Hook, an artist-first social platform for fan-powered music creation, announced it has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from existing investors Point72 Ventures, Imaginary Ventures, and Waverley Capital. The round brings the company’s total funding to $16 million. Existing investors across the music ecosystem include Palm Tree Crew, Three Six Zero, Avex, The Raine Group, and musician and DJ KSHMR.
Hook positions itself as transforming passive music consumption into active participation. Through AI-powered tools, fans can remix songs across genres and moods, create original versions and share them across social media platforms with one tap, enabling familiar songs to be reimagined while supporting discovery for emerging artists and creators.
Since launching in 2025, Hook has emphasized an artist-first approach, working directly with rights holders to ensure artists retain ownership, control and monetization. The company has partnered with major artists and labels, including Universal Music Group, on campaigns that have generated more than 250 million views across social platforms. Through partnerships with Downtown Music and its distribution arm FUGA, Too Lost, Primary Wave and Avex, Hook says it has access to a catalog of more than 20 million licensed songs. Over the past 12 months, the company reports that its active user base has grown by more than 45 times.
Hook operates as an open platform integrating with major social and streaming services, while aiming to ensure that artists and copyright owners directly participate in the value created through fan remixes and distribution.
With the new capital, Hook plans to expand user growth initiatives, invest further in brand and platform development and advance its product roadmap. Planned updates include the launch of an Android app, new community-driven features, richer creation formats and native video and recording capabilities. The company also intends to deepen integrations and partnerships across the music ecosystem while maintaining an artist-led ownership model.
As part of its growth phase, Hook elevated Simmi Singh to Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer. Singh joined the company in 2023 as Chief Product Officer and previously led Strategy and Operations for Podcasts at Spotify. She also worked with Hook founder Gaurav Sharma at JioSaavn.
KEY QUOTES:
“Hook was built on a simple idea: fans want to express themselves with the music they love, and artists deserve to stay in control of how their work is used. We’re building the social music platform where creativity can thrive, and where ownership and monetization remain artist-led from day one.”
Gaurav Sharma, Founder And Chief Executive Officer Of Hook
“Hook is solving a hard problem at the center of modern music: enabling remixing and social distribution in a way that works for rights holders at scale. The team has built a platform that pairs a consumer-native experience with licensing, attribution, and reporting infrastructure that the ecosystem can rely on. We’re excited to lead this round and support Hook’s next phase of growth.”
Samir Kaul, Founding Partner And Managing Director At Khosla Ventures
