Hook Announces Additional Seed Investment By Imaginary Ventures

06 March 2024 - Press release

Hook, the music platform that enables fans to easily, quickly and legally remix popular music for use on social media, announced today that it has extended its Seed Round to bring on additional investments from Natalie Massenet and Nick Brown’s Imaginary Ventures and a group of strategic music and social media industry investors and advisors. This additional investment brings the total of Hook’s Seed round, which was led by Point72 Ventures and Edgar Bronfman Jr.’s Waverley Capital, to $3.5 Million. Imaginary Ventures backs some of the most exciting businesses across the consumer landscape, with early stakes in SKIMS, Daily Harvest, Glossier, and others.  

Hook also announced the initial members of its advisory board consisting of artists, influential founders, and executives across music, technology, licensing, artist management, social media platforms, and social media agencies. The inaugural group of advisors includes DJ and producer KSHMR; SNAP Head of Music Partnerships Manny Adler; venture capitalist Abe Burns; Downtown Music Holdings Founder & Chairman Justin Kalifowitz; Hundred Days Founder & Co-president Ben Klein; Reed Smith LLP Managing Partner Gregor Pryor, and others. 

Hook is collaborating with artists, social media agencies, and record labels to build a platform that unlocks new revenue streams for artists and creators as music consumption and discovery continue to shift to social media platforms. Hook’s innovative platform, now in closed private beta, gives fans an opportunity to deepen their engagement with licensed music on social media, while Hook makes sure artists and content owners are capturing the full value of their IP. Hook’s Founder and CEO Gaurav Sharma has a proven track record of building innovative music technology that integrates and aligns with the needs of the larger music industry. Sharma previously served as Chief Operating Officer for JioSaavn, India’s largest music streaming platform and one of the first platforms to secure global streaming licenses with record labels. Sharma and his team grew JioSaavn to more than 100 million active monthly users by the time he departed.  

“Artist compensation on social media is one of the most pressing issues in the industry,” said Sharma. “Hook is working with artists, labels and rights holders to help them capture the full value of UGC and fan expression on social media. That’s just one of the reasons the investors have been so enthusiastic about us.

“Natalie Massenet is a proven, authentic visionary who understands how to execute, and having her and her team at Imaginary supporting us will be our superpower,” said Sharma. “We are thrilled that Hook is one of Imaginary Ventures’ first music investments and look forward to tapping into her strategic insight, which perfectly complements the deep music experience of the members of our advisory board.”

“Hook is placed at the intersection of several exciting developments; the creator economy, social media as a music discovery tool, and generative AI,” said Massenet. “We believe that Gaurav and his team are uniquely placed to understand the evolution of music consumption and creation and are building a business model whose time has come.”

Prior to launching Imaginary Ventures with co-founder Nick Brown, Massenet disrupted the luxury retail industry when she founded and ran the successful fashion e-commerce business Net-a-Porter. In addition to her strategic investment in Hook, the company will also benefit from her entrepreneurial and consumer business-building expertise. 

KSHMR, the world-renowned musician, producer, and DJ, who is among the artists advising Hook, said: "The era of viral homemade remixes is here and Hook is the first platform to recognize and make sense of it. It’s also the first app I’ve seen in years that will actually get average Joes creating music — anybody with a thumb can do it. I’m proud to be involved in the early stages and can’t wait for people to see just how fun Hook is to play with."

“KSHMR is one of music’s most forward-thinking creators who has been instrumental in supporting new technologies in music for many years now,” said Sharma. “It’s amazing to have him work alongside us as we build an ecosystem where artists, labels and creators all benefit from fan expression.”

In addition to Point72 Ventures and Waverley Capital, Hook’s previously announced Seed funding round included Three Six Zero, and Avex, Japan’s leading entertainment brand. 

For more information and to sign up for the private beta waitlist, visit www.hookmusic.com.