Music streaming app JioSaavn gets $54 mn from parent Reliance

Music streaming app JioSaavn has raised $53.83 million from parent company Reliance Industries (RIL).

Saavn Media, which operates JioSaavn, raised the funds in two tranches between June and August this year, regulatory filings showed.

It received $19.7 million in August and $34.13 million in June. It had also raised $19.91 million in January,  receiving three infusions from Reliance in 2019.

The company’s valuation is anywhere around $1.33 billion-$1.4 billion, according to TechCircle estimates.

Email queries sent to Reliance and Saavn seeking more information did not elicit a response at the time of filing this report.

JioSaavn was formed in March last year when Reliance’s JioMusic and Tiger Global-backed Saavn merged to form a combined entity.

The entity was valued at $1 billion at the time of the announcement. JioMusic, as a standalone entity, was valued at $670 million, as per the company’s announcement.

Saavn was founded in 2007. At the time of the merger, the US-based company claimed it had 22 million users. Also, its portfolio included 36 million songs in 15 languages apart from original programming such as podcasts. JioMusic claimed to have 16 million songs across 20 languages.

Reliance also announced a $100 million investment in JioSaavn at the time of the announcement with $20 million earmarked upfront for growth and expansion of the platform.

JioSaavn claims to have nearly 50 million songs on its platform across several categories including Bollywood, English, Hindi, independent artists. It also has content in regional languages like Tamil, Telugu, and Punjabi among others.

The streaming company offers its mobile app on both Android and the iOS (Apple) ecosystems. The android app alone has more than 100 million installs as per information on its Google Play Store page.

The app offers a freemium model where users can try out the company’s service for a trial period of one month. The platform’s in-app purchases range anywhere between Rs 30 and Rs 999.

JioSaavn is facing competition from well-funded players like Amazon Prime Music, Times Internet-owned Gaana, Youtube Music and  Spotify, which launched India operations recently.

The players are fighting for the numero uno position in a market, which is estimated to have around 450 million smartphone users.

Recent research by market consulting major Deloitte has estimated that the online music market in India is expected to cross $273 million by 2020.