A New LA Company Aims to Give Fans a Way to Invest, Literally, in the Musicians They Love

Sam Blake

Sam primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Previously he was Marjorie Deane Fellow at The Economist, where he wrote for the business and finance sections of the print edition. He has also worked at the XPRIZE Foundation, U.S. Government Accountability Office, KCRW, and MLB Advanced Media (now Disney Streaming Services). He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MPP from UCLA Luskin and a BA in History from University of Michigan. Email him at samblake@dot.LA and find him on Twitter @hisamblake

A New LA Company Aims to Give Fans a Way to Invest, Literally, in the Musicians They Love
  • AmplifyX launches next week to offer shares in musicians' future royalty income
  • Its first tranche is two Detroit-based musicians, each of whom are offering 20% of future royalties for $10,000 at an effective $25 share price
  • In the future, Amplify plans to build out a secondary trading market and hopes to expand beyond music and into the broader creator economy

Rising Detroit rapper and singer Rocky Badd has always been about the street, but soon she and her manager Curtis McKinnon will be going public.

Next week, they'll be selling shares worth 20% of Rocky's future royalty income for $10,000. In doing so, they're also hoping to gain a legion of super fans financially and emotionally invested in her success.


The exchange will be powered by L.A.-based AmplifyX, one of a growing number of online investment platforms made possible by 2015 regulatory changes around crowdfunding. An extension of President Obama's 2012 JOBS Act, the new rules eased restrictions on fundraising and investing, enabling the budding democratization of fractional ownership. Non-accredited investors can now add to their portfolios shares of vintage cars, collectibles like sneakers and trading cards, famous artworks and more.

"Music hasn't really changed from a financing perspective in decades," said Adam Cowherd, Amplify's co-founder and chief executive. His platform aims to address that.

Detroit rapper and singer Rocky Badd, aka September Briyonna-Michelle.

Badd, whose real name is September Briyonna-Michelle, is using Amplify to offer 400 shares tied to her upcoming album, "Respect the Writer 2," for $25 each. Each share is effectively a claim on 0.25% of the streaming and digital download royalties generated by the new release and a few additional songs. Jay Vinchi, another musician from Detroit, is also putting up shares for his upcoming album as part of Amplify's first tranche of offerings.

In L.A., Cowherd has been hard at work. A former physicist turned investment banker, he and his small team had built the infrastructure to run a securities exchange by the end of last year. They waited, though, to complete what would be an 8-month gauntlet to gain regulatory authorization from FINRA, a private financial regulator, and the SEC, its public sector counterpart. The company finished that process in August, and is now awaiting final approval to open its first offering, which Cowherd expects to arrive early next week.

He thinks the wait for that regulatory compliance will pay off by helping Amplify to compete with other platforms that offer similar services, such as Royalty Exchange and Vezt, which also allow fans to buy shares of artist royalty streams.

This first fundraise will be open for 60 days and royalty payments will be distributed to shareholders annually; eventually that could shift to quarterly, Cowherd said.

For artists like Rocky Badd and Jay Vinchi, one obvious appeal to selling shares in their future royalties is earning instant cash – not exactly easy to come by for a musician today.

Rocky Badd's deep connection to her fanbase gives her manager McKinnon and Cowherd confidence she'll have no trouble raising the $10,000. In May, she hosted a livestream concert on Zoom that sold over 1,000 tickets. The YouTube video for her song "Vindictive" has over 8 million views.

With the money raised, McKinnon will look to further spread Rocky Badd fever.

"Rocky can post something and easily get thousands of streams and likes, but now we're trying to get to the millions," he said.

The Amplify offering also has the potential to inspire a squadron of fans to become a de-facto marketing department.

"If we get multiple fans [to buy shares], we now have promoters for a lifetime, because the better that album does, the more revenue share for them," said McKinnon, who — in addition to managing Briyonna-Michelle — runs CrowdFreak, an online platform that helps up-and-coming artists find performance and exposure opportunities.

