Music technology company Audoo has secured £7.2 million of new investment to expand globally – with Beatle Sir Paul McCartney contributing to the round.
Audoo has developed a patented Audoo Audio Meter – a small plug-in device ready to fit into a standard electrical socket which securely monitors the music that premises – such as a bar, gym or shop – are playing.
The music captured is identified and matched against a library of more than 75 million songs to report the exact version of the song broadcasted.
It aims to deliver accurate reporting when it comes to real world public performance – a huge step closer to artists and publishers being paid fairly and accurately for the broadcasting of their work.
The pre-series B funding round into the London startup takes its total investment to more than £14m in under three years, having been backed at the end of 2020 with a Series A which included ABBA singer-songwriter Björn Ulvaeus.
Led by existing investor Edinv, with significant follow-on from Tileyard London and a new notable investor in MPL Ventures – headed up by McCartney – the latest funding will be used to drive Audoo’s growth into new markets as it expands across Europe, North America and the APAC regions.
Founded in 2018 by Ryan Edwards, its board includes Alexi Cory-Smith, ex-president repertoire & marketing at BMG; Rick Riccobono, a former vice-president at BMI Inc.; Cliff Fluet, chair of the Ivors Academy Trust; Adam Parness, the former global head of publishing at Spotify; and Chris Herbert, music manager and creator of the Spice Girls.
“We are proud to have secured even more investment as part of our mission to help ensure artists are paid fairly after decades of missing out due to outdated processes,” said Edwards.
“The mission is everything to us, and to have the continued support from our musical heroes like Björn further helps deliver our vision globally.
“We are committed to delivering the most accurate data for public performance to PROs & CMOs around the world, and this latest investment will help us accelerate our international expansion into key territories across Europe, North America, and APAC.
“We’d like to welcome our new investors and thank our existing ones for their continued support.”