The Goldman Sachs-backed chat tool out to displace Bloomberg has launched
The company launched in New York on Tuesday morning at an event with analysts and press just west of Broadway, on 11th Avenue.
Symphony bills itself as a cheaper, more secure version of financial services and chat room technology that has long been locked behind black-and-orange Bloomberg screens.
"We can do this, because of the cloud," said CEO David Gurle, speaking Tuesday in New York. "If cloud technology wasn't available, there would be no Symphony. It gives you access anywhere."
The disparity in price between Symphony and a Bloomberg terminal is significant: while the latter can cost upwards of $20,000 annually, Symphony's users will pay $15 per user per month, according to the company's website.
The company's chat tool is similar to that of a social networks; tickers are assigned dollar signs to make them easier to search in histories and hash-tagged keywords can also be indexed and stored separately or in a group.
There are other differences as well. Symphony has also differentiated itself from its bigger competitor through its privacy settings.
This, however, rubbed lawmakers the wrong way. The New York Department of Financial Services on Monday secured an agreement from the banks it oversees that use and invest in Symphony, as well as from the company itself, to retain copies of electronic communications sent through its platforms for seven years and to store duplicate copies of decryption keys with independent entities.
"We are very proud of our collaboration with DFS," Gurle told attendees Tuesday.
As Symphony sets its sights on Bloomberg's lucrative terminal business, it has also enlisted major media partners that compete with the financial data titan.
In July, Business Insider reported the company was collaborating with Dow Jones, corporate parent of the Wall Street Journal.
McGraw Hill Financial and Selerityare also partnering with Symphony.
The startup has been busy building momentum with clients and investors alike; earlier this year it was reported Symphony sought funding at a $1 billion valuation.
Symphony's backers are Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo and other financial services firms. The company's development came after a group of financial services firms led by Goldman acquired and rebranded messaging platform Perzo last year.