Tastebuds.fm Raises $600k Seed Round to Help People Meet Through Music

Tastebuds.fm Raises $600k Seed Round to Help People Meet Through Music

LONDON, April 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --



The social discovery service raises seed funding from Black Ocean to scale team and
help music lovers meet offline



Tastebuds, the social service that helps you meet new people through music, announced
today the successful close of a $600k seed investment from the technology group Black
Ocean. The service allows users to meet new people beyond their existing social graphs by
introducing people who share similar musical preferences. Users simply enter three of
their favorite bands or artists to start meeting people. The service is available at
Tastebuds.fm [http://tastebuds.fm ].



London-based Tastebuds was founded by Alex Parish and Julian Keenaghan after meeting
in the band Years of Rice and Salt. They were one of ten teams selected to participate in
the inaugural Springboard startup accelerator program in Cambridge in 2011, growing the
service to over 100,000 registered users by the end of the following year.



"When you're meeting new people - whether it's making new friends in a new city,
finding a concert buddy or meeting a potential partner - it should be fun and as easy as
possible. We introduce people using the music they listen to, giving them something to
interact around so they can break the ice in a more organic way," said Parish.



The company launched their Spotify app [http://open.spotify.com/app/tastebuds ] in May
2012 allowing users to share tracks and playlists with new people on the music streaming
service. Since then over 50,000 Spotify users have registered using the app.



"We created Tastebuds because we believe in the power of music to connect people,"
said Parish. "It's proved to be an extremely effective social connector as a massive 43%
of first messages sent get a reply. We've also been contacted by half a dozen married
couples who met on the site and there's already a Tastebuds baby on the way."



Music discovery also forms a strong part of the service. "Other social services show
you an endless stream of what your existing friends are listening to, but their music
taste isn't necessarily of interest to you. Our unique Radio feature
[http://tastebuds.fm/radio ] lets you discover new music that people just like you are
listening to, right now," added Parish.



"We are very excited to be partnering with Tastebuds and help them scale the business
internationally," said Dickon Waterfield, COO of Black Ocean, "Music is a universal medium
that connects people from different countries and backgrounds."



The funding will be used to fast-track mobile app development, develop features to
connect members offline through gigs, festivals and music meetups, as well as launch the
service in the US.



Notes For Editors



Tastebuds [http://tastebuds.fm ] is a social service that uses musical taste to
connect people. The UK startup has attracted favourable press from the Guardian and NME
among others, as well as the thanks of music fans everywhere. The service has more than
100,000 registered users across 100 countries, with thousands of introductions made every
day.



Black Ocean [http://www.blackocean.com ] is a technology group that builds companies
from the ground-up and invests in very early stage businesses where there's an opportunity
to build actively the company together. Black Ocean has offices in New York, London and
Moscow.



How does Tastebuds work?



Users simply enter three or more favorite artists on the Tastebuds homepage and are
shown suitable matches nearby. If they use Spotify they can set up an account using the
Tastebuds Spotify app [http://open.spotify.com/app/tastebuds ] and instantly find people
who share their taste. Users are matched using a proprietary algorithm developed in-house
by the Tastebuds team.



Who's behind it?



The site was founded by two musicians from London, UK: Alex Parish and Julian
Keenaghan. Both founders are members of the band Years Of Rice And Salt.



For more information, Tastebuds member stories, high res images, or to arrange
interviews with Tastebuds staff or users, please email alex(at)tastebuds(dot)fm.



Follow the site on Twitter @tastebuds [http://twitter.com/tastebuds ] or visit the
blog at blog.tastebuds.fm [http://blog.tastebuds.fm ]



Contact: Alex Parish +44(0)20-7693-0173




Tastebuds


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Profile: intent