Shazam Entertainment Ltd. announced on Tuesday, January 20, that they had received $30 million from investors. This latest investment now values the company at roughly $1 billion and becomes only the fifth technology start-up from the UK to have a $1 billion price tag.

The investment will go towards expanding into new markets as well as making additional developments to technology.

Andrew Fisher, Executive Chairman said, “This funding reflects the substantial progress we have made in delivering a new paradigm for brands and content owners to increase engagement with their audiences whilst magically connecting people to the world around them. We are delighted to welcome our new investors as we further strengthen our balance sheet and continue to effectively execute on our corporate strategy.”

Previous Shazam investors include Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, who invested $40 million in the company in July 2013. As well as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Institutional Venture Partners, however the latest investors have not been revealed.

The London-based company debuted its first product in 2002 and since then their popularity has increased with latest figures sitting at 100 million active mobile users. The appeal of the app is the fact that you can quickly scan a piece of music that you do not know, and with its database of over 35 million songs it can provide you with the matching song and artist. In 2010 they started adding TV commercials to their database; the app listens to the commercial and will then provide you with additional information about the product, etc.

“We’re excited to continue to focus on user growth and engagement, building on our strength in music and innovating to increase the universe of what is Shazamable in order to realize the enormous potential of Shazam,” said CEO Rich Riley. “Our move into multiple new environments in 2014 has allowed our users to connect to more aspects of their world while enabling our partners and advertisers to reach our massive and engaged user base like never before.”

Shazam has dominated the market since 2002, but is starting to face competition from the likes of Amazon Inc., Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. who are exploring music identification.

Image courtesy Shazam