About Genius
Genius is a company based in Brooklyn (United States) founded in 2009 was acquired by MediaLab in September 2021. It operates as a Advertising Model and Freemium. Genius has raised $93.89 million across 11 funding rounds from investors including Lerer Hippeau, MediaLab and Seven Seven Six. Genius offers products and services including Song Lyrics Database and Musical Knowledge Platform. Genius operates in a competitive market with competitors including Musixmatch, SyncPower, OpenSongApp, MultiChords and Hymnary Apps, among others.
- Total Equity Funding$93.89M (USD)
in 11 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$5.84M (USD), Series B
Sep 2020
- InvestorsLerer Hippeau
& 13 more
- Acquired byMediaLab
(Sep 2021)
Products & Services of Genius
Genius offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Song Lyrics Database and Musical Knowledge Platform.
A vast collection of song lyrics is provided.
Musical knowledge and insights are shared online.
Apps and channels of Genius
its YouTube channel Genius has 12.3M subscribers and 30 videos.
Videos from Genius
The most watched videos on Genius's YouTube channel, Genius (12.3M subscribers). Click a video to play it here.
More on Genius.
Funding Insights of Genius
Genius has successfully raised a total of $93.89M across 11 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series B round of $5.84 million completed in September 2020. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $93.89M
- Total Rounds 11
- Last Round Series B — $5.84M
- First Round $6.5M
(Nov 2009)
- Investors Count 13
Latest 10 of 11 funding rounds of Genius with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2020 | $5.84M | Series B | – | – | – |
| Mar 2018 | $15M | Series B | – | – | |
| Nov 2015 | – | Series B | – | – | |
| Jul 2014 | $40M | Series B | – | a16z | |
| Dec 2013 | $5.5M | Series A | – | – | |
| Oct 2012 | $16.9M | Series A | – | a16z, Alexis Ohanian | – |
| Sep 2011 | $1.9M | Series A | – | – | |
| Aug 2011 | $1.8M | Series A | – | – | |
| Aug 2011 | $125,000 | Seed | – | – | |
| Mar 2011 | $327,054 | Series A | – | Y Combinator | – |
14 investors in total: 13 institutional and 1 angel.
Investors in Genius
Genius has secured backing from 14 investors, including venture fund, angel, and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Lerer Hippeau, MediaLab and Seven Seven Six.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tech focused VC firm that does seed and early stage investments in the US | – | detroit.vc | Detroit, United States | |
Venture capital investments in technology sectors are handled by Andreessen Horowitz. | – | a16z.com | - | |
Early-stage investments in tech companies are made globally. | – | softbankvc.com | New York, United States | |
USA focused VC firm investing in seed and early stage startups | 2010 | lererhippeau.com | New York, United States | |
Venture capital investments are offered to startups by NEA. | – | nea.com | Menlo Park, United States | |
- | – | afsquare.com | - | |
Global tech sector investments are managed by Fenox Venture Capital. | – | fenoxvc.com | Taipei, Taiwan | |
VC firm making investment in early stage companies in the US | – | transmediacapital.com | San Francisco, United States | |
Investing in creators, organizing AI events, and building community in New York. | – | betaworks.com | - | |
Early-stage startups are accelerated via funding and educational programs. | – | ycombinator.com | Mountain View, United States |
Investor details for Genius
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of Genius
27 people are tracked at Genius (10 in leadership, 17 in team).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Jennie Telehowski | Chief Product Officer | Leadership |
Zach Connett | VP, Sales & Brand Partnerships EAST | Leadership |
Michael Heyward | CEO | Leadership |
Andrew Gordon | Deputy General Counsel, VP Business & Legal Affairs | Leadership |
Nicole Krupchak | VP Of Human Resources | Leadership |
Manuel Gómez | VP of Engineering | Leadership |
Nick Tapalansky | Senior Director Of Trust & Safety | Leadership |
Callie Timpanaro | Senior Account Director | Leadership |
Andrew Liu | Head Of Corporate Development | Leadership |
Alex Regen | Sr. Account Director | Leadership |
Ben Gross | General Counsel | Team |
Colby Handy | Product Manager | Team |
Latisha Hudson | Media Sales Assistant | Team |
Wei Lan | Engineering Lead | Team |
Hiroshi Farias Saito | Software Engineer | Team |
Fernando Angli | Senior Android Developer | Team |
Hernando de Sá Silva | Software Engineer | Team |
Enzo Bonggio | Software Engineer | Team |
Jason Salter | Staff Engineer | Team |
Rodrigo Dumont | Ios Developer | Team |
7 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for Genius
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
- Board tenure
- Professional contacts
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Genius
4 dated milestones of Genius across 12 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Genius is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $6.5M.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series B, of $5.8M.
- Exit Acquired by MediaLab.
