The leading “social sound platform” SoundCloud has just announced a fundraising round of $50 million, led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and also participated in by GGV Capital. The new investment will allow SoundCloud to continue to expand more rapidly.
SoundCloud, which is headquartered in Berlin, was founded in 2008 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss. The young company offers an audio platform that enables anyone to create, record, promote and share their sounds on the web.
Alexander Ljung, founder and CEO, said:“SoundCloud has seen exponential growth this year in terms of users and greatly evolved our product offerings. With Kleiner Perkins’ impeccable track record for recognizing and investing in companies with a long-term view, and their understanding and support for the potential of sound, we couldn’t be more excited about working together.”
Mary Meeker, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, will take a board observer seat at the company. Currently, Mary serves on the board of Square and is actively involved in KPCB’s investments in in Groupon, Legalzoom, Waze, 360buy.com, Spotify and others.
Ljung, founder and CEO, continued, “Mary Meeker showed very clearly in her recent State of the Internet 2011 presentation that sound is the next frontier on the Web. That vision, along with spotlighting mobile and international markets, made it clear that Kleiner Perkins aligns with SoundCloud’s mission.”
Prior to this announcement, SoundCloud’s funding had come from Series B investors Union Square Ventures and Index Ventures, and Series A investor Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures.
By the way: You can find out about other interesting startups from Berlin in this list.
