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§ Private Profile · San Francisco, CA, USA
Cursor for music production
Riff has raised $26.0M across 4 funding rounds.
Key people at Riff.
Riff was founded in 2025 by Adith Reddi (Founder) and Kenny Zhang (Founder).
Riff has raised $26.0M in total across 4 funding rounds.
Riff is a music editor with superpowers : helping artists work faster and making it easier than ever for hobbyists to break into music.
As we continue to build, we see Riff turning into an entirely new paradigm for creating music.
Riff was founded in 2025 by Adith Reddi (Founder) and Kenny Zhang (Founder).
Riff has raised $26.0M in total across 4 funding rounds.
Riff's investors include Northzone, Balderton Capital, Maki.vc, Rogue VC, Seedcamp, VTF Capital, Dave Peacock, Nicolas Brusson, Steve Barham, Tim Sadler, Vernon Davis, Sondo.
Riff has raised $26.0M across 4 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $16.0M Series A in October 2025.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2025 | $16M Series A | Northzone | Balderton Capital, Maki.vc, Rogue VC, Seedcamp, VTF Capital, Dave Peacock, Nicolas Brusson, Steve Barham, TIM Sadler, Vernon Davis, Sondo, Global Founders Capital, Ilkka Paananen, Skyfall Ventures | Announced |
| Sep 1, 2023 | $5M Seed | Maki.vc, Skyfall Ventures | Balderton Capital, Northzone, Rogue VC, Seedcamp, VTF Capital, Dave Peacock, Nicolas Brusson, Steve Barham, TIM Sadler, Vernon Davis | Announced |
| Nov 1, 2021 | $3M Seed | — | Balderton Capital, Bridge Angel Investors, Catapult Capital, Endeavor8, Maki.vc, Monarch Collective, Northzone, Rogue VC, Seedcamp, Rick Lewis, VTF Capital, Drew Koven, Nicolas Brusson, Steve Barham, TIM Sadler, Vernon Davis | Announced |
| Aug 1, 2020 | $2M Seed | Balderton Capital | Alven, Benchmark, Business Growth Fund, General Catalyst, InReach Ventures, Lever VC, OMERS Ventures, Point Nine Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Seedcamp, James Blouzard, Rand Hindi, Carlos Gonzalez Cadenas, Nicolas Brusson, TIM Sadler | Announced |
Key people at Riff.
Riff is an AI-powered music production platform that acts as a "cursor for music production," designed to simplify and accelerate the creative process for musicians and producers. It offers an intuitive music editor integrated with AI tools such as a chatbot for edits and intelligent sample search, enabling users to generate, arrange, and manipulate music using natural language commands. Riff serves both aspiring musicians who find traditional Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) complex and experienced producers seeking to boost productivity. By breaking down technical barriers, Riff aims to make music creation more accessible, fun, and social, fostering a community of creators online.
The platform addresses the problem of clunky, outdated music production software that often requires high technical skill and long hours for relatively simple edits. Riff's AI-enhanced approach allows users to focus on creativity rather than technical hurdles, offering a faster, more intuitive workflow. It has shown promising growth momentum, backed by Y Combinator and gaining attention for its innovative approach to music creation[2][3][4].
Riff was founded by Adith Reddi and Kenny Jinlin Zhang, who met at UC Berkeley through a music collective they started, which has grown to over 1,200 artists. Both founders have deep backgrounds in music production and technology: Adith has over five years of music creation experience with more than one million Spotify streams and expertise in audio AI, while Kenny has eight years of music experience and a professional background at Tencent and Amazon. They identified the pain points in legacy music production software—its complexity and inefficiency—and envisioned a new paradigm that integrates AI to empower artists.
The idea emerged from their shared desire to make music creation easier and more enjoyable, especially for those blocked by the steep learning curve of traditional DAWs. Early traction includes backing by Y Combinator and positive reception for their AI-powered editor that allows natural language commands to manipulate music, such as adding specific bass styles or arranging sounds quickly[3][4].
Riff rides the wave of AI democratization in creative industries, particularly in music production. The timing is critical as AI technologies have matured enough to offer meaningful assistance without replacing the artist’s creative control. Market forces such as the growing demand for content creation, the rise of independent musicians, and the limitations of legacy DAWs create a fertile environment for Riff’s innovation.
By lowering the skill barrier and accelerating production workflows, Riff influences the broader ecosystem by enabling more people to create music, potentially expanding the market for music content and related services. Its approach also aligns with trends toward natural language interfaces and AI augmentation in creative tools, positioning it as a pioneer in the next generation of music software[2][3][4].
Riff is poised to expand its feature set to compete directly with established DAWs like FL Studio, Ableton, Logic, and Pro Tools, aiming to attract experienced producers while continuing to serve novices. Future trends shaping its journey include advances in AI music generation, increased integration with social and collaborative platforms, and growing demand for personalized, royalty-free music content.
As AI continues to evolve, Riff’s influence may grow beyond music production into broader creative workflows, potentially becoming a central hub for music creation, collaboration, and distribution. Its mission to make music creation fun, social, and accessible suggests a future where more people can participate in music-making, reshaping the industry landscape[3][4].