A rising number of artists are eschewing record labels in favor of ad-hoc, artist-support services, many of which are enabled by technology. Cowherd sees AmplifyX one day building further on that trend, morphing into an entire "record label á la carte."

"Long term, it would basically be a record label in your pocket. We'd like to build that into the native mobile app from the artist perspective, where not only do they have their investor data, and their streaming and social data, but they could also say, 'I'm looking for PR', and we give them three options that have already been vetted through us, and they can make those connections and bookings right through the application," Cowherd said.

AmplifyX co-founders Bobby Kamaris (L) and Adam Cowherd.

Even if Amplify remains solely a financing platform, he sees expansion opportunities in working with more artists and eventually selling shares in legacy catalogs.

"How cool would it be for somebody who's part of the KISS Army to actually own a fractional piece of 'Detroit Rock City' or something like that?"

The company also plans to build a secondary market for trading shares, he said.

For investors, getting in on the streaming market could be attractive. From 2014 - 2019, revenue from streaming saw a 43% compound annual growth rate, and Goldman Sachs projects the $11 billion market to quadruple by 2030. And since streaming royalties are generally uncorrelated with investment returns elsewhere, they provide a means for investors to reduce risk across their investment portfolio.

Given these factors, Cowherd expects investment to come from cryptocurrency investors and the growing crowd of young traders, along with artists' super fans.

"There's a growing demand among Gen Z for investing," Cowherd said. "My uncle is the principal of a school in Michigan, and he actually had to ban Robinhood because so many kids were day-trading."

Down the road, Cowherd expects to see a lot of engagement from that younger generation. They may have the chance to invest not only in musical projects but also in other content creators as well, and the businesses those creators and influencers may start.

"I really want to power the entire creator and influencer economy," Cowherd said.

Amplify has raised about $250,000 in pre-seed funding and plans to raise a $2-3 million seed round in Q1 or Q2 next year.

For now, it'll generate revenue by taking a percentage of the capital raised from the revenue-share offering. Later, it plans to take an affiliate fee for its record label á la carte service, and a small fee for transactions through its secondary market. It may also offer debt financing, such as for underwriting concert tours.

Other companies will be competing to provide innovative forms of artist financing. L.A.-based Stem, for example, recently opened a $100 million debt-financing arm to loan artists advances against their future royalty income. Kobalt, a London-based firm, is also in the competitive mix.

Hipgnosis, which has been on a spending spree of late to allow investors to buy rights to songs and musical IP, represents the broader bubbling activity in the acquisition of music publishing rights.

Cowherd said one key way he aims to differentiate Amplify is by facilitating direct connections between fans and artists.

For Briyonna-Michelle, that connection is about more than a financial transaction.

"For a lot of people, especially people in my city, we don't really invest in nothing. You buy jewelry, you buy clothes, you buy cars or whatever and you just keep up, but it's like, at some point, when we get older, you're just gonna say you had it," she said. "I feel like no matter what the album does, it's still, like, at least you tried to invest in something, whether it worked or it didn't. I feel like it motivates people to start putting some money behind something where later on in life you can get something out of it."

    Come next week, a new set of fans will begin hoping one day to get something out of their investment in her.

    ---

    Sam Blake primarily covers entertainment and media for dot.LA. Find him on Twitter @hisamblake and email him at dot.LA

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    The $260M Robot Revolution Happening in Torrance

    🔦 Spotlight

    Hello Los Angeles,

    Forget rockets. This week, the loudest move in the defense tech scene came from a factory floor in Torrance, where Hadrian secured $260 million to fuel its robot-run revolution.

    The company, which builds AI-powered, robot-run factories for America’s aerospace and defense industries, announced the massive Series C raise, led by existing investors like Lux Capital and Founders Fund, along with a factory expansion loan facility arranged by Morgan Stanley. The funding will power Hadrian’s third factory (in Arizona), unlock full product manufacturing, and accelerate its mission to bring American manufacturing roaring back faster, smarter, and more automated than ever.

