Digital commerce services company
Magex announced Monday
that it has raised $80 million, calling the financing round one of the largest amounts ever raised in private equity funding by a European online venture.
Magex said it will use the funds to introduce its services
to unspecified global markets during the coming summer. The
Magex service enables digital content providers to collect
payment when they deliver music, video and other content
over the Internet.
Peter Beverley, chief executive officer, Magex, said the
funding would allow the company to respond to increasing demand
and new opportunities, especially in the United States.
Led by Goldman Sachs — and the $1.85 billion global
private equity fund Capital Z Financial Services
Fund II, LP — the investment comes from many sources,
including Universal Music Group, InterTrust, Reuters,
GE Capital, and Europ@web, among others.
Speaking for Capital Z, Principal Frédéric
Stolar said he thought no other company was poised to
take a bigger slice of the digital content market than
Magex.
“The company already has first-mover advantage with a live
digital commerce service which meets the needs of consumers
and content providers,” noted Stolar.
In the past six months, Magex has doubled its team to 85
people, establishing offices in both New York and London.
It will shortly open West coast operations and expects to
expand significantly its operations in North America.
Magex offers a copyright protection feature which it claims
will enable content providers to place valuable content safely
on the Internet. Without effective protection, publishers could
face huge losses — a fact demonstrated by hackers recently
when a Stephen King novel published in the eBook format was
placed online as freely accessible text.
Whether hackers break the Magex codes remains to be seen.
Magex also offer payment options including one-off access,
pay-as-you-play, and outright purchase. Its financial clearing
facility routes payment to each company, handling payments as
small as a few cents.
The market for payment infrastructure services is expected to be worth around $27 billion
out of the total $275 billion digital content market by 2003, Magex said in a statement.