Saavn (South Asian Audio Video Network), a music streaming firm based in the US, has secured an undisclosed amount of strategic investment from Guy Oseary, CEO of talent management agency Maverick Records.
Post the investment, Oseary has become a partner and an investor in Saavn. He will help develop unique artist collaborations for the firm.
A well-known entertainment industry professional, Oseary manages world famous artists such as Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Paul McCartney, Nicki Minaj and U2, among others. He has earlier invested in Airbnb, Spotify, Soundcloud, Shazam and Uber through A-Grade Investments, which he founded with actor Ashton Kutcher and Ronald Burkle.
“We’re building original programming for Saavn, now we’ll be developing unique content with artists. I can’t say exactly what the format will be right now, but it will developed exclusively or with an exclusive window,†Rishi Malhotra, CEO, Saavn, told TechCrunch.
An email query sent to the company did not elicit a response till the time of filing this report.
In July last year, US-based Saavn LLC had raised $100 million in Series C funding from existing investor Tiger Global besides others. Saavn’s other investors Bertelsmann India Investments, Steadview Capital, Liberty Media and Mousse Partners had also participated in this round of funding.
Saavn had earlier raised $6 million in its Series A round in 2009, and $4 million in its Series B funding round.
In December last year, Saavn appointed Gaurav Wadhwa, former senior marketing consultant at PepsiCo India, as vice president of entertainment and original content.
Saavn competes with Times Internet’s Gaana, Airtel’s Wynk, Apple Music, Guvera, Rdio and Hungama. Saavn is currently available in more than 150 countries, and offers 20 million tracks in 11 languages — Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, and Bhojpuri — in India.
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