AmpMe, the Canadian app development company responsible for a syncing technology that links mobile devices into a networked speaker system, has raised $8 million in a new round of financing and is adding a YouTube integration to its service.
Led by the Toronto and Menlo Park, Calif.-based Relay Ventures, the new financing will kick out the jams on an increased hiring push and enable the company to pursue some new strategic partnerships.
Additional investors in the round included Investissement Quebec, Slaight Music, OMERS Ventures, Townsgate Media, Anges Quebec and Real Ventures.
The YouTube integration is a savvy nod to the way that music is consumed online these days. In an interview with the LA Times, Jimmy Iovine (the music mogul and one of the architects of the billion-dollar Beats deal with Apple) bemoaned that YouTube accounts for 40% of music consumption online and 4% of revenue for the music industry.
AmpMe may have 99 problems (a slew of competitors, like Speakerfy and TuneMob would be an example), but the economics of the music business ain’t one. Linking with YouTube means getting consumers where they’re digitally listening.
And the service is gaining ground. So far, the company’s app has been downloaded more than 2 million times since its launch in September 2015.
In all, the company has managed to rack up $10 million in venture financing for its iteration on the networked speaker system.