Launched in 2013, Mdundo provides access to all the continent’s favourite music to over five million monthly active users in 15 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with over 20 million monthly downloads and streams via its website and app.
The company’s main markets are Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria and Ghana, with an increasing focus on Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Rwanda, Cameroon, Congo, Malawi, South Africa and Namibia, and it has now decided on an initial public offering in Denmark, where it is headquartered.
By listing on Nasdaq First North and opening trading of its shares, which it will do tomorrow (Friday, September 4), Mdundo is aiming to secure additional funds for its ongoing expansion across new African markets and to confirm its brand as the pan-African leader in the music distribution market.
During the two-week tender period leading up to the listing date, Mdundo’s share sale offer was oversubscribed by 110 per cent, receiving subscriptions from almost 3,000 investors and raising DKK40 million (US$6.4 million).
In Africa, 30 per cent of mobile phone users listen to music on their mobile phone, however this is done primarily through illegal downloads, similar to the situation in Europe and the US approximately 15 years ago. Much as services like iTunes and Spotify took over that market, Mdundo is positioning itself ahead of the curve in Sub-Saharan Africa, powering the uptake of access to music through its legal music service.
The startup says it “works tirelessly” to promote legal music consumption in Africa, and has so far been instrumental in having more than one million links to illegal African music removed from Google.
Kenya In Focus:
Population - 47.6 million (Compared to South Africa's 59.6 million)
GDP: $109.116 billion (Compared to South Africa's $369.85 billion)
GDP Per Capita: $2,151 (Compared to South Africa's $6,193)
