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Ones To Watch 2021
Saarey LtdSaarey Ltd

Saarey Music is the award winning audio streaming app for exclusive South Asian classical music that provides easy access to human curated music in order to enrich lives worldwide. We hold exclusive worldwide rights to ~85-90% of the available recorded music in this genre coming from Pakistan. Saarey Music is available on iOS and Android and after the free registration bonus, users can choose between an auto-recurring monthly, half-yearly or yearly subscription plan and can pay with their visa/mastercard, iTunes account or Google Play account.

This is the first time Pakistan's classical music has been given a streaming platform to showcase this under-represented art form. It solves the problem of the underserved needs of those that love the genre but do not have easy access to it. Content for the genre is currently consumed via personal CD or cassette collections or via ad-filled, limited and low quality content on YouTube. With Saarey Music, you can now listen to your favorite Ustad and immerse yourself in your favorite raag, anytime and anywhere. In our Discover More section, you can take a journey of discovery into more of what you love.

Music streaming is just the beginning: Saarey Music holds the potential to connect the entire eco-system of South Asian classical music into one place. This includes users learning about the intricacies of the music and educating themselves, connecting organizers and artists for events, giving users a platform to give "nazar" (respectable form of a tip) directly to artists, to order instruments and to buy merchandize... all in one place. This access opens up doors for global cross-cultural collaborations between UK and South Asian artists and art forms, potentially creating something new and magical. We have raised GBP 45k in funding from experienced international angel investors.

Saarey Music started out of a deep desire to provide easy access to a unique, culturally significant and ancient living art form. Led by founder and CEO Faraan Irfan, a 16 year veteran in South Asian classical music who continues a 61 year family legacy and a Global MBA with honours from Columbia Business School, London Business School and Hong Kong University, the small team is a great mix of domain experts with deep industry knowledge and complementary skill sets which includes Deven, a serial entrepreneur and Nick, a former subscription manager for Spotify who helped grow its subscriptions by 2x. As of Dec 31, our YoY revenue grew 272% in Year 1 (compare this to 178% YoY growth in an average tech startup). As of Mar 31, monthly recurring revenue (MRR) grew 15% MoM and net paying subscriber count 16% MoM. We have exceeded GBP3,000 in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and exceeded 3,700 Monthly Active Users (MAU), of which 58% are in the 18-35 age bracket. The customer acquisition cost (CAC) remains stable at less than GBP35/user with a stable 4-6% churn. Given our CAC and the funding that we expect to raise for customer acquisition, we will reach have 2 million paying subscribers in 5 years, have GBP 50m in revenues and be a GBP 250 million company in 5 years,

CIC CreaTech One to Watch 2021 will allow Saarey to reach a large audience and enhance our credibility to give us a better chance to find new customers, raise further funding and find mentors, advisors and talent.  

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