Former Vodafone Group CEO Arun Sarin invests in music streaming website Saavn
25 Sep 2015
Former Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin has invested in Saavn, a music streaming service, even though quantum of investment was not disclosed.
''Music streaming is a core app on today's smartphones, and Saavn is superbly positioned to grow rapidly in the fast expanding smartphone market in India. As an innovative and nimble music streaming company, at the heart of one of the world's most valuable markets, Saavn hits all the right notes," Sarin said in a statement issued by Saavn.
Sarin joins Saavn on the heels of the company's latest funding round of $100-million funding through Series C investment in July.
The Series C round, or the third institutional funding, was led by Tiger Global Management, with participation from Bertelsmann India Investments, Steadview Capital, Liberty Media, Mousse Partners, Quilvest, and additional Hong Kong-based hedge funds.
The company also reported 14 million monthly active users.
In just under two months, the company has grown to nearly 18 million monthly active users, the vast majority of whom are in India.
"With over 90 per cent of our usage driven by smartphones, Saavn users are moving data plan transactions and driving data engagement at an incredible pace. In the coming months, you'll see us work more deeply with carriers in India and additional territories,'' Rishi Malhotra, Co-Founder and CEO of Saavn, said.
Saavn has also announced a 10-fold rise in daily active users in India since 2014, a new average of a quarter billion streams per month, and a catalogue of 20 million tracks. The company, which 18 million monthly active users, has a global team of 145 across five centres.
