Boomplay continues its rapid growth in Africa.
Boomplay has remained pretty successful over in Africa.
Late last year, the major African streaming music and download services unveiled a multi-year licensing agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG). Listeners soon gained access to UMG’s extensive catalog of both local and international artists.
On Boomplay, users could suddenly stream and download music from Eminem, Tekno, Post Malone, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar, among many others.
Last summer, Boomplay announced that its Android-only mobile app had reached 10 million installations. In addition, the company had over 31 million total users.
First launched in January 2015, the app has become the fastest growing streaming music and download app in Africa. In just four months, Boomplay had grown to 36 million users at the time of the deal, claiming it adds 2 million each month.
The service is largely unknown in the U.S. and Europe. The company eventually released an iOS version.
Then, the African digital music service finalized another major licensing deal.
Last month, Boomplay closed a direct licensing agreement with Warner Music Group (WMG).
The terms of the deal allow the African digital music service to distribute WMG’s catalog of over one million songs to users in ten countries – Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Now, Boomplay has reached a new fundraising milestone.
A fresh funding round.
The African digital service has confirmed a $20 million Series A funding round.
Maison Capital led the funding round. Seas Capital also participated.
In addition, Boomplay now has over 44 million mobile app downloads along with 5.6 million daily active users.
Speaking about the funding, Joe He, the company’s CEO, said he’ll use the funds to focus on content acquisition, recruitment, and product optimization. Boomplay will now reportedly move toward production, recording artists, and the live production space.
Phil Choi, the company’s Head of International Acquisitions and Partnerships, added,
“Five years ago, no one was talking about [Africa].
“Our team saw the potential at this time, and now we have a good advantage. But, everyone wants a piece of the pie.”
Featured image by Tecno Mobile (YouTube screengrab).