Vermillio co-founder and CEO Dan Neely. Photo Credit: Vermillio
AI licensing and monetization platform Vermillio has scored a $16 million Series A led by Sony Music Entertainment (SME).
The self-described “leader in Authenticated AI solutions” reached out today with word of the multimillion-dollar raise. According to its website, Vermillio has developed products including TraceID, a digital hub designed to help rightsholders identify, license, and, when necessary, flag generative AI content incorporating their protected works.
Of course, against the backdrop of explosive AI growth and adjacent IP concerns, those capabilities are especially valuable in the music world. Furthermore, five-year-old Vermillio and Sony Music have been partnered since at least 2023, when they collaborated on David Gilmour’s AI-powered Metallic Spheres In Colour project.
Now, the major label is officially a stakeholder in the Chicago-headquartered business, which drew Series A funding from DNS Capital to boot. (Also based in Chicago, the latter family office previously backed children’s audio platform Yoto as well as multiple non-music AI startups.)
As for its plans regarding the newly obtained $16 million tranche, Vermillio only reiterated a broader goal of continuing “to protect leading talent, record labels, and studios” in the quick-evolving AI sector.
On that front, the WME-partnered company took the opportunity to emphasize not just the above-highlighted functions, but its ability to power AI promotional initiatives. The aforementioned TraceID, Vermillio summed up, tracked 1.5 million fan creations as part of a custom Spider-Man AI-animation tie-up with Sony Pictures.
(Additionally, children’s entertainment business Pocket.watch and Vermillio last year launched a Ryan’s World campaign enabling fans to capture photos and then purchase custom merch featuring their likenesses in the appropriate art style.)
Running with the point, SME president of global digital business Dennis Kooker spelled out that his company is taking steps to protect IP and “create new commercial possibilities” in the AI world.
“Dan Neely [Vermillio’s co-founder and CEO] and the team at Vermillio share our vision that prioritizing proper consent, clear attribution and appropriate compensation for professional creators is foundational to unlocking monetization opportunities in this space,” proceeded Kooker.
“We look forward to expanding our successful collaboration with them as we work to support the growth of trusted platforms by enabling secure AI solutions that are mutually beneficial for technology innovators, artists and rightsholders,” concluded the longtime Sony Music exec.
This past August, Universal Music Group inked a partnership agreement with content-attribution company ProRata.ai. Having scored a reportedly $25 million Series A at about the same time, ProRata recently rolled out an AI search engine, Gist, in beta ahead of a full-scale release later in 2025.
Content shared from www.digitalmusicnews.com.