Polish-based GRAI has secured $9 (€7.65) million in seed funding in a round co-led by Khosla Ventures and Polish Inovo VC, as the startup looks to redefine how users engage with music in the age of AI.
Other investors in the round include Tensor Ventures, Tiny.VC, Flyer One Ventures, the a16z Scout Fund, and a group of angel backers with backgrounds across AI and consumer tech.
Moving beyond AI-generated music
GRAI, based in Poland, is building tools that allow users to remix tracks, alter styles, and share music socially, emphasizing participation over production.
“The idea that we’re building the company around is what the next thing can be in music AI interaction and consumption,” explains GRAI co-founder and CEO Ilya Liasun for TechCrunch. He says the main reason the founders started GRAI is that music has become one of the last major consumer categories that hasn’t gone “creator-first.”
GRAI is designing its products for younger audiences who discover music through culture — via friends, fandoms, and short-form platforms like TikTok.
According to the company, these users are not necessarily aspiring musicians or producers. Instead, they want lightweight, social ways to engage with music.
To support this, GRAI has launched early apps including a remixing tool for iOS and an AI music playground for Android, which serve as testing grounds for user behavior and feedback.
Building infrastructure for “music participation”
Under the hood, GRAI is developing its own “taste and participation graph,” alongside real-time audio systems and a so-called “derivatives pipeline.” These technologies aim to preserve the identity of original tracks while enabling transformations.
The company believes this could open up new revenue streams by allowing remixed or modified tracks to generate royalties for artists and rights holders.
GRAI says it is engaging with artists and labels upfront. The goal is to build a system where rights holders can opt in or out of how their music is used.
