British audio and computing hardware startup Kano, which offers hardware aimed at musicians and creatives, is announcing a fresh public equity financing round after parting ways with controversial rapper Kanye West.

Kano CEO Alex Klein told CNBC that the company will launch a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube on Tuesday. Regular users will be able to invest in Kano alongside major investors like Microsoft and billionaire investor Jim Breyer’s Breyer Capital. It’s seeking to raise $900,000 from individual investors in the U.K. and Europe. The company also plans to expand the crowdfund to the U.S.

In 2019, Klein met with Kanye West, the disgraced rapper who has been increasingly ostracized from the business world over his antisemitic remarks. The two would go on to discuss the beginnings of what eventually became the Stem Player, which was originally named the “Donda Stem Player,” a reference to West’s 10th studio album, Donda. Ye’s 11th album, Donda 2, was released exclusively on the Stem Player, on Feb. 23, 2022.

Ye then approached Klien and offered to buy the company for $80 million at one time, according to Alex Klein.

Kano pulled away from the deal after a disagreement over conditions and a series of antisemitic outbursts from Ye, and severed its commercial agreement with Ye permanently in January.

Klein hopes to move on from the ordeal by investing the funds in the development of a new product. Once its Crowdcube round closes, Klein plans to invest a significant portion of it into a pair of white headphones called the Stem Headphones, by the end of 2023 or early 2024.the Stem Headphones.

Source – Tru News Report

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