF MOMA’s permanent design collection or its prominent positioning front and center in the video clip for Swedish House Mafia and Pharrell’s mega hit “One”, or from a friend of yours who produces as a hobby, maybe even professionally - as their products are used by professional and consumers alike. There are many great synthesizers out there, but there is only one OP-1 and it took its rightful place in the annals of synthesizers. There are many great audio equipment manufacturers out there, but there’s only one Teenage Engineering.

Dialectic is a team of audiophiles, creators and music lovers. Within our team everybody has their own story of how they first interacted with a product by Teenage Engineering. As a result we were enthused to find out that Teenage Engineering was going to do a strategic fundraise for the first time in the company's history - thus we are very grateful to have been part of this round, led by Alexis Ohanian and his team at 776.

Teenage Engineering was founded in 2005 by Jesper Kouthoofd, David Eriksson, Jens Rudberg and David Möllerstedt in Stockholm. Ever since then TE has forged amazing innovation and gorgeous intuitive design into tangential spaces around electronics and audio components - always with its instantly recognisable beautiful aesthetics.

For 17 years TE was a bootstrapped company, delivering successful products, collaborating with global brands such as Ikea and Nothing and innovating in their product line. We’ve noticed that many of the digital artists that we work with are using the OP-1 and other devices to add original music to their digital art, which was a great signal and a compelling new market. TE is combining what we are looking for in a late stage investment: Deep technical knowledge, proven track record, execution skills, global brand recognition, strong consistent margins and defensibility built around a high-quality product.

We are very proud to add Teenage Engineering into our late stage venture portfolio Perpetual, to join other industry leaders such as SpaceX, Kraken and Nothing. We are incredibly excited about the future of Teenage Engineering as they hit a new trajectory for growth.