A recent report has debunked the claims that Nigerian musician Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade popularly known as Mr. Eazi made a $1 billion profit from the sale of Vydia, a music-tech company.
Recall that several media outlets last week had reported that the Nigerian music star, profited heavily from a buyout deal of Vydia which was led by former Apple executive Larry Jackson.
Meanwhile, in a recent development, findings by Investors King revealed that neither Mr. Eazi nor his VC fund Zagadat Capital is an investor in Vydia. Information gotten reveal that Vydia whose latest funding was raised on February 15, 2018, from a Series A round, is funded by six investors which are; Canyon Creek Capital, Queensbridge Venture Partners, Pasadena Angels, Connected Ventures, and Newark Venture Partners, and Vocap Partners which are the most recent investors.
While Mr. Eazi isn’t an investor in the music tech company Vydia, his parent company emPawa Africa in 2020 formed a partnership with Vydia to launch Cinch Distro, a music distribution platform for new artists. Through Clinch Distro, artists can upload one song to major music stores for 500 naira or 4,000 naira for unlimited song uploads.
Also, in 2021, a spokesperson at emPawa Africa disclosed that emPawa Africa Ghana invested in Vydia in 2021, and Mr. Eazi via a tweet revealed the info, which he wrote, “Cats out of the bag! Proud investor!! My company emPawa Africa invested in Vydia, we just got acquired. Abeg tell Larry to call me”.
It is however understood that the claims about Mr. Eazi cashing out on the sale of Vydia is a reference to Apple Music executive Larry Jackson’s $1 billion-backed Gamma acquisition of Vydia which Eazi’s company emPawa is an investor.
Meanwhile, Mr. Eazi who independently built a music career for himself via smart business decisions is no stranger to the world of business and investment.
In 2018, he launched emPawa Africa, an incubator program that provided artists with funding and resources to market their music, access radio, and TV airplay, and train them to become independent music entrepreneurs. Through emPawa, some of Africa’s biggest artists like Nigerian musician Joeboy and Ghana’s J. Derobie were discovered.
In 2020, Mr. Eazi raised $20 million for his Africa Music Fund (AMF) to invest in the careers of African music talents.
Since his launch of 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 Cape Town Tigers. With Zagadat Capital, he plans to direct funding to startups and businesses that will power Africa’s tech future.
