UK-born Reactional Music, which, as MBW told you back in 2021, has developed patented technology that allows real-time personalization of soundtracks and music during gameplay, has closed a $2.05 million Pre-Series A funding round.
The new funding round was led by mobile music games publisher Amanotes, and early-stage VC Butterfly Ventures, which is based in the Nordics.
The Pre-Series A Round is also supported by a number of angel investors including Kelly Sumner, a former chairman of Mediatonic (Fall Guys, recently acquired by Epic), CEO of Red Octane (Guitar Hero, acquired by Activision) and CEO of Take 2 Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) (Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption).
Reactional Music, whose President David Knox spent 26 years in senior global management positions at EA, says that its tech enables any commercial or production music to become interactive around the gamer within a game.
The Pre-Series A Round follows a number of seed rounds at the now-Stockholm headquartered business.
It says that the funds will be used to deliver the Reactional beta platform and SDK for developers, continue its music licensing operations and scaling of its team across development, technical support and music supervision.
Reactional Music’s management team includes execs from music publishing, music composition, games and technology including senior leadership roles in Sony Music and Electronic Arts.
In games, Reactional says that members of its team have led or been part of the commercial, planning and marketing teams for leading gaming franchises including Grand Theft Auto, FIFA, Guitar Hero, Red Dead Redemption, Batman Arkham Asylum and Need for Speed.
Reactional says that it is working on several pilot projects. The Reactional Engine is also being used in a commercially available game for PS5 and PS VR2. The company says the platform will be live in 2023.
Reactional has also completed music rights agreements with music rights holders including Hipgnosis Song Management. Last month, Reactional said that it has signed deals with multiple rightsholders and will share details of these soon.
It added that “after many months of positive dialogue,” both “master and publishing rights holders are currently signing up with the Reactional platform.” (Hipgnosis licensed the publishing rights to its catalog for use on Reactional’s platform).
Reactional says that its engine “does not alter, mix or edit the music master” and that it “understands that for music rights holders, it’s important that a derivative of their work is not created and the master remains untouched”.
“This strategic investment allows us to take our music gaming applications to the next level. We are excited to see the impact it will have on our fans worldwide.”
Bill Vo, Amanotes
Bill Vo, CEO and Co-founder of Amanotes, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Reactional Music.
“This strategic investment allows us to take our music gaming applications to the next level. We are excited to see the impact it will have on our fans worldwide.”
“The company and its technology, the Reactional Music Engine has the ability to change the world of music and gaming in a way these industries have never before seen.”
Tanya Horowitz, Butterfly
Tanya Horowitz, Partner at Butterfly, added: “We are thoroughly excited to announce this investment in Reactional Music.
“The company and its technology, the Reactional Music Engine has the ability to change the world of music and gaming in a way these industries have never before seen.
“Additionally, I am also super excited to flex my prior knowledge of the music industry and video game business and help the company in their thrilling up and coming journey.”
“This is a key moment in the development of our business.”
Par Gunnars Risberg, Reactional Music Group AB
Par Gunnars Risberg, Managing Director of Reactional Music Group AB, said: “This is a key moment in the development of our business.
“We are fortunate to have both Butterfly and Amanotes leading the round. Each of these organisations brings incredible value to Reactional as we drive the commercial and creative partnership between games, music and creators.”
Amanotes is claimed to be the No.1 mobile music games publisher in the world and Southeast Asia’s biggest mobile apps publisher, with the mission of enabling everyone to experience music in any way they want.
It has over 2.8 billion downloads and 100+ million monthly active users.
Butterfly Ventures has invested in over 90 companies and 240 investment rounds.
Founded in 2012, Butterfly has offices across the Nordics and Baltic Region in Stockholm, Helsinki, Oulu, Copenhagen and Tallinn.
The team is currently investing out of Butterfly Ventures Fund IV which launched in 2022 and is an Article 8 SFDR Green Fund.
Kelly Sumner has run two NASDAQ listed companies. As CEO of Take 2 he took the company to annual sales of $1 billion, investing in the creation of amongst others, Rockstar Games, launching products such as Grand Theft Auto and delivering a four-fold increase in the share price.Music Business Worldwide
