Shazam has secured an investment of $40 million (€31.2 million) from America Movil and the two companies have entered into a strategic business collaboration for the Americas.
America Movil is the leading telco carrier in Latin America and the deal will help accelerate Shazam’s ongoing growth in music, continued expansion into TV and the development of new products.
Shazam obtained $32 million in funding in June 2011 from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Institutional Venture Partners and DN Capital, since when it has enjoyed significant growth, expanding from music into TV and advertising.
Its user base has more than doubled to 350 million in the last two years, while the number of monthly active users has tripled to over 70 million thanks to increased usage of Shazam on mobile devices.
It is currently gaining more than 2 million new users each week and sales of digital goods are now over $300 million a year through affiliate partners like iTunes, with the figure doubling annually.
Commenting on the latest agreement, Carlos Slim, head of America Movil, said: “Shazam is defining a new category of media engagement which combines the power of mobile with traditional broadcast media and advertising to create compelling value added experiences for consumers, content providers and brands.
“We are excited to bring this innovation to America Movil subscribers as we continue to further differentiate our services as the market leader in Latin America.”
Andrew Fisher, executive chairman, Shazam, added: “We are delighted to welcome America Movil as an investor in Shazam as we execute on our mission to enable people to engage with content and brands in the easiest way possible whether they are interacting with television, music or in retail environments.
“This investment will help support our continued expansion as we seek to become an increasingly important part of people’s everyday lives. With over 350 million users we are excited to be partnering with America Movil to further accelerate our growth throughout the Americas.”
Shazam CEO Rich Riley said: “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.
“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.”
UK-based Shazam was launched in 2002 and describes itself as “the world’s leading media engagement company”.