    And here’s what makes them fascinating: Hadrian isn’t just churning out parts. They’re reinventing what a factory is. Their facilities look more like giant humming circuit boards than the smokestacks of old, packed with robots, AI, and ambition to move at the speed of software.

    It’s the kind of vision you’d expect from a founder who speaks about reshoring U.S. manufacturing as if it were a moral obligation and then backs it up with billion-dollar contracts and steel-and-silicon proof.

    We’ll be watching closely to see what Hadrian assembles next. One thing’s certain: the robots are already working overtime, and if you’re smart (or a robot whisperer), you might want to join them.

    🤝 Venture Deals

    LA Companies

    • Boulevard, a SaaS startup that helps salons and self-care businesses manage scheduling and operations, has raised an $80M Series D led by JMI Equity at a valuation near $800M. The funding will fuel enhancements to its AI-powered scheduling tools and support continued product innovation and market expansion. - learn more
    • Rwazi has raised $12M in Series A funding to expand its AI-powered decision-making platform, which helps businesses replace gut-based decisions with real-time insights and simulations based on consumer behavior. The round was led by Bonfire Ventures and will support the growth of Rwazi’s simulation engine and data infrastructure to help companies make more precise, data-driven decisions across marketing, product, and operations. - learn more
    • Lexington Bakes, an artisan bakery known for its gluten-free, organic oat bars and luxury brownies, has raised $1M in a seed round. The investment was led by Rainfall Ventures. The funding will help the company transition to co-manufacturing, expand its retail reach from about 100 to a projected 1,000 doors in the next year, and scale up its team and operations. - learn more

    LA Venture Funds

    • TCG (The Chernin Group) participated in Substack’s latest $100M funding round, joining Andreessen Horowitz, and other investors. Their investment underscores confidence in Substack’s vision to grow its subscription publishing platform and expand its tools for independent writers and creators. - learn more
    • Acre Venture Partners participated in Zucca’s $5M funding round to help the Seattle startup scale its platform, which uses AI to design and develop plant-based food products faster and more efficiently. Their investment will support Zucca’s mission to create sustainable, health-focused foods and expand its operations. - learn more
    • Sound Ventures joined XMTP’s $80M Series B to back its vision of redefining how people communicate in the web3 world. With this funding, XMTP plans to scale its decentralized, privacy-focused messaging protocol, enabling secure, wallet-to-wallet conversations across the blockchain ecosystem. - learn more
    • Morpheus Ventures and Sage Venture Partners participated in Datavations’ $17M Series A funding round, with Morpheus joining as a new investor and Sage returning as an existing backer. Datavations, an AI-driven analytics platform for the building materials and home improvement industries, uses machine learning to deliver actionable insights on pricing, inventory, assortment, and supply chains. The funds will be used to grow the team, accelerate development of its Commerce Alert Hub, and expand its presence across North America. - learn more
    • Mucker Capital led the $3.3M seed round for Bidbus, an AI-powered consumer-to-dealer used car marketplace in the U.S. The platform enables car owners to auction their vehicles online and receive competing offers from dealers, while dealers gain access to high-quality inventory more efficiently. The funding will help Bidbus enhance its AI capabilities and expand into new markets. - learn more
    • Creative Artists Agency (CAA) participated as a strategic investor in Moonvalley’s $84M funding round, signaling strong industry confidence in the company’s development of a fully licensed, AI-powered video generation platform tailored for professional filmmakers and studios. CAA’s investment reinforces Moonvalley’s commitment to ethical AI practices and provides it with a direct pipeline to top-tier creative talent and entertainment partners. - learn more
    • MANTIS Venture Capital joined Zip Security’s $13.5M Series A funding round, backing the company's mission to deliver automated, AI-driven cybersecurity and compliance solutions. Their participation supports Zip’s efforts to expand its engineering team, build deeper platform integrations, and scale into regulated industry verticals like defense, finance, and healthcare. - learn more
    • Rebel Fund participated in Apolink’s oversubscribed $4.3M seed round, joining other notable backers such as Y Combinator and 468 Capital. By investing in this 19‑year‑old–led space tech startup, Rebel Fund is supporting Apolink’s mission to deliver continuous LEO satellite connectivity and facilitate its planned demo missions and constellation build‑out. - learn more

