According to PaidContent, Imeem, one of our favorite streaming music services, is starting to feel the pressure of the economic downturn and is planning to lay off a quarter of its workforce. According to this report, Imeem is also looking for a potential candidate to buy the company.
Imeem is one of Sequoia's portfolio companies, so it doesn't come as a surprise that it is looking to keep its budget under control, but we do think that Imeem is going to have a hard time finding a buyer in these tough economic times.
]]>Update: We just got a response from Imeem. The company is indeed laying off 25% of its staff (20 positions) in order to cut cost, but wouldn't comment on the rumors around a potential sale of the company.
Imeem's last funding round was a Series C round led by Sequoia in April, though the company did not reveal the actual amount of this investment. Warner Brothers also invested about $15 million in Imeem. Imeem has licensing deals with all of the major record labels, as well as with a large number of independents labels.
$200 Million
While Imeem's valuation is a bit hard to estimate, PaidContent reports that Imeem and its investors would be looking for somewhere "north of $200 million." Given the current economic climate and the strong competition in the streaming music business, $200 million might be a rather high number, however, and this will surely scare off quite a few potential buyers.
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