Twitter has confirmed it has made a $70m investment in SoundCloud as part of a round that values the Berlin streaming player at $700m
Twitter’s venture capital arm, Twitter Ventures, has invested $70m in Berlin-based streaming platform SoundCloud, as part of a $100m round that could value the Berlin-based company at around $700m.
SoundCloud is a platform for musicians and podcasters who want to share audio across devices, websites and social media platforms and achieve maximum impact. Globally, it has more than 175m monthly listeners.
Sound designer Alex Ljung and artist Eric Wahlforss founded the Berlin-headquartered company in 2007 to enable musicians to share audio.
The company’s international expansion is being spearheaded from Berlin by Irishwoman Sonia Flynn, former head of Facebook in Dublin.
Last month, we reported that the company had launched a new subscription service in Ireland and the UK called SoundCloud Go.
Community spirit and contemporary culture
According to ReCode, Twitter has invested $70m as part of a $100m round that could value the company at $700m.
The investment is understood to have been confirmed by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who added that SoundCloud’s community-based approach mirrors Twitter’s ethos.
In a statement, SoundCloud said: “Both companies facilitate and inspire contemporary culture to happen in real time while reaching millions of people around the world.
“This investment will enable SoundCloud to remain focused on building value for creators and listeners alike, and to continue the global rollout of many company initiatives, such as our recently-launched subscription service, SoundCloud Go.”
Twitter previously made a foray into music with the launch of Twitter Music in 2013, but this was shuttered just a year later.
Who knows, maybe Twitter might hit the right note this time.
