Google, others help messaging startup Symphony raise $100 million

(Reuters) - Symphony Communication Services, a messaging startup backed by Wall Street banks, said it had raised more than $100 million in a new round of funding from investors including Google, UBS Group AG and European venture capital firm Lakestar.

Symphony's chat service allows financial firms, corporate customers and individuals to put all of their digital communications on one centralized platform.

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported last week that the new round of funding would value Symphony at about $650 million. (http://on.wsj.com/1VNY8Eu)

Other investors that participated in the latest funding round include French investment banks Natixis SA, Societe Generale and a group of existing investors including Silicon Valley venture firm Merus Capital.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc led a group of 14 banks including Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co in making a $66 million investment in Symphony last October, when Symphony was set up.

Symphony said on Monday it would use the new capital to address demand and to speed up expansion of its global operations.

The Symphony service is a rival to financial market messaging services offered by Bloomberg LP and Thomson Reuters Corp. It is available to businesses with more than 50 users for $15 per user per month. Smaller businesses and individuals can use the tool for free.

Symphony said last month it was working with News Corp's Dow Jones to offer news in its service and with McGraw Hill Financial Inc to integrate data and analytics from its S&P Capital IQ product.

Google became Alphabet Inc earlier this month.

(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr)

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