      LA Exits
      • Retina AI is to be acquired by Onar in a deal that will enhance Onar’s AI-powered customer analytics and personalization offerings. By integrating Retina’s predictive customer lifetime value technology, Onar aims to provide businesses with deeper insights into customer behavior and more precise targeting. The acquisition highlights Onar’s commitment to delivering data-driven solutions for optimizing customer relationships. - learn more
      • Nearsure, a U.S.-based tech services company with over 600 professionals across 18 Latin American countries, has been acquired by Nortal to bolster its AI and enterprise solutions in the Americas. Known for its AI-driven transformation, custom software, and partnerships with major platforms, Nearsure will merge into Nortal’s U.S. operations and rebrand later this year. The acquisition allows Nearsure to expand into U.S. and European markets while enhancing its AI, cybersecurity, and enterprise offerings. - learn more
      • InsideOut Sports & Entertainment, the event production company behind high‑profile sports events like The Pickleball Slam, Pro Padel League, and Major League Pickleball, has been acquired by GSE Worldwide, marking GSE’s first foray into live event production. Founded by tennis legend Jim Courier and Jon Venison, who will now serve as EVP and head of the new GSE Productions division, InsideOut’s team will integrate into GSE to help scale its live-event operations into new markets. - learn more

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        From Sunset Boulevard to Outer Space: LA’s Latest

        🔦 Spotlight

        Good Morning Beliebers and Los Angeles!

        While Justin Bieber’s new album dropped last night, here’s what else is making headlines in Los Angeles this week.

        Luma has opened its Dream Lab on Sunset Boulevard, boldly positioning itself at the forefront of AI-powered creativity. Known for transforming ordinary photos into cinematic 3D scenes, Luma is combining cutting-edge research with practical tools to build a playground for artists, engineers, and anyone ready to push the boundaries of visual storytelling. In their words: “From Hollywood blockbusters to the next generation of immersive media, this is where the magic happens.”

        Meanwhile, well beyond our skyline, SpaceX reportedly hit an eye-popping $400 billion valuation in a recent share sale, making it one of the most valuable private companies ever. The milestone reflects both investors’ fervor for the commercial space race and LA’s unrivaled role as the launchpad of aerospace innovation.

        LA continues to prove it can deliver on the ground, in the cloud, and far beyond the stars. See you next week.

        🤝 Venture Deals

        LA Companies

           
        • Varda Space Industries, the El Segundo–based company manufacturing pharmaceuticals in microgravity, has raised $187M in a Series C round led by Natural Capital and Shrug Capital, bringing its total funding to approximately $329M. The funds will support an increased launch cadence of robotic drug-production capsules, expansion of its El Segundo lab for biologic drug crystallization, and broader efforts to scale commercial microgravity-driven drug formulation and hypersonic reentry testing. - learn more

