Aussie Start-Up Vampr Gets Downtown Investment
Multi-award-winning U.S.-based Australian start-up Vampr is about to into a period of “vertical expansion” after another round of investment funding.
The latest is from New York-based rights management and music services firm Downtown Music.
The two companies have not divulged the size of the financing carried out as part of Vampr’s current Seed 3 funding drive.
But it will be part of a broader partnership that will also “integrate in-platform transaction functionality.”
The “LinkedIn for creatives”, to connect and monetise talent, was set up in 2016 in Melbourne by Josh Simons and Hunters and Collectors’ Baz Pamer.
It has 1.2 million users in 190 countries and claims to have generated almost 8 million connections.
Its divisions include premium subscription service Vampr Pro, distribution arm Vampr Publishing and Vampr Academy, which offers courses and practical video lessons for creatives.
As a result of this latest alliance, Downtown’s Found.ee “integrated marketing services company” will now power Vampr Marketing, giving its users access to “unique marketing tools and access to premium sites.”
Downtown’s music royalty collection and publishing administration company Songtrust will administer Vampr Publishing.
The two-year-old division has a catalogue of 60,000 songs and growing at a rate of 21% month over month, according to Downtown.
Its most recent placements were in shows and ads from brands such as Meta, CBS and HBO.
“Vampr has carved out an important niche in our industry that fosters connections between music creatives,” said Downtown chief commercial officer Tracy Maddux.
“We see real potential in Vampr as a platform which is why we’ve not only invested, but are bringing our expertise via Found.ee and Songtrust to help them continue to grow.”
Vampr CEO Josh Simons added: “We are thrilled to extend our relationship with Downtown Music and its stellar group of brands and services.
“Their investment is a bona fide industry endorsement of the highest order that Vampr is making all the right noises in our mission to help early stage musicians thrive in a crowded industry.”
The startup claims to help creatives and artists find people to work with, create new music and monetize their work through its features including premium subscription service Vampr Pro, Vampr Publishing, and Vampr Academy, which offers courses and practical video lessons for creatives.
In October 2020, Vampr received $577,000 from the Angels & Entrepreneurs Network led by Kentucky-based venture firm RZN8 Capital.
It simultaneously began an equity crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder which launched with investment from A&E’s David Weisburd, co-head of Venture Capital at 10X Capital.
In February 2021, Vampr announced a further $790,000 in funding, looking at livestreaming opportunities for creatives to broadcast their performances to the world.
At the time it took its total investments raised to $2.6 million.
Vampr was listed among the 10 Most Innovative Music Companies of 2022 by Fast Company.