A nighttime shot of Singapore, where BandLab is based. Photo Credit: Mike Enerio
Back in December of 2021, music-creation company BandLab revealed that its Series B had generated $53 million at a $303 million post-cash valuation. Now, four months and an additional $12 million later, the Singapore-based business has formally closed the round.
Seven-year-old BandLab just recently announced the Series B’s wrap, indicating that the raise had drawn a grand total of $65 million (at a $315 million post-money valuation) from investors. Vulcan Capital, the equity firm of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, led the multimillion-dollar round, which also received support from Caldecott Music Group, TikTok stakeholder K3 Ventures, and Prosus Ventures.
Caldecott Music is BandLab’s parent and was formerly named BandLab Technologies, while Prosus Ventures is the investment division of the namesake Prosus (PRX on the Euronext Amsterdam). Prosus encompasses a more than 30 percent stake in Tencent, and South Africa’s Naspers owns nearly 60 percent of Prosus itself.
Back to BandLab’s funding, however, the company intends to use the capital influx “to expand its team and continue to refine and grow its offerings to music creators and aspiring artists worldwide,” according to higher-ups.
On this front, the ReverbNation owner BandLab says it boasts over 40 million users, who have access to features including “100% Free Online DAW,” collaboration tools, “unlimited free algorithmic mastering,” all manner of virtual instruments, and the Cakewalk music-production package, to name some.
Addressing his firm’s support for BandLab, Prosus Ventures head of investments for Southeast Asia Sachin Bhanot pointed to the perceived advantages that the service affords creators around the globe.
“BandLab has built a next-generation platform that is democratizing music creation for creators globally,” said the former Abraaj Group principal Bhanot. “The company has experienced impressive growth while generating solid user engagement. We are thrilled to support the company’s dedication to using innovative technologies, like AI, to put the power in the hands of creators.”
The close of BandLab’s Series B arrives less than one week after AI-powered music-creation platform Soundful pulled down $3.8 million in funding from the likes of Disney, Universal Music Group, and Microsoft.
In the approaching months and years, it’ll be worth following the commercial ramifications of one-stop digital-creation offerings. While it’s difficult to put a negative spin on helping proper artists to craft and release music, the corresponding tools (and especially those equipped with artificial intelligence) could likewise set the stage for an influx of releases from non-musicians.
And as music streaming services’ libraries are already crowded, the possibility may impact both royalties (which have long been the subject of criticism) and discoverability.