Epidemic Sound Raises $20M At $370M Valuation
The explosion in video creation on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok and elsewhere has been good for Epidemic Sound. The Swedish startup has raised just $20 million at a $370 million valuation to expand its platform which allows online creators to soundtrack videos.
Investors in this round include Korea's DS Asset Management and Sweden's Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken. Previous investors in Epidemic include Creandum (an early Spotify supporter), EQT Mid-Market and Atwater Capital.
Epidemic, whose curated selection of tracks are mostly from thousands of independent musicians and production houses, will to use the funding to move into Korea and the rest of Asia. The region is a hotbed of social video creation.
“The way we see it and our mission is that we are looking for create success all music, both for those who make it and have a need for it,” Epidemic Sound co-founder and CEO Oscar Hoglund told Techcrunch. “We’re not a marketplace in the sense that YouTube is one, where anyone can upload and consume something. We’re more like Netflix, where we have a more curated and selective approach.”