Vydia, the music distribution company backed by Mr Eazi’s Zagadat Capital, has been acquired by Gamma for a…
Vydia, the music distribution company backed by Mr Eazi’s Zagadat Capital, has been acquired by Gamma for a whopping $1 billion. Zagadat Capital, the venture capital fund of the pop star, backed Vydia, which has previously worked with artists like Akon, Kanye West, and Anuel.
Since launching the VC fund Zagadat Capital in 2021, the company has invested in tech companies such as remittance-based lending company Paisa, Eden Life, African fintech Pawapay, and most recently, South Africa basketball team CapeTown Tigers.
Before these, some of the first investments went into music tech companies like creative finance/IP company emPawa (his company), Ticketing platform – SHOOBS and American music distribution platform Vydia, whose service emPawa used before financial investments in the platform.
This is Zagadat Capital’s first exit, and the amount it would receive from Gamma’s acquisition of Vydia is yet unknown.
Gamma is a music company founded by Larry Jackson, a former creative director at Apple Music. Regarding the acquisition, Jackson stated, “Gamma is built with the flexibility and aptitude that creators need to connect with fans on all formats and across all channels- with transparency and no restriction.”
We are a progressive media company powered by the best-in-class content distribution and analytics software through our Vydia acquisition, and central to its core, Gamma is an ideas company.”
Jackson acquired the distribution platform Vydia in December, subsuming its 76 mostly New Jersey-based employees, and has struck deals with about a dozen of the world’s most influential creators, from Usher to Rick Ross to Naomi Campbell to Angelica Nwandu, founder of The Shade Room, one of Instagram’s most popular news channels.”
Billboard also reports that Jackson hopes that his leadership will drive more diversity, inclusion, and equity at the top of the music business. as a Black founder and CEO, He wants to run gamma with a closer focus on — and more sensitivity to — Black culture than the major labels, while structuring deals that help artists retain ownership of their work and build generational wealth.”
About Vydia
Vydia is an amazing digital audio and video distribution infrastructure company. NJBIZ, which recognizes those who have made significant contributions to help the state’s business community grow and prosper, awarded Vydia as the best business in the category Business of the Year (51–100 employees) in December 2022.
That same year, Vydia got recognized by NJBIZ as the best place to work after the program confidently collected data allowing workers to share feedback about their employers.
Spotify listed the platform as one of its preferred artist distributors early this year. These achievements clearly show that Vydia, since its introduction, has grown to be a notable member of the music industry globally.