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SoundCloud has raised $190.0M across 4 funding rounds.
Key people at SoundCloud.
SoundCloud has raised $190.0M in total across 4 funding rounds.
SoundCloud operates as an expansive online audio distribution platform and music-sharing service, enabling creators to upload, promote, and share their original sound recordings. It functions as a comprehensive ecosystem where artists, producers, and podcasters can distribute their work directly to a global audience, fostering direct engagement with listeners. The platform integrates tools for audio hosting, social networking, and discovery, facilitating the independent music ecosystem.
The company was founded in Berlin in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss. Ljung, a sound designer, and Wahlforss, an artist, conceived SoundCloud out of a shared frustration with the difficulties musicians faced in sharing recordings and collaborating online. Their initial insight aimed to simplify the process of audio distribution, evolving from a tool for musicians to easily exchange tracks to a public platform for broader content sharing.
SoundCloud serves a diverse global audience, including both independent and established artists, as well as listeners seeking new and unique audio content. The platform's enduring vision is to empower creators worldwide, offering them the tools and reach to build communities around their sound. It seeks to continually foster musical discovery and connection, shaping the future landscape of audio entertainment and artist-fan interaction.
Key people at SoundCloud.
SoundCloud is a Berlin-based music streaming platform founded in 2007 that enables users to upload, share, and promote their own audio content, serving independent artists, DJs, podcasters, hip-hop creators, and fans worldwide.[1][4][6] It solves the problem of easy music distribution and collaboration for creators without record labels, fostering direct fan connections and community building, with over 175 million users and 200 million tracks as of recent data.[6][7] The platform has shown growth momentum through profitability—achieving its first EBITDA-profitable quarter in Q3 2020—and revenue of €147.6 million in 2019, up 37% year-over-year, despite past financial hurdles.[7]
SoundCloud was founded in 2007 in Berlin by Swedish sound designer Alexander Ljung and musician Eric Wahlforss, who bonded over their passion for music and sought to create an "email for music"—a simple tool like Flickr or WordPress but for audio sharing and feedback.[1][2][3][4] Ljung, a music-obsessed teen turned entrepreneur, and Wahlforss, an artist, started in Sweden before relocating to Berlin, responding to the need for musicians to send large files and collaborate easily via web and mobile.[3][4] Early traction came quickly: by 2011, it had 5 million users, investments from Index Ventures, Union Square Ventures ($10 million), and others like Ashton Kutcher, plus a San Francisco office; pivotal moments included launching in 2008, viral hits like Billie Eilish's "Ocean Eyes" in 2015, and birthing "SoundCloud rap."[3][6]
SoundCloud rides the wave of democratized music creation fueled by smartphones ("portable recording devices in pockets") and social audio trends, timing perfectly with the decline of gatekept labels and rise of viral indie discovery.[3][4][5] Market forces like streaming giants' dominance and copyright debates challenged it—e.g., Sony pulling content in 2015—but partnerships and subscriptions turned it profitable amid a $165 million revenue scale.[2][5][7] It influences the ecosystem by launching careers (e.g., Billie Eilish), blending genres, and empowering hip-hop's underground, positioning as a key innovator in user-generated audio against Spotify-like incumbents.[6]
SoundCloud's pivot to profitability under CEO Mike Weissman (since 2021) signals resilience, with potential for AI-enhanced discovery, global expansions, and deeper creator monetization amid streaming market growth.[1][7] Trends like short-form audio, Web3 royalties, and live collaboration could amplify its edge, evolving influence from indie launchpad to full ecosystem shaper—building on its open roots to stay essential for tomorrow's artists.[4][5] This creator empowerment origin continues to define its path forward.
SoundCloud has raised $190.0M in total across 4 funding rounds.
SoundCloud's investors include ACME Capital, Ambridge Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Batalion Capital, Benchmark, FTX Ventures, General Catalyst, IVP, Lightspeed Venture Partners, M13, MaC Venture Capital, Meritech Capital Partners.
SoundCloud has raised $190.0M across 4 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $70.0M Series E in June 2016.
