The story
Native Instruments as a company was founded in 1999 in Berlin, Germany, where its headquarters are still located. Founders Stephan Schmitt and Volker Hinz began using the name Native Instruments in 1996, when they developed Generator, a modular synth software package (which would later form the foundations for their ongoing product, Reaktor).
Following the release of Generator, the company's employees expanded to include Bernd Roggendorf (later a founder of Ableton) and Daniel Haver, who later became Native Instruments' CEO.
In 1999, Native Instruments expanded its staff count and moved to its current building in Berlin's Kreuzberg district.
In 2000, the company began creating products for the DJ community, beginning with the first version of their Traktor software. In 2002, they expanded further to include software samplers, in the form of ongoing products Kontakt and Battery.
In September 2004, the company began a partnership with the DJ hardware manufacturing company Stanton Magnetics and with online music store Beatport. 2004 also saw the release of their guitar amplifier and effects pedal emulation software, Guitar Rig. In 2006, Native Instruments restructured into 3 divisions: instruments, DJ, and guitar.
In March 2017, Native Instruments acquired remix-licensing startup MetaPop.
In January 2020, a works council was elected that represents the employees of the Berlin office.
In January 2021, it was reported that private investment firm, Francisco Partners acquired a majority stake in Native Instruments.
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Aside from its German offices in Berlin and Langenfeld, Native Instruments now also has offices in Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, Paris, and Shenzhen.
In April 2022, Native instruments briefly became a subsidiary brand of Soundwide, a parent company created with the backing of Francisco Partners and EMH Partners.
In January 2023, Soundwide laid off 8% of its workforce, citing "challenging market conditions" as the reason. In June of the same year, the Soundwide name was retired and substituted with Native Instruments' own branding, citing familiarity concerns as what led to the change.
On 27 January 2026 it was announced that Native Instruments had entered into preliminary administration proceedings, with the future of the company’s products being uncertain. Native Instruments announced on 8 May of that year that an agreement had been reached for inMusic Brands to acquire the company.
From Wikipedia’s article on Native Instruments, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5