Berlin-based music start-up SoundCloud has recruited two new investment partners through its latest, undisclosed, funding round.
Its audio platform provides a way for up-and-coming and established artists to create a digital presence for their work. Users can use the platform to record, upload and share sounds, as well as receiving feedback from its community.
Joining the likes of Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures, Union Square Ventures and Index Ventures are Institutional Venture Partners and The Chernin Group.
SoundCloud’s fundraising efforts to date have included a £2.2 million commitment in 2009, $10 million capital injection in 2011 and $50 million Series C in 2012.
Money will be channelled into building out the product, hiring new personnel and developing a mobile platform to cater for growing demand from the vertical.
The business, which was founded by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss in 2008, also scooped Male Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2013 GrowthBusiness Investor AllStar Awards for Ljung’s achievements.
Eric Wahlforss has a background in music production
Speaking to GrowthBusiness back then, Ljung said, ‘From the very beginning, SoundCloud has attracted a set of investors who believe in the importance of music and audio creators.
‘SoundCloud hosts the largest community of music and audio creators on the web, which makes the opportunities different from other services. SoundCloud has seen exponential growth this year, in terms of users, product and company, and to reach this level was a massive undertaking.’
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Institutional Venture Partners is making its commitment from the firm’s current fund, IVP XIV, and now manages funds of some $3 billion. SoundCloud is one of a number of fast-growth digital businesses backed by the investor, including DropBox, Twitter, Netflix and Snapchat.
SoundCloud will now be building out its mobile music platform
Dennis Phelps, general partner at Institutional Venture Partners, says, ‘Our core investment thesis for SoundCloud is centred around our belief that SoundCloud will become the dominant online digital delivery platform for audio in much the same way that YouTube has become the dominant online platform for video.
‘In any given hour, SoundCloud touches users from over 200 countries. These users post 12 hours of audio content every single minute with 90 per cent of tracks played most frequently on the day that they are posted.’
Phelps believes that Ljung and Wahlforss are ‘true visionaries’ who are building a ‘top-notch’ management team to support the business.
