iLike is a company.
iLike has raised $3.0M across 1 funding round.
Key people at iLike.
iLike has raised $3.0M in total across 1 funding round.
iLike has raised $3.0M in total across 1 funding round.
iLike's investors include Khosla Ventures.
Key people at iLike.
iLike was a pioneering music discovery and sharing platform launched in 2006 that enabled users to download, share music recommendations, and discover new artists via a web service, Facebook app, and integrations with iTunes and Windows Media Player sidebars.[1][3] It served music enthusiasts on social networks like Facebook and MySpace, solving the problem of fragmented music discovery by allowing seamless sharing of playlists, concert info, and trivia quizzes, amassing over 60 million users at its peak.[1][3] The company achieved rapid growth, hitting 55 million users in two years, but was acquired by MySpace in 2009 for around $20 million after failed talks with Apple; its services, including the Facebook app (later renamed "Music"), ceased operation post-acquisition.[1][3][4]
iLike was founded in 2006 by brothers Ali Partovi and Hadi Partovi, tech entrepreneurs with backgrounds in software engineering—Ali had worked at Microsoft, and Hadi was involved in early internet ventures.[1][3] The idea emerged during the rise of social media, leveraging sidebars for media players to make music sharing effortless across platforms like Facebook and MySpace.[1] Early traction was explosive: within four months, it drew half a million users, and by 2007, its Facebook app alone surpassed 15 million users, becoming one of the platform's top apps; pivotal moments included artist dashboards for "post-once publish-everywhere" promotion and near-acquisition by Apple in 2008, where Steve Jobs offered $50 million but talks collapsed over valuation disputes.[1][3][4]
(Note: A separate, unrelated "ILIKE Yogurt in a Can" brand launched in 2020 focuses on high-protein canned yogurt, but lacks connection to the tech/music iLike.[2])
iLike rode the Web 2.0 social media wave of the mid-2000s, capitalizing on exploding platforms like Facebook and MySpace to embed music discovery into daily social interactions—perfect timing amid iTunes dominance and the shift from downloads to streaming recommendations.[1][3] Market forces like rising mobile/social adoption and label openness to digital tools favored it, positioning iLike as a bridge between users, artists, and labels in a pre-Spotify era. Its influence shaped ecosystem norms for app integrations and viral music sharing, paving the way for modern features in Spotify and TikTok, though its MySpace acquisition highlighted risks of platform dependency amid Facebook's ascent.[1][4]
Post-2009 acquisition, iLike's standalone identity dissolved as MySpace integrated and later declined its tech, with services shuttered—marking it as a cautionary tale of early social music innovation outpaced by streaming giants.[1][3][4] No active operations remain, but founders Ali and Hadi Partovi continued thriving: Hadi co-founded Code.org, and Ali invested in successes like Airbnb via Obvious Ventures. Trends like AI-driven personalization and short-form video discovery echo iLike's playbook, potentially inspiring revivals in niche social audio apps—though without direct lineage, its legacy endures in how platforms blend music with social graphs, underscoring the high-stakes timing of tech pivots.
iLike has raised $3.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $3.0M Venture Round in December 2005.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 1, 2005 | $3.0M Venture Round | Khosla Ventures |