This article was published on December 16, 2009

I Am T-Pain Creator Smule Just Raised Another 8 Million


I Am T-Pain Creator Smule Just Raised Another 8 Million

t painSmule, the makers of the popular “I Am T-Pain” and Ocarina iPhone applications, have taken on another $8 million dollars in funding. This is their third round.

The company became well known due to its cooperative work with male pop-diva T-Pain, and the iPhone application that their teamwork spawned. I have used this application, and it does meet the well orchestrated hype.

According to VentureBeat, the application has sold some 700,000 paid copies. The company is on track to do $3 million in sales this year.

This most recent round saw participation from two previous groups: Bessemer and Granite, and the entry of Shasta Ventures. This eight million dollar round is their largest to date, of their now three rounds. The company has raised nearly $14 million total.

Of course, this investment is a bet on the app store continuing its ascendancy as the hottest new outlet for paid software. Of course, multiplatform diversification would be a fair goal for the company. This new cash should give them the room to do so.

At $1.99 a piece, the company needs to sell nearly four million copies of “I Am T-Pain” just to make back the investment amount. Do you auto-tune?

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