Google’s corporate venturing unit has helped popular radio app TuneIn raise $16m.
Google Ventures was joined in the round by venture firm General Catalyst Partners, which led the round as well as venture firms Jafco Ventures and Sequoia Capital.
The round brings TuneIn’s total venture funding to $22m. In 2010, Sequoia also participated in a venture round worth $6m led by early-stage venture firm Startup Capital Ventures.
TuneIn says that it plans to use the funding to expand its business operations worldwide.
The California-based start-up now attracts 40 million monthly listeners, and has seen a 267 percent increase in its mobile listener base in the past year. The company attributes its growth to the wide selection it offers its users, which includes over 70,000 stations and two million on-demand programmes.
“Our mission is to deliver the best listening experience possible, and it is so meaningful to us that 40 million people have chosen to listen to the world – every month – through TuneIn,” said John Donham, Chief Executive of TuneIn. “This investment will help us fulfill our mission while increasing our headcount and growing our product development and marketing initiatives.”
General Catalyst Partners managing director Hemat Taneja said in a statement, “As we’ve seen with the television, movie and book markets, the digital radio space is headed into a period of disruptive change. The open-platform approach demonstrated by TuneIn uniquely positions the company to take advantage of this enormous market opportunity.”