PingTune's music-focused messaging app raises USD1.6 million

By Rizza Sta. Ana

Nov 29, 2013 10:33 AM EST

London-based messaging app PingTune nabbed GBP1 million or USD1.6 million in seed funding. The startup's seed investment round was participated by former Chairman of Hambros Bank and currently Chairman of JO Hambro Rupert Hambro and serial entrepreneur and active investor Dominic Perks.

PingTune, available on iTunes, aimed to carve a potentially good niche market as it aimed to be the messaging app of choice for music fans. The app, explained in a TechCrunch report, allows users to search for music from music content sources like SoundCloud and YouTube and share that particular music of choice to others. users could also opt to just send sections of a song to another user.

PingTune Chief Executive Officer Henry Firth explains the rationale behind the app, "We saw that people were sharing music on social networks, but it can be clunky. Copying links between windows is hard work on a mobile phone. We wanted to make that process easier... so we built PingTune."

Firth added that the startup's business model will be selling mp3s and other purchases that are related to music eventually.

TechCrunch noted in the report that with Spotify's partnership with Tango and Sony's with Kik in a specific campaign, the search for the next messaging trend might be in music. As such, the tech news site said it was likely that messaging with music could spawn a new wave of music-centered apps. Formerly known as Tuneit, PingTune's product appeared at the time wherein the industry is looking for the next great messaging service. And with a 12-person team of PingTune that is composed of former talents of big tech firms Yahoo, Spotify, Skype and Sony, it is most likely that PingTune's new funding intends to capitalize on the opportunity to be the next, great messaging service by establishing a fascinating market niche, the article concluded.

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