Indian startup Flutin has taken new investment from an unusual source: games firm Sega, of Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Drive / Genesis fame.
Sega has invested an undisclosed amount in Flutin, which the latter company says will help it expand in markets like the US. “They believe in us because of the approach we are taking in supporting emerging musicians and providing them substantial tools to grow their fanbase. 63% of total music revenue in Japan comes from independent music, and Sega understands that this will be reflected globally in a few years,” said founder Vishu Gupta.
The timing is fortuitous, because this morning Music Ally has just published our latest ‘Startup Files’ profile, and it’s of Flutin. Gupta explained the company’s strategy: attracting listeners to its collection of free, mood-based playlists to help them discover music, while rolling out a Facebook-like advertising platform to help artists put their tracks in front of listeners who might enjoy them. “There are lots of artists on Spotify with less than 500 streams. But on Flutin there are artists who promoted themselves directly for a week or 10 days and got half a million plays,” he said. Read the full profile here (which we’ve updated with the Sega news).
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