The leading company in the AI music generation space, Suno, announced on Wednesday the completion of a $400 million Series D funding round, bringing its post-money valuation to $5.4 billion (approximately RMB 36.5 billion).

(Source: Company official website)

According to the announcement, this round was led by Bond Capital, founded by Mary Meeker, known as the "Queen of the Internet," with participation from prominent institutions including IVP, Héguǎng Investment, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Suno’s previous financing round took place in November last year, when the company raised $250 million at a valuation of $2.45 billion. In just seven months, its valuation doubled, reflecting strong investor confidence in the "AI + Music" sector and cementing Suno as the highest-valued player in this domain.

As one of the most widely used AI music generation tools on platforms such as YouTube and Bilibili, Suno enables users to create music from scratch using text prompts. Users can specify musical style, vocal tone, instruments, and lyrics, with the system generating complete digital audio works almost instantly.

In February this year, Suno achieved over 2 million subscribers. At that time, the company also disclosed its trajectory toward an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $300 million.

From “Industry Outcast” to “Center Stage”

Suno’s recent developments not only reflect the rapid advancement of AI-generated music technology but also signal a significant shift in the traditional music industry’s attitude toward AI tools.

Known as the “ChatGPT of music,” Suno initially gained massive popularity for enabling anyone to generate full tracks simply through basic text prompts. As AI-generated music surged in volume, the three major record labels—Universal, Sony, and Warner—sued Suno in 2024 over alleged copyright infringement.

Times have changed. As more professional creators adopt AI tools, industry sentiment has evolved.

At the end of last year, Suno reached a settlement with Warner Music and secured a licensing agreement. The two parties plan to launch a collaborative AI-generated product within the coming months—similar to Suno’s existing tool but with enhanced capabilities to use and reference Warner’s songs.

In Wednesday’s latest announcement, Suno noted that this round of funding once again attracted investment from artists, producers, songwriters, and industry executives, though specific names were not disclosed.

Co-founder and CEO Mikey Shulman told media on Wednesday that after the previous funding round, external interest in investing resurfaced, prompting the decision to raise another round.

To justify its soaring valuation, Suno must not only deliver a powerful application for professional musicians but also attract millions of “music novices” to compose songs—much like how Anthropic’s Claude Code empowers users with no coding experience to build websites and applications.

Shulman revealed that the company plans to use the funds to accelerate hiring, develop new products, and further drive growth on the strong foundation established at the start of this year. Currently employing around 200 people, Suno aims to expand its workforce by up to 70% by year-end.

“Having more capital means we can operate the company differently and take on bolder initiatives,” Shulman said.

This article originally appeared on the WeChat public account “Venture Daily,” authored by Shi Zhengcheng, and was republished with permission from 36Kr.

Source: 36Kr