Music-recognition technology company Shazam Entertainment has secured funding worth $5 million from existing backer IDG Ventures Europe, new investor DN Capital and others. Shazam will use the funds to help drive its expansion plan and its evolution into the business-to-business sector.
The London-based company has its sights set on further expansion into Europe, Asia and North America, and is aiming to broaden its offerings into broadcast monitoring.
Shazam’s patented music-recognition technology allows users to learn the name of a song and its artist by “tagging” an audio sample with a mobile-phone handset. After dialing Shazam’s four-digit number, the service responds with a message containing the song details.
According to the company, the service has been used more than 3 million times in the United Kingdom by more than 750,000 customers.
Ajay Chowdhury, managing partner of IDG Ventures Europe, says the Shazam service will soon be available in more than 18 countries. The company recently announced 11 contracts in Europe, Asian and Oceania.
The additional funding will also be used for Shazam’s push into B2B fields such as broadcast monitoring, royalty tracking and information services for the music industry.
In addition to IDG Ventures Europe and DN Capital, other Shazam backers include former CEO/chairman of EMI Group Colin Southgate; Sony Music Entertainment CTO Phil Wiser; and John Preston, former chairman of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and BMG U.K. and Ireland.
