Mdundo nearly doubled users and revenue in 2021

The company said the increase was primarily driven by the rapid growth of users in Nigeria, which now boasts 2.8 million MAUs – the highest number of users in a single market.

East African markets in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda jointly represent the company’s largest user base. In September 2020, Mdundo raised $6.4m in an initial public offering to fund its expansion efforts beyond its stronghold in East Africa. In the same month, it listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market.

The increase in users had a ripple effect on revenue, pushing it up to 2.5 million Danish krone (about $380 000) in the second half of 2021, a 90% jump from the Kr1.3m recorded in the corresponding period in 2020. Mdundo’s strategy includes focusing on the Freemium model and generating revenue through advertising sales, which increased by 63% from Kr1.3m to Kr2.1m.

New partnerships also contributed to the expanded revenue, Mdundo said. In the past year, it struck partnerships with telecommunications companies across Africa such as Vodacom in Tanzania as well as MTN and Airtel in Nigeria.

The revenue gained from partnerships with telcos represented about 14% of total revenue. In September 2020, the company announced that this figure would amount to “40% within a few years.”

At the end of the half-year period, Mdundo’s music service had 1.7m international songs and about 365 000 songs directly uploaded by some 120 000 African musicians.

Looking ahead, the company is still aiming to become the leading pan-African music service and expects revenue of Kr9m to Kr10m in the next financial year. It hopes to reach 18 million MAUs by the end of June 2022.

“Our ambition is to give Africa’s millions of internet subscriptions easy access to music as well as contribute to the structure, legality and revenue of the music industry,” Mdundo said.