The company just raised $250 million in November against a $2.45 billion valuation — already a staggering jump from its roughly $500 million valuation in 2024. Now it’s more than doubled its valuation to $5.4 billion in just over six months, suggesting that investors haven’t been scared off by looming lawsuits.
The idea of a pedal with swappable, console-style effects cards isn’t new. But they don’t normally use actual video game console carts. There’s even a synth cart that you control with an N64 controller. Sadly, the base unit is currently sold out on the Console Pedals Etsy shop.
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Ableton’s custom controller had little precedent when it was first conceived. Designer Jesse Terry says, “I chopped up a bunch of other products and sampled the parts of them that I wanted.” Then, he attached them to a Lego board so he could quickly experiment with various layouts.
Yes, it requires a little effort to get it running. You’ll need Python and, depending on your OS, a trip to the terminal. But after that, it’s as simple as dragging, dropping, and clicking “Display on Frame.” It also has Google Drive sync, AI art analysis, and weather-based art picks.
