Australia’s Guvera is a rising star in the streaming music space and it’s even planning to go public.
The ad-funded service has reached more than two million subscribers in India and the acquisition of UK-based Blinkbox Music from Tesco gives Guvera an entry into European markets. Blinkbox has one and a half million active monthly users, which will now be added to Guvera’s active subscribers list.
The hits keep coming
Guvera has also recently inked an agreement with telecom Brightstar, based in San Francisco, USA. Brightstar, incidentally, just acquired by Softbank Japan for $2 billion (USD).
Brightstar has partnered with 200 Telco’s globally and also the world’s most powerful retailers such as Best Buy, Walmart and eBay. Guvera will partner with Brightstar to deliver Subscription Music via Telco’s and Ad Funded Music via both Telco’s and retailers globally. Brightstar is also the largest refurbisher of smartphones globally partnering with Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, HTC and other handset manufacturers for both distribution of new devices and refurbishment for secondhand devices.
Guvera has also entered into a partnership agreement with Micromax in India. Guvera will partner with Micromax to drive User Acquisition in India. More powerful strategic partners are expected to be announced in India in coming months
Onward and upward towards IPO
Right now, the only way to invest in Guvera is via AMMA Private Equity, which has also announced that Guvera is planning an initial public offering (IPO) for this year.
“Globally, Guvera has reached five million registered users and the company expects to reach eight million within the next few weeks. Just two years ago, Guvera celebrated reaching one million users after five years,” AMMA recently told Anthill in a written statement.
“In two weeks, we expect to announce eight million users globally and continued growth at a rapid rate. More users means more active users, ad impressions and revenue. Guvera is on track.”
AMMA has invested $45 million to fund growth and development of the business and is a major shareholder in the company.
