AAA Samsung buys ahead of Spotify’s raise

Samsung buys ahead of Spotify’s raise

Spotify, a social music service, is reportedly seeking to raise upwards of $220m at a $4bn valuation, according to news provider New York Times (NYT), following Samsung’s purchase of a peer.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs has agreed to lead the round with a $100m commitment, NYT said, with other press reports speculating the music company might be planning a flotation.

Spotify previously raised more than $100m from venture capital (VC) firms Creandum, Wellington Partners, Founders Fund, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Accel Partners and DST Group, which is backed by Goldman Sachs and separate to Russia-based internet company Mail.Ru.

Separately, Goldman Sachs has backed Viddy, a mobile video-sharing site, which raised $30m in its series B round from a consortium also including VC firms New Enterprise Associates, Battery Ventures and Khosla Ventures.

The expected round for Spotify follows Korea-based conglomerate Samsung’s purchase of its corporate venturing unit’s portfolio company MSpot for an undisclosed amount.

US-based Mspot provides music and video to mobile devices.

Samsung was reported to have invested $5m into Mspot.

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