After months of silence, Electric Jukebox has reportedly raised £1.4 million. The company is a hybrid streaming service that seems to combine a Chromecast-style dongle with an online radio listening experience. YOLO Leisure & Technology is the investment group behind this new influx of money.
Electric Jukebox had previously said the wand-like controller and music subscription would arrive for the 2015 holidays, then bumped it to spring 2016, but both dates passed with no launch. Now it is promising a launch in the UK this month and plans to reach the U.S. and Europe in 2017. The company has been taking pre-orders for the device and a year-long subscription for £179 for more than two years.
This company has been billing itself as a simpler alternative to the average on-demand streaming platform. According to a YouGov study commissioned by Electric Jukebox, listeners older than 35 are less likely to engage with subscription streaming and find radio easier to use. It is trying to fill that niche of streaming done simply. However, considering how long the company has delayed its product launch and how hard the product is to describe, Electric Jukebox hasn’t yet found success filling that niche.