Spotify‘s recent PR tightrope walk has paid off. We understand the streaming-music app has now closed the funding round it was looking for, and that’s it’s at least £20 million (about $33 million). The FT reports that the company is close to raising an investment of as much as £30 million pounds (about $50 million) that values the company at £148 million ($250 million).
Investors may include the Li Ka Shing Foundation, which is controlled by Hong Kong investor Li Ka Shing, who has invested $120 million in Facebook and has also invested in Joost. VC Firm Wellington Partners is also participating, according to the FT‘s report.
A source tells us a total of three new investors have come aboard, including one which may be a record label. If a label is investing, its contribution may be licenses for Spotify to stream its music in the U.S., rather than a financial contribution, or a mixture of both. That would give Spotify, currently available only in Europe and Scandinavia, a platform for a hoped-for American launch in Q3 or Q4. No comment yet from the company. We first revealed Spotify was seeking VC money in June.