Competitors of Genius
Genius operates in a dynamic and competitive business environment, facing competition from various established players and emerging companies in the market. The competitive landscape includes prominent companies such as Musixmatch, SyncPower, OpenSongApp, MultiChords and Hymnary Apps, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| musixmatch.com | 2010 | Bologna, Italy | $13.12M | – | Music lyrics database is provided for search and viewing. | |
| syncpower.jp | 2006 | Chiyoda, Japan | – | – | Lyrics recognition and synchronization with music are provided. | |
| opensongapp.com | 2016 | Tranent, United Kingdom | – | – | Free app for song management, display, and performance tools for musicians. | |
| multichords.com | 2019 | Madison Heights, United States | – | – | App for accessing music lyrics, chords, and interactive tools. | |
| hymnaryapps.com | 2017 | Baton Rouge, United States | – | – | Develops mobile apps for accessing Christian hymns, lyrics, and worship songs. | |
| utakashi.com | 2017 | – | – | – | Functions as an online platform for streaming anime music. | |
| nomadlyrics.com | 2010 | Annandale, United States | – | – | Provides an online platform for lyrics solutions. | |
| afghansonglyrics.com | 2014 | – | – | – | Offers online platform for searching and browsing Afghan music lyrics. | |
| sharetee.org | 2021 | – | – | – | App-based platform for learning music lyrics and chords. |
Detailed competitors of Genius
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
- Benchmarks
- Competitive positioning
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Web traffic of Genius
The website of Genius (genius.com) receives about 176.6M visits a month and ranks #240 among all websites worldwide, #19 in Music.
- Monthly visits176.6M
▼ 0.7% vs previous month
- Unique visitors70.4M
per month
- Global rank#240
among all websites
- Category rank#19
Arts and Entertainment · Music
- Bounce rate54%
- Pages per visit2.8
- Average visit2 min 15 sec
- DevicesDesktop 32% · Mobile 68%
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Genius. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
azlyrics.com | azlyrics.com | 100% | – | #6,066 | – |
| musixmatch.com | 99% | 13.5M | #4,392 | View details | |
| last.fm | 96% | 28M | #1,367 | View details | |
| soundcloud.com | 94% | 122.1M | #299 | View details | |
letras.com | letras.com | 90% | – | #1,459 | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 40 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Genius
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 40 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Latest news on Genius
Complete news archive for Genius
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
- Full article archive
- Source and publication date
- Older coverage
- Brand-specific news history
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Similar companies to Genius
10 companies that operate in the same segment as Genius (Music Tech), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Online platform for on-demand music and radio streaming | 2007 | Paris, France | USD 445.42 M | USD 627.4 M | 566 | |
Music streaming is offered on-demand to global users. | 2006 | Stockholm, Sweden | USD 2.06 B | USD 19.4 B | – | |
Broadcast radio channels are aggregated and streamed through subscriptions. | 2002 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 98.35 M | – | – | |
Music streaming services are provided online for free. | 2007 | Berlin, Berlin, Germany | USD 437.81 M | – | – | |
A ticketing platform for live events is offered by DICE. | 2014 | London, England, United Kingdom | USD 238.27 M | – | – | |
Decentralized audio distribution is enabled for creators via blockchain technology. | 2018 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 16.1 M | – | 44 | |
Music creation and collaboration are enabled through an online platform. | 2013 | New York, New York, United States | USD 164.5 M | – | – | |
Music streaming solutions for businesses are provided. | 2014 | Stockholm, Sweden | USD 54.62 M | – | – | |
Mobile jukebox app is used for venue customer engagement. | 2010 | Oakland, California, United States | USD 6.82 M | – | 80 | |
Music is licensed via a cloud-based platform for professional use. | 2009 | Stockholm, Sweden | USD 476 M | – | – |
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Frequently Asked Questions about Genius
Genius was founded in 2009.
Genius is headquartered in Brooklyn, United States. It is registered at Brooklyn, New York, United States.
Genius is a funded company, having raised a total of $93.89M across 11 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $327.05K, raised on Nov 2009.
A comprehensive database of song lyrics and musical knowledge is maintained by Genius. The platform serves a global community of contributors who add and annotate content. Various genres including rap, pop, and rock are covered. Features like charts, videos, and artist news are provided to enhance user engagement. The service is accessible worldwide through its online presence.
Genius's top competitors include Musixmatch, SyncPower and OpenSongApp.
Genius offers Song Lyrics Database and Musical Knowledge Platform.
Genius has 14 investors. Key investors include Lerer Hippeau, MediaLab, Seven Seven Six, Detroit Venture Partners, and Dan Gilbert.
Genius operates through Ml Genius Holdings, Llc.
Yes. Genius was acquired by MediaLab in September 2021.
The website of Genius receives about 176.6 million visits a month and ranks #240 among all websites worldwide.

