Kobalt Co-Founder Willard Ahdritz Launches Music & Media Tech Venture Firm

Willard Ahdritz, the co-founder and longtime CEO of Kobalt Music Group, has launched Ahdritz Capital Partners, a new $20 million music and media technology venture fund. Based in New York, the fund supports international companies looking to establish themselves in the United States and other key markets through capital, connections and operational guidance.

Isabel Keulen, formerly chief executive of Stockholm School of Economics' startup incubator SSE Business Lab, joins as investment partner, alongside Stephen Langer from Lazard's Media, Entertainment & Sports group. Over his multi-decade career, Ahdritz managed $1.7 billion in music assets and facilitated $10–$12 billion in creator funds at Kobalt. The fund has already invested in platforms including Madverse Music Group, a New Delhi-based music distributor serving 200,000 independent artists and labels across more than 40 countries.