story · 2 min
problem
finding where music happens in a city you don't know is slow. listings are spread across instagram stories, telegram channels, flyers and friends' tips. venues and promoters have no single place where their audience looks for them.
solution and product
sceneindex is a map where every venue, event, record shop, radio station and collective is added and described by a local curator: a musician, promoter or dj who knows the scene. users get a short list that locals trust. venues and promoters get a channel to reach people who are actively looking for a night out.
the scenario: you land in berlin and within minutes find a listening bar, an experimental venue, an underground radio station, a record store and tonight's event, all chosen by locals.
traction
paprika map is live in 8 cities with 50+ curators and around 2,000 users. the first paid placements are in: venues and promoters pay around €50 per event. users came through paprika's audience and the curators' own networks, with no paid acquisition.
business model
free for users. venues and promoters pay for visibility. ticketing is next, once the market for it exists.
why this team
dionis built paprika, an independent music media, since 2021: a 32-person volunteer team, about 33k followers on instagram, events in three cities, a festival that closed in profit. lev talish is co-founder: the original idea of the map is his, and he built it.
brand
paprika is read as a russian brand abroad, so the map keeps running as paprika map and the international product has its own name, sceneindex.
roadmap
full interface rebuild with the designer (profiles, notifications and more) in progress; product foundation written (roles, rules, open questions); next, launching in new cities. no feed, likes or ai guides in the first version, the focus is on getting people out to venues.
the ask
raising a €150k pre-seed.
links paprika map · pitch deck (pdf)