Spotify (loss last year $57m) pulls in $100m from investors including Coke
Digital music service Spotify is pulling in big names in a new $100 million financing round. After the new cash injection , the streaming music service will be valued at about $3 billion, says the New York Times.
Spotify: Coke invests
One big name becoming a minority investor is said to be Coca Cola, reportedly putting in $10 million. Of the $100 million, half is from Goldman Sachs. Another new investor, Fidelity Investments, is said to be chipping in about 15 percent . The rest is said to be coming from Spotify’s existing investors.
Spotify, founded in Sweden in 2006, came to the United States last year and is now in 17 countries; this week it opened in Ireland and Luxembourg.
The NYT said an investment of $10 million or so would be small for a company like Coca-Cola, with a market cap of $162 billion. "But it is a step toward technology investment for Coke, and it represents a potentially huge new pool of investment sources for digital music."
In April, Coke made an announcement about a marketing partnership with Spotify, with few details other than a promise to help the service reach new markets around the world.
Spotify, has 15 million users around the world, 4 million of them paying subscribers. It is not yet profitable, losing last year about $57 million on $236 million in revenue.
Streaming music services around the world are however attracting big investments. Last month, Deezer, a French rival of Spotify , raised $130 million, largely from Access Industries, the holding company controlled by Len Blavatnik that owns the Warner Music Group.