KaraFun Group partners with Verlinvest and Vendis Capital to scale the future of karaoke
- This partnership will strengthen the company’s mission to provide an active music experience through its proprietary technology, broad and curated song catalog as well as its omnichannel approach.
BRUSSELS, Belgium, July 9, 2025 – KaraFun Group, a global leader in interactive music entertainment, has successfully secured investment from Verlinvest and Vendis Capital, two leading investors known for backing consumer-focused brands. The partnership comes as KaraFun Group continues to scale rapidly, offering the world’s largest proprietary song catalog featuring in-house recorded tracks in over 30 languages — all delivered in exceptional audio quality.
Founded in 2005 by brothers Jean-Baptiste and Bart Defossez, the French company set out to revolutionize karaoke through gamified, interactive experiences that include music trivia, live quizzes, and games that engage users in playful and social ways. KaraFun Group’s unique ecosystem spans B2C and B2Pro apps, B2B software for hospitality venues, and branded karaoke bars in France and Belgium.
Jean-Baptiste Defossez, Founder & Executive Chairman at KaraFun Group, shared,“Together with the experienced teams at Verlinvest and Vendis Capital — renowned for scaling category-leading consumer brands across Europe, the US, and Asia — we will harness shared insights and networks to fuel data-driven, immersive karaoke experiences and drive rapid global adoption of our advanced music platforms. With more than 30 million karaoke nights powered worldwide, KaraFun Group has redefined the interactive music experience by combining state-of-the-art technology with curated design and hospitality. This partnership marks an exciting new chapter in bringing that vision to a wider global audience.”
With a fast-growing user base across its different products, KaraFun Group is poised to lead the next evolution in global music engagement. In 2025, the company will accelerate international expansion and enhance its B2C and B2B karaoke solutions. Verlinvest and Vendis Capital will work closely with KaraFun Group’s leadership to support international expansion, enhance personalization across its digital platforms, and bring the company’s award-winning technology to new audiences and markets.
Raphael Thiolon, Managing Director at Verlinvest, said, “In a world where shared experiences and creative expression are more valued than ever, KaraFun Group is redefining how people connect through music. The brand is uniquely positioned to meet that demand by merging content, community, and cutting-edge user experience, in a way few others can. We see immense potential in KaraFun’s ability to scale across markets and formats, and we are proud to support the team’s vision of creating a seamless and comprehensive singing and karaoke experience for fun-loving consumers worldwide.”
Mathieu de Medeiros, Partner at Vendis Capital, added “We were deeply impressed by the KaraFun Group founders and their leadership team, who have built a truly global, product-driven business through an unwavering focus on user experience and continuous innovation. Their strategic vision and user-centric mindset have enabled product excellence and clear market differentiation, driving sustained growth. With strong momentum and a highly scalable platform, KaraFun Group is ideally positioned to accelerate its growth trajectory. We are proud to partner with Jean-Baptiste and his team to support the next stage of the company’s development and help them reach new heights”.
KaraFun Group is dedicated to both amateurs and professionals, with a user base across more than 50 countries. Backed by a highly engaged community that spends an average of 4 hours per month singing on the platform, KaraFun’s YouTube channel boasts over 3 million subscribers and more than 3 billion views, highlighting the scale and passion of their audience.
Committed to making interactive and enjoyable experiences accessible to all, KaraFun Group also features Jamzone, an app which allows professional musicians, bands and music-lovers to play along to a selection of current hits and classics and completely customize the experience according to the needed key and tempo.
About KaraFun Group
Founded in 2005 by brothers Jean-Baptiste and Bart Defossez, KaraFun Group is an interactive music entertainment company created by music lovers, for music lovers. With a unique proprietary catalog, KaraFun Group is a global leader in karaoke and backing track solutions. The France-based company serves users in more than 50 countries through its portfolio of music platforms—KaraFun, Jamzone, and Karaoke Version—and B2B software powering private karaoke rooms and hospitality venues worldwide. KaraFun Group also operates branded karaoke bars across Paris, Lille, and Brussels. More information is available at www.karafun.com
About Verlinvest
Verlinvest is an international, family-backed evergreen investment company. We identify inflection points in consumer behaviors and partner with the businesses that are driving these consumer revolutions forward while having a positive impact. Established in 1995, with offices in Brussels, London, New York, Singapore, and Mumbai, Verlinvest focuses on the FMCG, health, consumer technology and lifestyle categories, investing across three strategies: Platform, Growth & Venture. The company has over €2bn in AuM and counts brands such as Oatly, Vita Coco, Tony’s Chocolonely, Purplle.com, K1 Speed, Mutti and Who Gives A Crap among our portfolio, alongside alumni Chewy.com, Sula, Vitaminwater and Remy Cointreau. Further information is available at www.verlinvest.com.
About Vendis
Founded in 2009, Vendis Capital is an independent private equity firm specializing in the consumer goods and services sector in Europe. In partnership with experienced entrepreneurs and managers, Vendis aims to invest in small to medium sized consumer companies to help them realize their potential for growth and value creation. Vendis invests in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and in the Scandinavian countries. More information is available at www.vendiscapital.com.
Next article: