This story appears in the May 2025 issue of Utah Business. Subscribe.
At Kickstart, we’ve had the privilege of investing in some of the most exciting consumer companies in Utah and Colorado. From platforms like Havenly, Angel Studios (formerly VidAngel), Pura and Chatbooks to consumer brands like Stance and Cotopaxi, we’ve seen firsthand how visionary founders can build category-defining businesses. Our investment in Music AI fits this mold — founders obsessed with music, product and artificial intelligence.
Josh Wolfe, co-founder of Lux Capital, often talks about the “five-year bias” — the idea that everyone today wants to be in AI when they should have been five years ago. Music AI, however, was ahead of the curve. Long before AI became a buzzword, the team was building something truly transformative in the music industry.
Music AI acts as a creative canvas for musicians, integrating AI to enhance — not replace — the artist’s role in music creation. While many AI-driven platforms lean toward automation that diminishes human creativity, Music AI takes the opposite approach, giving musicians tools to elevate their artistry rather than sideline it. This philosophy resonated with us and, as we’ve seen, with millions of users worldwide. The company is committed to ethical AI development, training its models exclusively on fully licensed content to ensure fair compensation for creators.
Music AI’s founders — Geraldo Ramos, Eddie Hsu and Jardson Almeida — have grown the company into a global entity with a team of over 90 collaborators across the United States, Brazil and Europe. Geraldo is a drummer and deeply obsessed with music; we’ve learned that the best founders are often those who are irrationally obsessed with their craft. That level of passion and dedication fuels their ability to build something extraordinary.
When we first invested, some skeptics believed Music AI was addressing too niche of a market. Interestingly, this is a common critique of some of our most successful investments, but the numbers tell a different story. Today, the platform has over 50 million users, won Apple’s iPad App of the Year, and is developing a strong B2B motion, proving that the demand for creator-centric AI tools is real and growing. In addition, the company continues to lead the field in the AI technology of stem separation, the process of dividing a complete audio mix into its individual component tracks or “stems.”
We led Music AI’s pre-seed and seed rounds and participated in its recent $40 million Series A, which was led by Connect Ventures — a collaboration between Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and New Enterprise Associates — and monashees. CAA is one of the most well-respected talent agencies in the world, representing top names in music, sports and entertainment. The fact that they saw the value in Music AI underscores the company’s potential to shape the future of music technology.
AI is undoubtedly reshaping industries, and music is no exception. But as with all technological advancements, the winners will be the companies that understand how to integrate AI in a way that enhances, rather than replaces, human creativity. Music AI is doing just that, and we’re thrilled to be part of their journey.
