Artist,
CEO & Co-founder, Hoopr
Gaurav Dagaonkar brings together the sensibilities of an artist and the vision of an entrepreneur. An Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad graduate turned award-winning music composer and producer, he has worked across multiple Bollywood films with some of the biggest names in Indian music, including Arijit Singh, Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, KK, and Mohit Chauhan. Alongside his work in music, he built a strong digital presence through his YouTube mashup series ‘Synchronicity’, amassing millions of views and a global audience.
In 2022, he co-founded Hoopr, India’s first self-serve music licensing platform designed to solve a major challenge for creators and brands – easy, legal access to music. Today, Hoopr powers music for 400000+ creators and 180+ brands, including Myntra, Sony LIV, and Pocket FM. Backed by Inflection Point Ventures, 91Ventures, The Chennai Angels, and marquee investors such as Sahil Barua, Anshoo Sharma, and Ashneer Grover, Hoopr has partnered with labels including UMG,YRF, Merchant Records, Turnkey Music, SAGA Music and 150+ independent artists. Under his leadership, Hoopr is building a fair, transparent, and technology-driven music ecosystem in India.
Early Career & Media
Before entering the startup ecosystem, Gaurav Dagaonkar established himself as a composer, producer, and digital creator. His early career was shaped by:
- Composing and producing for film and independent projects
- Collaborating with leading playback singers and musicians
- Building a strong digital following through Synchronicity on YouTube
His mashups, seamlessly blending popular tracks across genres, not only unlocked 100+ global performance opportunities for him, but also racked up millions of views online. This phase cemented his reputation as a forward-thinking music creator who truly understands both sound and the digital audience. His journey as a composer and performer gave him first-hand exposure to key industry challenges around copyright, monetisation, and fair compensation.
Transition to Entrepreneurship
Gaurav’s move into entrepreneurship stemmed from identifying a massive structural problem in the music industry. India’s content ecosystem is booming, growing at 22-25% CAGR, with:
● 80,000+ brands
● 550,000+ creators
● 1M+ units of branded content are produced every month.
However, a staggering 87% of this content infringes music copyrights, leading to an estimated ₹8,000-10,000 crore annual loss for the Indian music industry and nearly ₹900 crore in unrealized royalties for artists and rights holders. To address this gap, he co-founded Hoopr to build a platform that could:
● Simplify legal music licensing
● Enable transparent royalty distribution
● Build a scalable, tech-driven music usage ecosystem
His vision was to build the world’s largest music licensing ecosystem from India.
About the Company
Hoopr is India’s first self-serve music licensing marketplace, designed to bridge the gap between music creators and content creators. The platform enables brands, agencies, and creators to discover, license, and use music legally in digital content.
Hoopr’s growth trajectory reflects rapid scale and ecosystem impact. Launched in 2022 with Hoopr.in as India’s first self-serve music licensing platform, it introduced a simple and scalable solution for legal music access. By 2023, the catalogue had expanded to 12,500+ tracks, enabling 1,500+ independent artists to monetise their music, with over ₹4 crore distributed in payouts. In 2024, the company launched Hoopr Brand Solutions, a creative-tech division focused on music-led storytelling, with the platform being adopted by 18,000+ creators. In 2025, Hoopr further expanded with the launch of HooprSmash.com for short-form content, alongside partnerships with 70+ Indian labels including YRF Music, Saga Music, and Merchant Records, onboarding 400+ new independent artists, and entering strategic collaborations with Universal Music Group and the Indian Performing Right Society to enable transparent royalty distribution.
Impact & Vision
Gaurav Dagaonkar is working toward transforming how music is accessed, licensed, and monetized in India. With a technology-first approach, Hoopr addresses the industry’s biggest challenges from both sides:
For Creators & Brands
- Easy access to legally licensed music
- Faster discovery and licensing workflows
- Music tailored for digital and short-form content
For Artists & Rights Holders
- Fair, transparent royalty distribution
- New monetization opportunities
- Access to brand collaborations and content ecosystems
His broader vision is to build a scalable global music licensing ecosystem that ensures fair compensation for artists, enables legal music access for the creator economy, and drives transparency in music rights through technology.
By combining music, technology, and entrepreneurship, Gaurav is helping build the future infrastructure of the digital music economy.
