Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Shazam Entertainment Ltd. raised $30 million in a new financing that values the music-finding application at more than $1 billion.

Shazam plans to use the cash to expand into new markets and to add capabilities to its technology, the London-based company said yesterday. The startup didn’t name investors in the funding round.

“We had a couple of billionaires who participated in the funding round,” Chairman Andrew Fisher said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “Strengthening the balance sheet gives us more choices about when we would go to the public market.”

Chief Executive Officer Rich Riley said in July that Shazam is “sprinting” to be in position for an initial public offering in the next few years. The company, which has more than 100 million monthly active users on mobile devices, has technology that lets people identify songs and television shows through smartphones and tablets and helps users buy tracks or see what music is trending in their area.

Shazam has already attracted interest from billionaire Carlos Slim, whose America Movil SAB invested $40 million in the startup in 2013 in a deal that included pre-loading the app on mobile phones sold in Latin America.

Shazam’s previous investors also include venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Institutional Venture Partners and DN Capital Ltd., according to its website.

Shazam has been expanding its services for advertisers by integrating its technology into screens at concert venues and shopping malls to make ads more interactive. It has also added location-based marketing tools.