Roon's founder, Enno Vandermeer, this morning announced via the company's customer-facing discussion forums, “we've found a partner committed to helping us amplify what we do: Roon has joined the family of brands owned by Harman International.”

Vandermeer started the discussion by stating:

In 2015, our tiny team of Sooloos/Meridian veterans created a one-page website that teased a new way to browse, discover, and listen to music. In nearly nine incredible years since, we've introduced ten successive versions of Roon, built the world's broadest ecosystem of compatible audio products, and attracted a community of the world's most dedicated music and audio enthusiasts. We've built a fantastic team to make it all happen, and among Roon users, we now count a “who's who” of music and audio professionals of every stripe.

The thing is, we want to do more.

Vandermeer continues:

As a business unit within one of the largest and longest-lived companies in the audio industry, we'll work alongside companies as dedicated to the enjoyment of music as we are, who design and manufacture everything from microphones to car audio systems to lighting for live performance. Harman shares our vision that unique and engaging ways of browsing, discovering, and collecting music – along with a commitment to the best possible sound quality on the largest ecosystem of devices from all manufacturers – is the future for all music enthusiasts.

The company also states, “Roon will continue exactly as it is.”

• All monthly, annual, and lifetime subscriptions remain valid and will continue without interruption.
• Trials will continue and convert as they usually would.
• There will be no changes to our billing processes.
• This community site will continue to be the home for discussion about Roon, audio, and music.
• Our customer success and support services will continue to operate as they do today.
• All supported audio products will continue to work with Roon, and we're committed to certifying new Roon Ready and Roon Tested products from all brands.
• The familiar faces from our team will be right here, as always.

We're excited because this is the right time to open a new chapter for Roon and the enthusiasts it serves. If you've been reading our posts over the years, you've probably sensed that getting a startup to escape velocity is a struggle. That's because it is; startups with passionate founding teams fail every day. Succeeding as a young company is a constant quest to balance serving the needs of customers with keeping the lights on and bringing on talented people to augment the team. Achieving that balance – particularly without external funding – takes vision, nerves, and a deep reservoir of reckless optimism.

Dave Rogers, President, Lifestyle Division, HARMAN, added:

At HARMAN we take great pride in our ability to create exceptional audio experiences for our partners and consumers around the world. The team at Roon shares our passion in bringing exceptional sound and connectivity to music lovers as they browse, discover, and listen at home and on the go. We are looking forward to welcoming Roon, whose impressive talent will join the HARMAN family and bolster our already robust engineering capabilities.

Roon will operate as a standalone Harman business with its existing team. All Roon operations will stay in place and continue to be dedicated to serving and growing Roon's community of device partners and customers. Together, they will pursue a joint mission to deliver engaging and personalised audio experiences across a universe of products and platforms.

With the backing of Harman International, Roon's bright future looks certain. Roon is currently offering a special promotion for Black Friday - 3-Month Subscription for just $3.