TikTok veterans' audio AI startup Sonilo raises $11M to score video automatically
What's the deal? SoniloDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a San Francisco generative audio startup founded by former TikTok AI and music staff, has raised $11 million. B Capital led the round, with Redpoint also taking part. The money will fund the computing power to scale its models.
What's the endgame? Sonilo's core technology, called the Sound World Model, ties video comprehension to audio generation. It reads a scene's movement and emotional shifts, then produces music and sound effects built for that footage. Users upload a clip, type a description, or combine both to get a synced, commercially usable soundtrack.
Who's behind it? Chief executive officer and co-founder Shawn Song led multimodal AI work at TikTok, where he worked alongside chief technology officer Alex Yin. Chief operating officer Keli Li built and ran TikTok's global music operation, while chief marketing officer Trista Taylor has helped develop consumer AI apps that made a16z's Top 50 rankings.
In their words. "You give us the footage, and Sonilo understands what's happening frame by frame, including the pacing, emotion, and story, and generates music and sound effects that naturally fit the scene," Song said.
Who's it for? The platform targets short-form video and short-drama creators, developer platforms building AI video tools, and enterprise production teams. It also offers AI dubbing with lip-sync, letting studios localise video into other languages without manual editing. TapNow and ComfyUI have signed on as early distribution partners.
The product. A consumer app is set to launch in the fourth quarter, putting the video-to-music tool in the hands of individual creators. Sonilo also plans to widen its reach and build out its music licensing business.
On rights. Shutterstock is an early licensing partner. Sonilo said its models learn from licensed music, and that artists and rights owners receive licensing fees plus a share of revenue. The company is wrapping up publishing and master recording agreements with major rights organisations, which it expects to close within weeks.
The signal: Investors are betting generative audio becomes a core layer of AI video production. "We believe generative audio will become an essential part of the AI-native video stack," said Daisy Cai, general partner at B Capital, which manages more than $9 billion across the US and Asia.
Read more: ca.news.yahoo.com
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