# Sonilo Raises $11M to Build the AI-Native Audio Stack for Video

- Link: https://www.thailand-business-news.com/pr-news/sonilo-raises-11m-to-build-the-ai-native-audio-stack-for-video
- Published: 2026-10-14T23:00:00+07:00
- Author: PR Newswire

_Founded by veterans of TikTok’s AI and music teams, Sonilo is developing proprietary__AI-
native music and sound models that adapt to the pacing, emotion and story of each
video_

SAN FRANCISCO, , Oct. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — [Sonilo](https://sonilo.com/), a generative
audio company building proprietary video-native music and sound models, today announced
an $11 million funding round led by B Capital, with participation from Redpoint.
The funding will be used for compute infrastructure to scale model performance, 
go-to-market expansion across creator and developer platforms, and grow its music
licensing.

At the core of Sonilo’s platform is its Sound World Model, a proprietary multimodal
AI system that connects video understanding, audio generation, and temporal alignment.
Rather than treating music and sound effects as isolated assets, the model reads
the timing, movement, and emotional arc of a scene to generate audio that belongs
to that specific story. Creators can generate a synchronized, commercially-ready
soundtrack by dropping in a video, describing what they want in text, or combining
both. Sonilo’s model development is built around the creator’s actual workflow rather
than industry benchmarks, a philosophy the team developed over years of building
recommendation and generation systems at platform scale.

"Almost every audio-generation experience starts with a text prompt. You have to
describe the music you want, line it up to the exact moments in your videos, and
find the perfect sound effects which can take hours for one piece of content," said
Shawn Song, CEO and Co-Founder of Sonilo. "We built Sonilo to understand the visual
story. You give us the footage, and Sonilo understands what’s happening frame by
frame, including the pacing, emotion, and story, and generates music and sound effects
that naturally fit the scene. We believe the future of video isn’t just about generating
better pictures but making those worlds feel real through audio that fits perfectly."

Building a video-native sound workflow requires more than audio generation. It takes
multimodal AI research, music licensing expertise, and products designed around 
how creators work. Sonilo’s founding team brings these capabilities together. CEO
Shawn Song, a CMU-trained researcher and former multimodal AI tech lead at TikTok,
and CTO Alex Yin, who holds a PhD in Computer Music from the University of York 
and worked alongside Song at TikTok, bring expertise in multimodal understanding
and audio generation. COO Keli Li, who built and led global music at TikTok, brings
deep experience in music licensing and industry partnerships. CMO Trista Taylor 
has helped incubate consumer AI apps featured in a16z’s Top 50 rankings and leads
Sonilo’s product and go-to-market strategy.

"We believe generative audio will become an essential part of the AI-native video
stack. Sonilo stands out because its multimodal technology gives creators two ways
to generate music and sound effects: describe what they want in text, or provide
a video and let the model create audio that fits the scene," commented Daisy Cai,
General Partner at B Capital. "That model-native approach, combined with Shawn’s
deep expertise in multimodal music generation and the team’s focus on the creator
workflow, gives Sonilo the opportunity to define a new category in generative media.
We’re excited to support the team as they build the audio layer for the next generation
of video."

Sonilo’s platform generates music and sound effects directly from footage or text
for short-form and short-drama creators, developer platforms building AI video workflows,
and enterprise production teams. The platform also offers AI dubbing with synchronized
lip-syncing, enabling short-drama and content studios to localize video across languages
without manual post-production. Early distribution partners include TapNow, an AI
creator aggregator, and ComfyUI.

The company is also building its commercial music infrastructure around licensed
source material, with Shutterstock as an early licensing partner. Sonilo’s models
are trained on licensed music datasets, with licensing fees and revenue share flowing
to rights holders and artists. Sonilo is finalizing master recording and publishing
deals with major rights organizations, with agreements expected to close in the 
coming weeks. Sonilo plans to launch a consumer app in Q4, bringing its video-to-
music generation technology directly to individual creators.

**About Sonilo**

Sonilo builds video-native generative audio models for creators, developers, and
media platforms. Its technology generates music and sound effects directly from 
footage or text, creating soundtracks built for each video’s story rather than pulled
from a library. Sonilo is building a future where every video can have its own soundtrack,
because when music truly fits a story, people don’t just watch. They feel. Sonilo
is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by B Capital. Learn more at [sonilo.com](http://sonilo.com/).

**About B Capital**

B Capital invests globally in extraordinary founders and businesses shaping the 
future through technology. With more than $9 billion in assets under management 
and dedicated stage-based funds, the firm focuses on seed to early- and late-stage
venture growth investments, primarily in the technology, healthcare and resilience
tech sectors. Founded in 2015, B Capital has an integrated, global team across nine
locations in the U.S. and Asia. The firm’s value-add platform, together with the
consulting expertise of its strategic partner, The Boston Consulting Group, provides
entrepreneurs with the tools and resources to scale quickly and efficiently, expand
into new markets and build market-leading businesses.

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**Read the original article :** [Sonilo Raises $11M to Build the AI-Native Audio Stack for Video ](http://www.prnasia.com/story/archive/5072026_CN72026_0?rand=184833)
