Who would invest in Kim Dotcom? Well, the internet mogul might not be the ideal candidate for VC funding given his ongoing extradition issues, but he’s hoping to raise AU$4.5m ($4.2m) from investors as part of an Australian stock market flotation for his music startup Baboom. The company has published a 41-page prospectus outlining its ambitions to rival the likes of SoundCloud as a way for artists to connect with fans. It explains that users will store their music collections on Baboom’s servers, and get between 10 and 15 new albums for free every year, under previously-announced plans to let the company’s ad network take over their browser to replace banner ads on the web. Baboom is also planning to stream songs at FLAC quality, while aiming to target emerging markets including south east Asia and Africa. Major labels aren’t a big part of its plans, unsurprisingly: the prospectus says Baboom will focus on “independent labels, producer archives and unpublished material”. It also predicts a full launch in late December 2014 or early January 2015.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…