Symphony Communication

Last updated
Symphony
Industry Financial Technology
Genre Communication software
Website www.symphony.com

Symphony is an instant messaging service designed for use by financial firms. The software features include workplace chat, voice calling, video conferencing, encryption, and support for third-party plugins.

Contents

Symphony Messaging can integrate with mobile messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, SMS, WeChat and LINE. [1] Symphony is developed by Symphony Communication Services.

History

The technology was initially developed by Goldman Sachs as an internal messaging system called Live Current. [2] In October 2014, Goldman Sachs and 14 other financial institutions invested $66 million to establish Symphony Communication Services LLC [3] and acquire Perzo, Inc., [4] a secure communication application known for its end-to-end encryption messaging. [5]

Perzo was founded by David Gurle in 2012, and he served as Symphony's CEO from 2014 to 2021. [6] Gurle played a role in developing communication solutions for Skype, Thomson Reuters, and Microsoft. [7]

Symphony 2.0 was announced during the company's annual Innovate Conference in New York City in October 2019. [8] [2] The release of software components called Elements aimed to facilitate the development of custom applications on the Symphony platform. [9] Symphony 2.0 was launched one year later. [10]

By 2020, Symphony claimed to have amassed over 400,000 users on its platform. [10]

Brad Levy joined Symphony in July 2020 as the president and chief commercial officer. In June 2021, he assumed the role of chief executive officer after former founder David Gurle stepped down from the executive position. Levy had previous experience working at Goldman Sachs and IHS Markit before joining Symphony. [11]

Funding

In September 2014, fifteen financial firms, including Bank of America, BNY Mellon, Citi, Credit Suisse, HSBC and JPMorgan made investments in Symphony. [12]

In October 2015, Symphony announced a successful funding round of $100 million, led by Google. UBS, Société Générale, Lakestar, Natixis, and other firms also participated in the investment. [13]

In May 2017, Symphony secured an additional $63 million in funding from BNP Paribas and existing investors, resulting in a total valuation of the company surpassing $1 billion. [14]

In June 2019, Symphony announced a funding round of $165 million with a valuation of $1.4 billion. Standard Chartered, MUFG Innovation Partners, and other undisclosed current and new investors contributed to the funding. Since September 2014, Symphony has raised a total of $460 million. [15]

The company's most recent funding round took place in December 2020, known as the Series E round, where it raised $50 million from existing investors. [16]

Acquisitions

On November 28, 2014, Symphony Communication Services LLC completed the acquisition of technology assets from Collaboration Services, the open messaging network developed by Markit Ltd. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. [17]

On August 2, 2021, Symphony Communication Services LLC acquired StreetLinx, a counterparty mapping platform. [18]

On November 29, 2021, Symphony Communication Services LLC acquired Amenity Analytics, a natural language processing (NLP) data analytics solution. [19]

Cloud9

On June 24, 2021, Symphony Communication Services LLC acquired Cloud9 Technologies, a voice trading turret phone system used by financial traders [20] . Cloud9 was launched in 2014, built on Web Real-Time Communication (WebRTC). Early customers included JP Morgan, Icap, and Barclays. [21] Cloud9’s main competitors are IPC Systems and BT.

Cloud9 is a cloud-native Voice over IP (VoIP) service that requires no physical hardware, however optional hardware is available [22] To meet regulatory compliance demands of the financial trading industry, Cloud9 features voice-to-text transcription and storage. [23]

During the annual Symphony Innovate event on May 21, 2025, the firm announced the Cloud9 mobile app. Features of Cloud9 Mobile include voice calling, activity notifications, and a peer-to-peer network directory. It was already being trialled by some of the firm’s customers. [24]

Security

Symphony’s infrastructure is hosted on Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services. Web servers and databases are load-balanced across multiple zones for reliability.

Symphony Messaging uses end-to-end encryption for all messages and attachments. Conversation encryption keys are computed in Symphony’s Key Manager using Symphony’s patented cryptographic protocol. Encryption keys are then securely exchanged between Symphony’s key management and authorized participants, which employs a key encapsulation mechanism to ensure encryption keys remain perpetually inaccessible to Symphony.

Symphony’s patented “cryptographic isolation protocol” ensures that data is encrypted and accessible only to authorized participants, whilst simultaneously allowing the necessary governance controls for regulatory compliance.

In May 2025, Symphony announced Confidential Cloud, a secure messaging and voice platform that uses AI for enhanced security and operational efficiency. [25] The fully managed cloud solution employs key management, and eliminates the need for on-premise components. [26]

References

  1. ↑ "Symphony - Federation". Symphony. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  2. 1 2 Alloway, Tracy. "Goldman's Symphony of Babble". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Baer, Justin. "Goldman-Led Group of Firms Buys Perzo to Form Instant-Messaging Company". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  4. ↑ LaCapra, Lauren. "Goldman leads investment by Wall Street in new communications platform". Reuters. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  5. ↑ Fulton, Kane. "Perzo: a military-grade messaging service that keeps the NSA at arms' length". Techradar. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Miller, Ron. "Wall Street-Backed Symphony Wants To Revolutionize Financial Services Communication". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  7. ↑ Baer, Justin (30 September 2014). "Wall Street's Chat Plan Turns to Perzo's Chief". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Announcing Symphony 2.0". 3 October 2019.
  9. ↑ Kerravala, Zeus (2019-11-02). "How Symphony 2.0 Approaches Automation, Workflows". eWEEK. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  10. 1 2 Kerravala, Zeus (2020-10-17). "Symphony Redesigns Platform for Work-from-Anywhere Trend". eWEEK. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  11. ↑ "Symphony Announces CEO Transition". 14 April 2021.
  12. ↑ Spring, Tom (5 March 2015). "Goldman Sachs-Backed Symphony Launches Secure Social Network". IT BOB. The Channel Company. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  13. ↑ Rao, Leena. "Google sends a message by funding Symphony". Fortune. Retrieved 2025-09-17.
  14. ↑ Baer, Justin (2017-05-16). "Symphony Raises $63 Million From BNP Paribas, Others". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2017-06-11.
  15. ↑ "Symphony, a messaging app that's been a hit with Wall Street, raises $165M at a $1.4B valuation". TechCrunch. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  16. ↑ "TechCrunch is part of the Yahoo family of brands". consent.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  17. ↑ Baer, Justin. "Bank-Backed Firm Buys Chat Service". WSJ. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  18. ↑ "Symphony acquires StreetLinx to offer the most complete and secure verified identity directory in financial services". Yahoo. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  19. ↑ "Symphony powers up its markets strategy with the acquisition of NLP platform Amenity Analytics". Symphony Communications. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  20. ↑ "Symphony acquires Cloud9 Technologies in bid to expand customer base". Yahoo Finance. 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  21. ↑ "JPMorgan, Icap and Barclays Invest in Cloud9 - WatersTechnology.com". www.waterstechnology.com. 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
  22. ↑ "Symphony - Cloud9". Symphony. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
  23. ↑ "Cloud9 Technologies Case Study". Google Cloud. Retrieved 2025-08-05.
  24. ↑ "Symphony Innovate 2025: Cloud9 mobile unveiled". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
  25. ↑ "This Week In AI Chips - AI Innovations Revolutionize Financial Security and Communication". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  26. ↑ "Symphony: Agentic AI and cloud adoption are paramount to" . Retrieved 2025-08-22.
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