Groover, the innovative music promotion platform, announces today an $8 million Series A funding round, led by investors OneRagtime, Trind, Techmind, and MozzaAngels, and supported by historical backers, Partech, Bpifrance‘s Tech & Touch fund, Verve Ventures, and Frenchfounders.
This new financing will consolidate Groover’s position as an all-in-one platform solution by integrating additional services such as promotion, marketing, coaching, and career development support, additionally to strengthen the company’s strategic presence in the North American, European, and Latin American markets.
“The success of this funding round represents a crucial step in our journey,” says Groover’s co-founder and CEO, Romain Palmieri. “With these new investments, Groover is poised to write a new chapter, solidifying its position as a global reference in music promotion. Our goal is to provide independent artists with an all-in-one platform supported by innovative features and services and keep accelerating our international development in North America, Europe and Latin America.”
This news comes at a time when, despite the technical ease of producing and distributing music online, musicians face significant challenges in standing out and gaining visibility due to the oversaturation of the music landscape. In 2023 alone, over 120,000 new tracks were released daily.
All-in-One Platform for Independent Artists
Launched in 2019 by Dorian Perron, Rafael Cohen, and Romain Palmieri, musicians and music journalists themselves, Groover seeks to boost independent artists’ careers by providing direct networking opportunities with key players in the music industry. Specifically, artists can use the Groover platform to find and connect with music professionals – almost 3000 selected music professionals and curators – to get direct, constructive, and timely feedback on their work, often leading to concrete development opportunities. Since its launch, Groover has attracted nearly 350,000 independent artists from over 180 countries, generating over 4 million personalized reviews.
Groover now aims to further support its users by integrating two additional services to the platform: Groover Club and Groover Obsessions.
Groover Club membership service offers coaching, masterclasses, and personalized follow-up sessions to 1,000 artists in France and the US to help artists increase their visibility with detailed advice. Groover Obsessions, a selective program, provides career development opportunities to the most promising artists on the platform, boosting the visibility and profitability of their music production to the next level. Among the 300 artists currently supported by the Groover Obsessions program are Gorillaz’s bassist, Seye Adelekan, indie band Faux Real, up-and-coming musician ZOLA, and Swiss Olympic snowboarder and indie folk artist Pat Burgener, to just name a few.
Expanding Global Presence
With operations in the US, Canada, Italy, Brazil, the UK, France, and Germany, Groover currently generates 80% of its revenue internationally. With this funding, the startup aims to develop an international expansion strategy, reinforcing and furthering its presence in Europe, North America, and Latin America.
As part of this plan, the platform is intensifying global recruitment efforts, targeting top talents in tech, product and business development. Since the beginning of 2024, the company has already hired marketing, product, and tech profiles with prior experience in the music industry. The successful launch of Groover’s New York office in early 2022 has already propelled the US to become Groover’s top market in just six months, contributing to nearly 40% of its current revenue.
Investor’s quote: “At OneRagtime, we are delighted to support Groover in this growth phase,” says Stéphanie Hospital, CEO, and founder of OneRagtime. “Groover’s ability to connect artists with media and industry professionals is unique, and the vision of becoming the all-in-one platform for independent artists is particularly inspiring. We are confident that Groover will continue to redefine the landscape of music promotion, and we look forward to contributing to this success story.”
