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Boston, Massachusetts-based Cakewalk develops digital audio workstations and music production software for musicians, sound designers, and audio professionals. The company's flagship SONAR product integrated multi-track recording and MIDI editing tools that are utilized across the music, film, broadcast, and video game industries by Grammy and Emmy-winning producers. After being acquired by Gibson in 2013 and briefly ceasing development four years later, the brand was purchased by Singapore-based BandLab Technologies in 2018. Prior to these corporate transitions, the organization generated approximately $10 million in revenue and maintained a workforce of 36 to 61 employees under the leadership of former chief executive officer Michael Hoover. Operating today as Cakewalk by BandLab, the platform continues to provide professional-grade recording capabilities as a completely free application. The enterprise was originally founded in 1987 by Greg Hendershot through Twelve Tone Systems.
Cakewalk has raised $11.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Cakewalk has raised $11.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Cakewalk is a Berlin-based cybersecurity startup founded in 2022 that builds an AI-powered Identity and Access Management (IAM) platform. It automates employee onboarding/offboarding, access reviews, audits, and governance for over 5,600 applications and AI agents, serving IT, security, HR, and finance teams in SMBs to reduce manual workloads by up to 80% and cut SaaS spend by 25%[2][5][6]. The platform solves fragmented access data silos by providing a single source of truth, enabling least-privilege access, compliance with standards like ISO 27001 and SOC 2, and real-time alerts for risks like dormant accounts or new AI tools[5][7]. Recently, it raised $7.5M in seed funding to launch Agent Cake, an AI agent that handles Identity Governance tasks autonomously[2].
Cakewalk emerged in 2022 in Berlin, Germany, amid rising cybersecurity demands for SMBs managing sprawling SaaS and AI tool ecosystems[2][4]. Key figures include Johannes, an entrepreneur with over a decade in regulated markets who previously launched an SSO and data compliance solution covering 30M identities, and Gon, an engineering leader experienced in cybersecurity and fintech compliance[7]. The idea stemmed from IT and security teams overwhelmed by manual IAM processes like spreadsheets and app-by-app provisioning, exacerbated by AI tools creating new access blind spots[2][5]. Early traction came from its light-touch UX for gradual app integration and automation, earning positive reviews for simplifying access tracking without heavy upfront reviews[6].
Cakewalk rides the explosive growth of SaaS sprawl and AI adoption, where organizations juggle 5,600+ apps amid identity attack surface expansion—timing is critical as regulations like NIS 2 and HIPAA demand automated governance[2][5]. Market forces favoring it include SMBs' shift from manual tools to AI agents for IAM, reducing 80% of workloads amid talent shortages in cybersecurity[2][6]. It influences the ecosystem by democratizing enterprise-grade IAM for non-enterprises, competing with BeyondTrust and Ardian by focusing on AI automation and cost efficiency, potentially accelerating secure AI tool proliferation[2].
Cakewalk is poised to scale post-$7.5M seed, expanding Agent Cake to handle more AI-driven threats and integrations, targeting global SMBs drowning in identity chaos[2]. Trends like zero-trust mandates, AI agent proliferation, and SaaS consolidation will propel it, evolving its influence from niche automator to IAM standard for mid-market security. As cybersecurity democratizes, Cakewalk could redefine IAM as "a piece of cake," turning messy access into proactive defense[2][5].
Cakewalk has raised $11.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $8.0M Seed in April 2025.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 1, 2025 | $8M Seed | — | Possible Ventures, Seedcamp, Sequoia Capital, Vertex Ventures, TIM Sadler | Announced |
| May 1, 2023 | $3M Seed | — | AME Cloud Ventures, Backed VC, Jigsaw VC, LocalGlobe, Moonshots Capital, Northzone, Glenn Solomon, Outsized Ventures, Passion Capital, Possible Ventures, RTP Global, Seedcamp, Sunfish Partners, Kunal Shah, Michael Pennington | Announced |
Cakewalk has raised $11.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Cakewalk's investors include Possible Ventures, Seedcamp, Sequoia Capital, Vertex Ventures, Tim Sadler, AME Cloud Ventures, Backed VC, Jigsaw VC, LocalGlobe, Moonshots Capital, Northzone, Glenn Solomon.
