Shazam gets $40 million backing from tycoon Carlos Slim
Smartphone app developer Shazam has found an unlikely ally in the form of Carlos Slim, one of the world's richest men, who is investing $40 million to back the development of the start-up best known for helping music fans identify catchy songs.
Slim, ranked the world's top billionaire by Forbes magazine with a net worth of $73 billion, was brought in by one of Shazam's venture capital owners, Silicon Valley fund Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
British-based Shazam will use the funds to accelerate its expansion into television, where its recognition software can tune into an advertisement's soundtrack then link viewers directly to the brand's website.
Since its last round of funding in 2011, Shazam has achieved tremendous growth and expanded its service from music into television and advertising with the following results:
“Shazam’s expansion into television has moved the company into an entirely new phase of growth with interactive advertising generating new sources of revenue and partnerships with broadcasters encouraging a broader group of people to use Shazam more frequently.” said Shazam CEO Rich Riley. “We look forward to working with America Movil to launch these services in the region as we seek to increase our ubiquity throughout the world.”
Slim's investment takes the total backing that Shazam has secured since 2009 to $72 million.
Source : Reuters
Smartphone app developer Shazam has found an unlikely ally in the form of Carlos Slim, one of the world's richest men, who is investing $40 million to back the development of the start-up best known for helping music fans identify catchy songs.
Slim, ranked the world's top billionaire by Forbes magazine with a net worth of $73 billion, was brought in by one of Shazam's venture capital owners, Silicon Valley fund Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
British-based Shazam will use the funds to accelerate its expansion into television, where its recognition software can tune into an advertisement's soundtrack then link viewers directly to the brand's website.
Since its last round of funding in 2011, Shazam has achieved tremendous growth and expanded its service from music into television and advertising with the following results:
- The user base has more than doubled to 350 million people around the globe
- The number of monthly active users has tripled to over 70 million as people increasingly use Shazam on their mobile device to have a deeper experience of music, TV and advertising
- Sustained growth of more than two million new users each week.
- Sales of digital goods are now over $300 million a year through affiliate partners like iTunes, a figure that is doubling annually.
“Shazam’s expansion into television has moved the company into an entirely new phase of growth with interactive advertising generating new sources of revenue and partnerships with broadcasters encouraging a broader group of people to use Shazam more frequently.” said Shazam CEO Rich Riley. “We look forward to working with America Movil to launch these services in the region as we seek to increase our ubiquity throughout the world.”
Slim's investment takes the total backing that Shazam has secured since 2009 to $72 million.
Source : Reuters
No comments:
Post a Comment