After the surprise acquisition of an English soccer club, poultry major Venkateshwara Hatcheries has picked up a stake in Internet music company Hitlab.com, which counts pop artist Akon as one of its promoters.

Venky's India is the third-largest shareholder in Hitlab.com and the Web site had a soft launch on April 1 ahead of Akon's India tour, a statement from its publicist said on Tuesday.

Hitlab.com is a forum for musicians to test their songs and uses the DHS (Dynamic Hit Scoring) technology.