Last month, it looked like SoundCloud was about to shut down. Not long after that news spread, SoundCloud announced that it had secured a significant investment led by The Raine Group and Temasek. Today, about a month after the initial panic over SoundCloud’s potential shut down – it is clear that SoundCloud is still here.
SoundCloud announced on August 11, 2017, that it reached an agreement on a significant investment from global merchant bank The Raine Group and Singapore-headquartered investment company Temasek.
In connection with the investment, veteran digital media operators Kerry Trainor and Michael Weissman will join the SoundCloud team respectively as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer.
The investment will ensure a strong, independent future for SoundCloud, funding deeper development and marketing of its core tools used by millions of audio creators – musicians, DJs, producers, labels, managers and podcasters – that fuel SoundCloud’s one-of-a-kind, creator-driven listener experience.
The investment and leadership plan was developed in close partnership with SoundCloud founders Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, who will both remain with the company. Alexander Ljung as Chairman of the Board, and Eric Wahlforss as Chief Product Officer.
In addition to the role of Chief Executive Officer, Kerry Trainor will also join SoundCloud’s Board of Directors. Michael Weissman, who worked closely with Kerry Trainor at Vimeo, will assume the role of Chief Operating Officer at SoundCloud.