        LA Venture Funds

        • Rebel Fund participated in Vellum’s $20M Series A round, which was led by Leaders Fund. The company helps businesses build and optimize LLM-powered applications. Vellum plans to grow its team and speed up product development with the new funding. - learn more
        • Bold Capital participated in a $31M Series B funding round for Aqtual, a Hayward, California based precision medicine startup developing a cutting edge cell free DNA (cfDNA) multiomics platform. The capital will help commercialize Aqtual’s flagship rheumatoid arthritis diagnostic, currently being tested in a 1,300 patient trial, and support expansion into other chronic and autoimmune diseases. - learn more
        • Strong Ventures invested in VERAMORE, a skincare brand focused on addressing early signs of aging in women. Since launching in March 2022, VERAMORE has grown over 300% annually, expanded to more than 16 products, and entered markets including Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, Europe, and Korea. The funding will support its D2C growth, product-driven marketing, and planned global expansion starting with Japan in 2025 and the U.S. and Europe in 2026. - learn more
        • Mucker Capital joined a $3.7M seed funding round for Velvet Capital aimed at launching its DeFAI operating system and $VELVET governance token. Velvet’s vertically integrated DeFi toolkit combines AI-powered trading, portfolio management, APIs, and a native token to streamline on-chain investment for funds, DAOs, and individual traders. The funding will accelerate platform development, the rollout of its tokenomics, and broader adoption of its intent-based DeFi suite. - learn more
        • Btech Consortium Fund participated in a $8.5M Series A funding round for Castellum.AI, a New York based financial crime compliance platform that uses in‑house risk data, AI, and screening tools to help financial institutions manage AML/KYC compliance. The funds will be used to expand their team, enhance integrations with financial institutions, and accelerate adoption of their AI‑powered compliance solutions. - learn more
        • Bold Capital Partners joined the oversubscribed $45M Series A round for Centivax, a South San Francisco biotech company dedicated to developing a universal flu vaccine using a proprietary mRNA-based immune-engineering platform. Led by Future Ventures, the funding will help Centivax advance its lead candidate into Phase I clinical trials and expand its broader universal immunity pipeline targeting pathogens like RSV, HIV, and malaria. - learn more
        • Alpha Edison participated in Honor Education’s $38M Series A funding round for the San Francisco–based learning platform. Honor uses AI‑enhanced, mobile-first courses and credentialed programs to improve engagement and leadership development. The funding will be used to scale AI capabilities, personalize learning experiences, and expand the company’s operations and customer‑success teams to meet rising demand. - learn more
        • Wasserman Ventures participated in a $7M seed round for Fantasy Life, the fantasy sports platform founded by Matthew Berry. The funding will support the launch of Fantasy Life’s revamped platform, featuring new “Guillotine Leagues,” a modernized app experience, and enhanced content and tools to scale its audience and technology offerings. - learn more

        LA Exits
        • El Segundo based Kaye Capital Management, a fee only RIA with approximately $700M in assets under management and $300M in assets under advisement, was acquired by Modern Wealth Management, marking its 17th acquisition and pushing its total AUM over $8.5B. The deal strengthens Modern Wealth’s presence in California and adds Kaye’s institutional retirement plan expertise to its suite of financial and retirement solutions for clients. - learn more
        • NIRx Medical Technologies was acquired by Gilde Healthcare’s private equity fund and combined with Artinis Medical Systems to form a world-leading neuroimaging group. Both companies will retain their brands and locations while collaborating on R&D, product development, and global expansion of their functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) tools to advance research in mental health, neurodegenerative diseases, and stroke rehabilitation. - learn more
        • Emotive, a conversational SMS marketing platform, has been acquired by Privy to create a unified solution for e-commerce brands that combines email, SMS, pop-ups, and real-time customer conversations. The integrated platform will help over 10,000 merchants simplify their marketing, personalize customer interactions, and strengthen relationships with dedicated strategists and transparent pricing. - learn more

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        Tinder, Starlink, and Apple’s New Studio: This Week in LA

        🔦 Spotlight

        Happy Independence Day, Los Angeles! 🇺🇸

        While you're celebrating freedom, here are some electrifying updates lighting up LA’s tech, satellite, and music scenes:

        🔥 Tinder mandates Face Recognition in California

          Image Source: Tinder

        Tinder is now requiring all new users in California to complete a biometric face check, a brief video selfie processed via FaceTec, to verify profiles are genuine. The video is deleted post-verification, though an encrypted face map remains while the account is active. This West Hollywood based move could redefine trust, safety, and privacy in mainstream consumer apps.

