Suno has raised over $400 million in Series D funding at a $5.4 billion post-money valuation.
The round was led by Bond Capital, alongside IVP, Forerunner, Union Square Ventures, Alkeon, and Quiet, with participation from existing investors Matrix, Lightspeed, Menlo Ventures, and Schroders Capital.
The AI music company announced the round on Wednesday (June 3).
CEO and co-founder Mikey Shulman wrote in a blog post that “as with our previous funding rounds, we’re thrilled to have participation from some of the best artists, producers, songwriters, and people from across the music industry.”
The funding more than doubles Suno‘s valuation from the $2.45 billion it achieved after closing a $250 million Series C round seven months ago in November.
Axios reported last week that Bond Capital would lead the latest round.
The confirmed sum significantly exceeds the $250 million-plus initially anticipated when the round was first reported in early May.
“This funding will help us accelerate what matters most: helping more people express themselves through music, while continuing to expand what’s possible for artists and creators on Suno,” CEO and co-founder Mikey Shulman wrote in a blog post.
“This funding will help us accelerate what matters most: helping more people express themselves through music, while continuing to expand what’s possible for artists and creators on Suno.”
Mikey Shulman, suno
In an interview with Bloomberg, Shulman said the capital will be used to accelerate hiring, develop new products, and fuel further growth.
“Having more capital allows us to operate the business differently and take some bigger swings,” he told the outlet.
Suno currently counts around 200 employees and plans to increase its headcount by as much as 70% by the end of the year, according to Bloomberg.
The company surpassed 2 million paid subscribers in February, when CEO Shulman also said it was on pace for $300 million in annual revenue.
Shulman also told Bloomberg that user engagement with the platform has increased, while cancellation rates have declined.
“A higher share of users are falling in love with the product and coming back,” he said.
Meanwhile, Suno continues to face copyright infringement lawsuits from major music companies and key European music rights organizations.
The RIAA filed suit against both Suno and rival Udio in mid-2024, acting on behalf of all three majors, alleging “mass infringement” of copyright. Udio has since reached settlements with both Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, signing licensing agreements with each for a new AI music platform expected to launch this year.
Suno reached a settlement with Warner Music Group in November, but the AI company remains locked in legal battles with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, as well as with Denmark’s Koda and Germany’s GEMA.
UMG and Sony Music asked a federal court last month for permission to add more than 61,000 copyrighted sound recordings to their lawsuit against Suno.
The motion, which you can read here, comes after the record companies used audio fingerprinting technology to identify their recordings within Suno’s training data.
Suno recently asked the court to keep secret the exact number of audio files it used to train its AI music generation model – arguing that disclosing the figure would give rivals a competitive advantage.
In April, the Financial Times reported that licensing negotiations between Suno and the remaining major label plaintiffs had stalled, with a person involved in the talks telling the newspaper there was “no path forward with the current proposal”.
According to Bloomberg, Suno has been testing products under its partnership with Warner Music Group and plans to launch the first one in the coming months.
The report said the initial product under the deal will resemble Suno‘s existing offering, but with the added ability for users to reference and incorporate Warner songs.
In his blog post on Wednesday, Shulman said that “in the coming months, we’ll begin rolling out our first music model developed in partnership with the music industry.”
He added: “We believe there’s a huge opportunity to create new experiences for fans while helping artists reach audiences, build community, and unlock new creative and economic possibilities.”
Bloomberg noted that artists, producers, songwriters, and music industry executives have invested in Suno, though Shulman declined to name specific individuals.
Daegwon Chae, a General Partner at Bond Capital, compared Suno to coding tools that have enabled non-programmers to build their own applications, telling Bloomberg that the company occupies a similar position in music.
“Suno unlocks a new part of the entertainment market based on active participation, creation and engagement,” Chae told the outlet.Music Business Worldwide
