The North West Fund for Digital & Creative, managed by AXM Venture Capital Limited, has made an equity investment into Sentric Music Limited, which operates an online music royalty management and licensing service. This is the Digital & Creative Fund’s fifth investment in Merseyside.
Sentric, based in Elevator Studios in central Liverpool, offers a combination of music publishing services, for independent artists, established artists and catalogue owners, based on its unique online royalty collection and management platform. Sentric supports its portfolio of bands to commercialise their music, including licensing them into television and other lucrative media.
The deal represents the ninth investment by The North West Fund for Digital & Creative, which is managed by AXM Venture Capital Limited and is part of the £185m North West Fund financed by the European Regional Development Fund and The European Investment Bank.
The investment will finance Sentric’s ongoing investment in its online platform, and the expansion of its Liverpool-based client management team to support the Company’s growth in overseas markets.
Sentric was founded in 2006 by a team including CEO Chris Meehan and non-executive director Andy Davidson. It now acts for more than 12,000 bands, representing more than 65,000 tracks in the UK, US and on the Continent. Sentric has strategic alliances with major music players such as band portal Reverbnation and reputable US publisher Downtown Music Publishing, and is recognised as one of the most innovative and dynamic companies in the music publishing sector.
Managing director Chris Meehan said: “AXM have fully understood our international growth plans, and have made an investment that will allow us to establish ourselves as a leading international music publisher for artists and businesses alike. Aside from the investment itself, we’re really looking forward to working with the AXM team and growing our business.”
David Smith, Investment Director of AXM Venture Capital, said: “Sentric is a perfect fit for our Fund – fast-growing, disrupting an existing market, using its digital platform to service clients around the world from its base in the North West, and driven by a high quality team of entrepreneurs.”