Output has announced a $45 million Series A investment from Summit Partners. This minority investment represents Output’s first-ever fundraise and will support the company’s continued global growth and expansion of its digital production platform, including the addition of playable instruments and mobile applications in 2021.

Output will be one of the first SaaS solutions at this scale to offer loops, samples and melodic content in one unified platform for music creation.

Output’s software is used in songs by Drake, Coldplay, Justin Bieber and Rihanna and musical scores including Stranger Things, Game of Thrones and Black Panther. Producers, songwriters and composers alike rely on Output’s creative tools to find inspiration and break through writer’s block.

While Output’s core creation application Arcade was originally intended to help professionals seamlessly turn a library of tens of thousands loops and sounds into tracks, the platform’s balance of simplicity and creative manipulation has drawn a growing audience of hobbyists and first-timers across 167 countries to break through the ‘block’ of writing their first track. The company’s results speak for themselves:

  • More than 50% of sessions result in the writing of a new track.
  • The average user locks in a track within fifteen minutes.
  • More than 420,000 musicians supported by the Arcade platform since 2018.
  • 300% increase in MRR in the last 12 months.

Output was founded in 2013 by CEO Gregg Lehrman, an ASCAP-award winning composer who got his start under Hans Zimmer and later produced sounds for some of the world’s most iconic music software platforms. Lehrman realized that the global community of music makers was large and growing rapidly, but the workflow was years behind other creative categories.

“Technology democratized the creation process for video and photos. It makes sense that technology adoption would transition to music making,” said Lehrman, Output Founder and CEO. “We are working to inspire a new generation of music makers with a platform that brings the power of a studio to anyone, wherever they are. Summit’s deep experience in consumer technology, digital media and e-commerce make them an ideal partner to help accelerate our global impact.”

“We believe Output is at the forefront of digital music creation, offering a truly elegant, professional-grade platform that is accessible to music makers at all levels,” said Andrew Collins, a Managing Director with Summit Partners who has joined the Output Board of Directors. “Gregg and team have built an innovative company culture and a vibrant community of musicians– and they have done it all in a thoughtful, capital efficient manner. We’re thrilled to partner with them for this next phase of growth.”

More information: Output