Buran Venture Capital, a Moscow-based, internationally-oriented venture fund, appears to be among the backers of Shazam, which raised $30 million this past January in a funding round that valued it at over $1 billion.
While the other investors are still unidentified, the Russian fund revealed yesterday that it contributed $8.5 million in the round.
“We are pleased to support Shazam in achieving their ambitious goals [with] such an outstanding and experienced team. We believe that Shazam will continue to dominate the music market in the mobile space. Moreover, its technology will find new applications in such other areas as video, movies, and offline retail,” stated Buran’s managing partner Alexander Konoplyasty.
Buran’s move is a new illustration of the invest-abroad trend among Russian venture funds. Over the past few years, a growing number of them have extended their geographic focus to the USA, Western Europe and, more recently, Asian countries. In the present international climate, some of these funds now simply present themselves as global organizations – without stressing their Russian origin.
It is not the first time that Shazam is backed by Russian money. In 2011, Russian state-owned fund of funds RVC participated indirectly in a $32 million round of financing for the London-based startup. The investment was made through Institutional Venture Partners XIII (IVP), a prominent later-stage venture capital and growth equity firm which was joined in 2010 by Russian Venture Capital II LP, a fully owned subsidiary of RVC.
Among Shazam’s other shareholders are América Móvil and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The startup raised $95 million in total before January’s round, according to the Financial Times.
The business newspaper also reported that Shazam had more than 100 million monthly active mobile users, with its app downloaded more than 500 million times.