        🌐 Starlink clears hurdle to launch in India

        Elon Musk’s SpaceX backed Starlink has cleared most regulatory and licensing hurdles with India’s Department of Telecommunications, marking a key step toward launching satellite broadband in one of the world’s fastest growing markets. Final approvals from the national space regulator are pending, and services, expected to deliver high speed connectivity to underserved regions, could launch in the coming months. This is a major milestone for Starlink’s global expansion.

        🎧 Apple Music opens Culver City creative hub

          Image Source: Apple

        Apple Music is celebrating its anniversary by launching a brand new 15,000 square foot, three story studio in Culver City. The facility, featuring a 4,000 square foot soundstage, spatial audio suites, podcast booths, and more, is designed by Eric Owen Moss and slated to open mid August. It solidifies LA’s reputation as a creative powerhouse and reaffirms Apple’s commitment to investing in and nurturing our city's cultural ecosystem.

        From dating apps to deep space to sound stages, LA isn’t just watching the future unfold, we’re building it.

        Here’s to independence, imagination, and everything this city dares to launch next. Happy Fourth, Los Angeles.

        🤝 Venture Deals

        LA Companies

        • Castelion has raised a $350M Series B round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners alongside Altimeter Capital to scale its hypersonic missile production capabilities. The El Segundo-based defense startup plans to use the funds to expand manufacturing, accelerate testing through its SpaceX-inspired rapid development model, and position itself as a cost-effective supplier of hypersonic weapons to the U.S. military and its allies. - learn more
        • Earth Sama, a Calabasas, California–based climate-tech platform that helps rural farming and Indigenous communities generate and manage carbon credits, secured investment from Omtse Ventures. The funding will support the rollout of Earth Sama’s blockchain-powered field app, climate-creator platform, and smart-contract tools to scale community-led carbon credit projects globally under the Paris Agreement’s Article 6.4 framework. - learn more

                  LA Venture Funds

                  • Plassa Capital participated in Metafide’s $3.275M funding round. Miami based Metafide, the creator of SURGE, a gamified trading platform that combines AI neural networks and human insight, will use the funds to scale and launch SURGE into the market. - learn more
                  • BOLD Capital Partners participated as a founding investor in Syntis Bio’s $33M Series A round, with an additional $5M in NIH grants. The Boston-based biotech is developing oral therapies for obesity and rare diseases, and the funding will help advance its SYNT platform, moving its lead obesity treatment, SYNT-101, into Phase 1 trials and supporting development of SYNT-202 for homocystinuria. - learn more
                  • BAM Ventures participated in Cred’s $15M seed round for its predictive intelligence startup. San Francisco based Cred uses AI to unify company data with real time market signals and deliver actionable insights for sales and operations. The funding, led by defy.vc, will be used to scale Cred’s platform, expand its customer base, and grow team and product capabilities. - learn more
                  • BOLD Capital Partners participated in Gallant’s $18M Series B round to advance its ready-to-use stem cell therapies for pets. The funding, led by Digitalis Ventures with additional support from NovaQuest Capital, will help Gallant bring its off-the-shelf regenerative treatments to market. - learn more
                  • Rebel Fund joined the seed round for Rocketable, contributing to the $6.5M raised to build a portfolio of fully automated SaaS companies. San Francisco-based Rocketable, backed by True Ventures and others, uses AI agents to operate acquired software products, and Rebel’s support will help scale both the platform and acquisitions. - learn more 
                          LA Exits
                          • Leasepath, a cloud-first provider of equipment lease and loan management software, has been acquired by Solifi to enhance its mid-market offerings. The deal allows Solifi to expand Leasepath’s Microsoft Dynamics-based platform into new global markets while keeping Leasepath’s team and leadership in place. - learn more

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