Following the announcement of their €3.5m Series A round, Davide d’Atri, Founder and CEO of music royalty management platform Soundreef SpA answered some questions about the deal, the investors, the company and future plans.
FinSMEs: Hi Davide, what a deal, are you happy?
Davide: Yes, of course we are! It’s an important milestone as well as a big boost for our finances and passion.
FinSMEs: Was it difficult to close?
Davide: Yes, it was. It was not too difficult to agree to the general principles of the deal. But it took months to finalise it and agree on all the details of the deal.
FinSMEs: Can you introduce the investors? How will they be supportive?
Davide: LVenture Group is the parent of Luiss Enlabs, one of the most active incubators in Europe. It is led by Luigi Capello, an amazing investor with a great vision who has believed in Soundreef ltd since 2011. LVenture is transparent and easy to work with. I recommend it to any startupper.
VAM Investments is a private equity firm that was born in 2010 and led by three partners with a long high level career. They are in their 40s and their passion, skills and attention to details is outstanding.
Both LVenture and VAM will support us also with their expertise and network.
Also, I want to thank Matteo Fago (previously founder of Venere S.p.A.) to have accepted to seat in our Board of Directors.
FinSMEs: What does this mean for Soundreef?
Davide: It means to grow more quickly in Europe in terms of sales and develop technology at a much quicker rate which will enable us to offer different types of services.
FinSMEs: Music, a difficult market to disrupt…Which are the most meaningful difficulties?
Davide: It’s an amazing market that is being re-shaped during the last years. There are huge opportunities to grab. The most difficult thing is to interact with some traditional players that do no want to understand that things are changing for everybody. We have created Soundreef S.p.A. and raised more money also to try to interact more with traditional players. We want them to understand that we can be a trusted partner for them.
FinSMEs: Where are you now in terms of growth?
Davide: €2m turnover, about 15 employees, licensing music in more than 20 countries, more than 150k songs in our database.
FinSMEs: Future plans?
Davide: Increase our sales in Europe while increasing transparency and efficiency for right holders. Soon, we will introduce also new services. It will a fun 2016.
FinSMEs
26/11/2015