The first Finnish online rock venue, Jenkatehdas, gets funded by Tekes and two business angels: Jyrki Kontio and Topi Löppönen. The amount of angel investment was not disclosed, though it is known that Tekes invested 140,000€ project money into the start-up. The money will speed up the company's growth and help it start international expansion. Jenkatehdas host live concerts in their studio which are streamed in real-time on their website. Users need to purchase tickets (priced at about 5€) in order to watch the concerts and interact with each other and the band.

Since launching last autumn, Jenkatehdas has hosted four concerts with diverse local artists like Haloo Helsinki!, Jukka Poika & Sound Explosion Band, M.A. Numminen and Pedro Hietanen. With the help of the new investment the company would not only increase the number of concerts they host, but they would also roll out a global site LiveMusicStage.com starting from Germany in September. On top of that, bars and other venues can now also stream concerts from Jenkatehdas' studio through a licensing fee.

'One half great music, the other half being with great friends. That’s what we’ve aimed at since the beginning. After a long pioneering work it feels great to take the service to the next level – both in terms of the customer experience and the business concept', comments founder and CEO Antti Eronen.

Jenkatehdas' concept is interesting in that it brings bands closer to their fans: concerts become much more personal when you can interact with the band in real-time. Fans win by watching an exclusive live concert through internet at a fairly low price. Additionally, Jenkatehdas can easily grant fans access to backstage prior to the concert, which they are doing for the upcoming concert by 22-Pistepirkko on August 10th. A new site design as well as brand new interaction features would be launched at that gig too.

Since the last time we wrote about the company, Jenkatehdas developed their business concept further while retaining their service's key features. Exclusive concerts online have a definite value for people who don't like or can't afford live concerts in physical venues. Real-time interaction with the band is something the company can definitely monetize since it has not really been available before.

Now that Jenkatehdas got some investment and professional business talent on board, we can expect them to attract audiences outside of Finland and grow business-wise.

Below is Jenkatehdas' a short introduction video of :

Image by kainet