Spotify has acquired Irish app startup Soundwave for an undisclosed sum. The company’s principal product is a free smartphone app that allows users to share and check out what other people are listening to.
Soundwave is based in Rathmines and was founded in 2012 by Brendan O’Driscoll, Aidan Sliney and Craig Watson.
The company successfully completed NDRC’s LaunchPad accelerator programme in 2012 and secured their first significant follow-on investment at NDRC’s Lift Off competition that year.
The Soundwave app has been downloaded over 1.5 million times, and has won endorsements from luminaries such as Steve Wozniak, Stephen Fry and Mark Cuban.
Soundwave’s accounts for the year to March 2014 show that it booked a loss of nearly €646,000, contributing to a year-end net deficit of €900,000. The firm owed €1.6m to creditors and had cash reserves of €620,000.
In Association with
Soundwave’s founders convinced Enterprise Ireland to invest €250,000 into the firm in 2012. That was topped up with another EI investment of €250,000 in 2014.
Aside from the founders and Enterprise Ireland, other shareholders in Soundwave included the NDRC and wealth management firm Stembridge, who both had minor stakes in the firm.
Changing
A group statement from Soundwave’s principals today said: “The music industry is changing, and its changing fast. We think now is the perfect time for Soundwave to join forces with Spotify […] the perfect home for us to continue our mission. We owe our gratitude to a lot of people for helping us reach this milestone today.”
Ben Hurley, CEO of NDRC, said that Soundwave’s acquisition was highly significant for the indigenous Irish tech sector.
He added: “The announcement is also a hugely positive endorsement of the potential and innovation of Ireland’s indigenous tech and startup sector; Spotify are a global leader in digital music sharing. It is imperative that we continue to find and support these startups in those very early stages of development, before they are investor ready.”
Soundwave founders (from left) Brendan O'Driscoll, Aidan Sliney and Craig Watson
