Essedel takes part in $20m Zvooq round

Online retailer Ulmart – which has been described by the media as Russia's answer to Amazon – led the round.

According to Russian tech start-up database Rusbase, the company has now completed four funding rounds. The first – a $1m investment – took place in 2011 and was followed by a substantial $25m round, provided by Russian investor and Ulmart chairman Dmitry Kostygin.

In the same year, Essedel provided Zvooq with a $5m investment, according to Rusbase. As of 2012, Essedel held a 6% stake in the business, while Kostygin owned 22%. Zvooq's founders – Victor Frumkin, Simon Dunlop and Alexei Ostroukhov – each owned 22%.

Company
Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Moscow, Zvooq is a music streaming service that currently operates in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The company claims to have a catalogue of more than 15 million songs, 500,000 artists and 25,000 labels. It launched its beta product in 2011, with its first app, Zvooq Fonoteka, officially launched in October 2013. Its second, full-feature app, Zvooq Mobile, launched in June this year.

People
Michael Ilyichev is the CEO of Zvooq.

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