Newsletter
Symphony Communications Services LLC has been receiving quite a bit of backing from major corporations. The company’s current round of funding has found yet another business willing to part with millions: Google Inc. Symphony is a startup that aims to make communicating with others easier for their clients. Its service is cloud-based and emphasizes the company’s success in security and community development. The company has promised to present additional components for its chat system, and in September reached an agreement to load content from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. Additionally, Symphony has opted to work with McGraw Hill Financial Inc. for its research data.
Symphony is competing with Thomson Reuters Corp and Bloomberg LP, both of which provide similar services in the information and messaging business. These companies offer their products to shareholders, traders, and banks. Bloomberg LP is seen as characteristic of trading floors and Symphony’s effect on that market is still progressing. If the startup is looking to impress potential clients, it might do so by offering more price-conscious terminals than its competitors. Bloomberg is known to charge customers over several thousand dollars annually.
Investments in Symphony have predominantly come from investment firms and banking institutions. Wall Street, in particular, has been providing Symphony with significant capital. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are two notable investors, and now Google’s interest signals Symphony’s appeal to other industries. When its funding round closes this week, Symphony is expected to have a valuation of $650 million. The communications company was first valued at $66 million after 14 businesses invested. Symphony promptly acquired Perzo Inc., another startup. It’s important to note that Google’s investment is not final quite yet. Talks between the two companies are expected to wrap up before Symphony’s funding round is over this week. Symphony offers its services to large businesses for $15 per user monthly. In a smaller company with under 50 users, the startup’s services are offered free of charge. Individual users are also exempt from payment. Symphony hasn’t given details on its user base so far though its successful funding campaign signals a positive start for the new company.