Cloud-based karaoke enterprise, Popsical, has recently obtained US$5 million in Series A funding in a round led by venture capitalist Quest Ventures. The round also saw participation from SEEDS Capital (the investment unit of Enterprise Singapore).
Popsical is a cloud-based karaoke system which uses a streaming device called Remix to connect users to a wide array of songs that provides melodic accompaniment to users’ singing. According to their official website, the song library consisting of over 200,000 songs self-updates daily and comes in a variety of 14 languages. The Remix device is a nifty companion weighing at less than 1kg and its accompanying mobile app is compatible with Android and iOS.
Co-established in 2016 by three karaoke fans – one of whom is Chief Executive Officer Faruq Marican – Popsical is headquartered in Singapore and previously raised funds via Kickstarter in 2017. Other prominent early investors include Mediacorp, Apricot Capital, Teo Heng KTV, Cash Studios KTC, and OMG Ventures.
Popsical also works on a subscription basis, touting a “No Ads. No Limits. No Commitments.” incentive as well as a 30-day freemium. With the fresh equity obtained, Popsical is looking for market expansion, hiring talent and developing a strategic plan for its product and SaaS offerings. Popsical currently sells and has store presence in Singapore and Malaysia, with plans to enter markets in Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and beyond the region.
Commenting on the expansion plans, Co-founder and CEO Faruq Marican shares that “India has an incredible music tradition and we think that karaoke would be an absolute hit there. We are also looking at Central Asia and places such as Kazakhstan, where karaoke is growing immensely in popularity.”
In support of Popsical’s value proposition, Jeffrey Seah, a partner at Quest, shared that “We like that Popsical is well-positioned to liberate the location, performance and technical equipment dependency of karaoke. They’ve spotted a viable gap in the market and we anticipate increasingly interesting opportunities for Popsical to exploit, especially with the Zoom meetings environment becoming a part of family and community life across the globe.” As an industry veteran in the data-marketing and digital transformation industry, Jeffrey will join the startup’s board of directors.
According to a Business Times article, the lockdowns brought about by the COVID19 was a boon to the company as it saw increased demand in online purchases. On average, the monthly sales from March to May were 46% higher compared to February.
With Singapore recently announcing that it will enter Phase 2 of re-opening the country, hopefully, Popsical would be able to maintain its momentum post-COVID19 with this new fiscal boost.