ROLI, the maker of the Seaboard Grand and Rise expressive MIDI controllers, has announced the acquisition of Blend, a music collaboration platform. This announcement follows on Roli’s acquisition of JUCE, a C++ framework for cross-platform audio development.

The hardware innovator is framing these acquisitions of software and social platforms as “extending its areas of expertise” in order to establish a complete “vertical end-to-end toolchain” for music creation.

Blend gives music creators a platform to share their projects in source format, enabling collaboration, remixing and engagement with a wider musical community. The social platform was founded in 2013 at New York startup studio betaworks.

ROLI has opened its first US office in betaworks’s studios, concurrent with the availability of the Seaboard RISE at retailers in the US and around the world.

For more information about the Roli Seaboard and Rise expressive MIDI controllers, and details of the Blend acquisition, consult the ROLI website.