Online music-streaming service Spotify has raised US$250 million in a new funding round, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
HumanIPO reported in September Spotify was seeking alternative capital sources in order to continue its growth.
The newspaper reports a person familiar with the matter as saying the round, which makes Spotify one of the world’s most richly capitalised startups, was led by Silicon Valley venture capital (VC) firm Technology Crossover Ventures.
The cash will help the company scale its American business and launch in countries such as Japan, and brings the company’s value to more than US$4 billion, up from last November’s valuation of US$3 billion and back to the figure of May 2012.
HumanIPO reported earlier this month Spotify head of new markets Axel Bringéus said at AfricaCom 2013 Spotify had no target date as to when it would launch in Africa, saying it would only launch on the continent once it is sure it can provide the same user experience as that enjoyed by regions such as Europe.
To date Spotify, which went live in 2008, has six million paying subscribers, more than 24 million active users and is present in 34 markets globally.
