Internet company Tencent led a $54m financing round for US-based music sharing platform Smule on Monday that valued it at $604m, according to Reuters, which cited a source familiar with the situation.
The round also featured existing backers including Adams Street Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Floodgate, Franklin Templeton, Granite Ventures and Shasta Ventures.
Founded in 2008, Smule has built a series of social music apps including collaborative karaoke app Sing! Karaoke, piano rhythm platform Magic Piano and AutoRap, which converts spoken word to rapping.
Smule has 52 million monthly active users, a figure that grew 52% over the course of 2016, and two-thirds of them are located outside the US. It will use the funding for international growth, with Asia a priority, and could look to go public in the next 18 months, Reuters stated.
Poshu Yeung, vice-president of international business for Tencent, said: “Tencent believes that music is universal and Smule is pioneering a new and unique way for people to create and engage with music.
“Our investment in Smule will expand our exposure to the promising potential of the digital music market.”
The company has now raised approximately $145m in total, having secured $22.2m in its last round, which closed in June 2016 according to a regulatory filing.