Music lovers in India will soon see a one-of-its kind US-like streaming service battle in India. Latest entrant into that battle is Australia HQ-ed Guvera, a music streaming service provider which is all set to compete against music streaming giants such as Spotify, Saavn, Apple Music, etc. with a fresh $100Mn infusion.
The money has been raised from high net-worth families, as well as AMMA Private Equity. With the new cash infusion, the company is planning to use the money in accelerating its growth in India where the service has already taken-off, and which is its primary market.
The company is also planning for an IPO but it is not yet clear whether the company will stay at home and get listed on Australian Securities Exchange or to get listed on Nasdaq in the US. Guvera was founded by Claes Loberg in 2008. Earlier, the company had raised $60 million in funding after re-launching its business in 2013.
Guvera claims that it has 6.5 million in users in India since its launch around 12 months ago, which is almost half of the company’s 15 million total user base. It has struck deals with a number of Bollywood music labels, which gives it an edge to address one of the largest smartphone market and one of the most music-obsessed markets in the world.
Similar to every other music streaming services, Guvera operates on two models – an ad-support which is free and premium, paid tiers. The company also has monetizes through branded playlists.
Darren Herft, Chief Executive of the company, said,
Part of the strategy to target emerging markets was about competition. Our competitors mostly weren’t in those markets and we’ve been able to get a stronger footprint … We’re the only label in the world that has label agreements with labels like Sony, on top of the biggest Bollywood label in India as well.
India, surprisingly has become the new battleground for global as well as Indian music streaming services. And the scenario is pretty much similar to the US — with a different set of players ofcourse. India currently sees battle primarily between Saavn, Times Internet’s Gaana, the recently launched Apple Music and now the $100Mn-backed Guvera.
Few months ago, Saavn raised $100 million from Tiger Global in Series C round to drive “long-term product development” and aggressive customer acquisition. The company was also planning to move into video services.
But, the music streaming market is not as smooth as it sounds on paper. Earlier this month, Rdio decided to shut down its shop and filed for Bankruptcy and agreed to sell its assets to Pandora for just $75 million. Rdio was also among one of those global services which started operations in India earlier this year.
