Sound Particles raises €2.5 million and heads to LA

  • ECO News
  • 31 May 2022

The Portuguese startup wants to open an office in Los Angeles and expand to the Asian market.

The Portuguese startup Sounds Particles has raised €2.5 million in a Seed round, co-led by Indico Capital Partners, Iberis, and with participation from the 200M Fund. The round “will contribute to the launch of a sound marketplace and an immersive sound experience for headphones and in the metaverse”. Sound Particles wants to open office in Los Angeles and expand into the Asian market.

“Sound Particles was the first startup that Indico invested in, in a pre-seed round of €400,000 in 2019. We are very pleased, as early investors, to see the company achieving its goals and developing in the international market, having not only a revolutionary technology, but also a robust management and product development team. There is still a lot of room to grow using the same technology, particularly when it comes to headphones and the metaverse”, justifies Stephan Morais, president of Indico Capital, quoted in a statement.

“Sound Particles has developed a unique technology and the biggest names in the industry recognise its revolutionary nature. We are very proud to support a company that continues to innovate in new verticals and invest in new markets and businesses”, says João Henriques, from Iberis. The startup was recognised for its suitability by the ANI – National Agency for Innovation, which allowed the investment by Iberis, a support fund for R&D recognised under the SIFIDE programme.

“With this investment, Banco Português de Fomento (BFF) gives another important contribution to support and strengthen the competitiveness of Portuguese startups,” says Beatriz Freitas, CEO of the bank, which supported the startup through the Coinvestment Fund 200M and, indirectly, through Portugal Tech, through which was subscribed the venture capital fund managed by Indico, which also invests in the company.

Founded five years ago by Nuno Fonseca, the startup received its first investment of €400,000 and, later, another €1.25 million from the European Union’s SME Instrument. The startup develops audio software that applies computer graphics to sound, through the development of its 3D audio software, having today over 2,500 clients. Its software has already been used in productions such as Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Frozen or, more recently, Dune, a film that won the Oscar for best sound. The startup’s technology has also been used in video games like Fortnite.

Plans for the future

With this new financing round, the startup intends to introduce “new technological developments”, as well as “consolidate its presence in the international market by opening an office in Los Angeles and promote the organic growth of the company,” explains Nuno Fonseca, founder and CEO of Sound Particles, quoted in a statement.

The startup wants to launch a 3D audio technology for headphones – “consolidating its presence in the gaming and virtual reality space” – and increase the range of products in music production.

The Portuguese startup also wants to “consolidate its presence in the European and North American markets, while expanding into the Asian market.”

Alex Hoye (former Disney executive and world-renowned entrepreneur/CEO) has joined Sound Particles as a non-executive director, “to support the startup in this new phase of growth.”