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When you smell an IPO coming, look for Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. The Sand Hill Road institution has a knack for sniffing out high-potential deals and putting its venture capital coffers to work. Mobile phone music discovery service Shazam could have a liquidity event coming, according to the Financial Times, which caught Kleiner Perkins' attention. So, the VC company has decided to take a stake in Shazam.
Using Shazam, a user can hold up his cell phone in a noisy bar to identify the song that's playing. Apparently, a lot of people need this service – the company picked up its 50 millionth user this week. The company's been pulling in around 500,000 users a week since February, according to CEO Andrew Fisher. Shazam's goal is to hit 100 million by the end of next year. If it pulls that off, Shazam would be the world's largest consumer-facing mobile application. The app is free in theiPhone app store.
Revenue is only in the "tens of millions," and few details on Kleiner's infusion are being offered. But Fisher has changed his tune on an IPO, going from ruling it out to "I think Shazam will absolutely be of a size where an IPO is a possibility."
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