Social Music Service Rdio Secures $17.5 Million in Financing Round: PR Newswire Business News. Music Startup Rdio Kicks Off US Launch: A Chat With Founders And Management. We’ve written about digital music startup Rdio a bunch in the past, starting from when we found out Kazaa, Skype and Joost founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom were involved in setting up and funding the business through their investment firm Atomico Ventures.
We noted how they were silently assembling a killer team, and took notice when an early iPhone app landed in the App Store that nobody was able to access yet. This morning, the company finally unveiled its strategy for the first time, and opened up a preview version of the service to users in the United States on an invitation-only basis. Rdio beats Spotify to US market. Rdio Raises $17.5 Million in Cash Money ... But Why? Social media music service Rdio recently landed $17.5 million in funding from Mangrove Capital Partners and Zennstrom's fund Atomico, as well as adding Warner Bros Records Chairman Rob Cavallo to their board.
As interesting as a big number like $17.5 million sounds, you have to ask -- is this for major Rdio expansion, or just investment because Rdio can't cover their operating costs? Investment rounds happen largely because of one or the other, and the reasons leading up to each are wholly different in the vitality of a company. It's worth asking why Rdio doesn't have the capacity to cover the expansion themselves, and finds it necessary to raise cash money from the venture capitalist scene. A Rdio spokesperson was not available for comment on Monday.