By: Katsuko Nakamura (January 3, 2012)
SoundCloud has recently announced that Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), a venture capital firm, will be leading a funding campaign for the music-streaming company with the assistance of GGV Capital. According to TechCrunch, the funding round is approximately at $50 million, but the capital firms haven’t confirmed that amount. If the approximation is correct, the company would have a value nearing $200 million.
"SoundCloud has seen exponential growth this year in terms of users and greatly evolved our product offerings," Alexander Ljung, the founder of SoundCloud and current CEO, commented. "With Kleiner Perkins' impeccable track record for recognizing and investing in companies with a long-term view, and their understanding and support for the potential of sound, we couldn't be more excited about working together,” he continued. Furthermore, Mary Meeker, a partner at KPCB, will participate in the funding round as a board observer. Her résumé with the firm include investments in 360Buy.com, Spotify, Groupon, Jawbone, Legalzoom, Trendyol, and Waze.
In past news, SoundCloud received an unrevealed amount of funding from the venture capital firm, A-Grade Fund, which is led by the actor Ashton Kutcher, the billionaire investor Ron Burkle, and artist manager Guy Oseary. The funding was announced in the 2nd quarter of 2011 which corresponded with the company announcing that it had surpassed the five million users mark. In Addition, the firm has also made investments in the startups Airbud and SeatGeek.