We7 secures new funding for European expansion

We7, the UK-headquartered music streaming service, has closed a new undisclosed round of funding.

The new investment comes from existing investors Peter Gabriel and Eden Ventures, along with Qualcomm Incorporated (via its venture capital function) and Pentech Ventures, and will be used primarily for further European expansion (“multiple countries”) and to consolidate its position in the UK.

We7 currently boasts over 3 million unique monthly users and has already began expanding beyond its home country of the UK to launch in Ireland, while CEO Steve Purdham is hard talking up the opportunities for Cloud-based music services, which he believes are on the cusp of going mainstream: “In the next 24 months digital music listening will move rapidly from the early adopters and music obsessives we have seen to date, into the mass market and general music listening communities”, he says.

And there’s no doubt that with smartphone penetration along with other connected devices, combined with the likes of Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft marketing the benefits of the Cloud for consumers, it would seem that we’re close to a tipping point. Spotify’s high valuation is evidence that investors think the same, as is today’s announcement from We7.

Purdham also believes that We7 has found the right mass market formula too with its Internet radio Plus model, which provides a more lean back experience akin to traditional radio but with most of the benefits of on-demand.