Kanileʻa ʻUkulele was founded in 1998 by Joe and Kristen Souza in Kāneʻohe, on the windward side of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. Joe Souza apprenticed under master luthier Peter "Uncle Pete" Bermudez beginning in 1990 before launching the company out of a 500-square-foot garage. The brand's name translates roughly to "joyful sound" in Hawaiian, and the workshop has since grown into a multi-location operation that hand-builds instruments primarily from Hawaiian koa.

The company is best known for its koa concert, tenor, and baritone ukuleles, and has developed several proprietary construction features including TRU bracing, the TRU-Bevel cutaway, and the TRU-Armrest. In 2024 Kanileʻa expanded into acoustic guitars with the KG-1, KG-2, KSG-2, KG-4 Pro, and KG-5 Pro models. The Souzas also operate the more affordable Islander brand, which uses Kanileʻa's designs at a lower price point, along with the Holo Holo line.

Kanileʻa is closely associated with sustainability efforts in Hawaiʻi through its Saving Hawaiʻi's Forests initiative, which replants endemic species on protected land to support the long-term supply of tonewoods like koa. The instruments are widely stocked by specialist Hawaiian and mainland ukulele retailers and have a reputation in the ukulele community as one of the higher-end Hawaiian-built options alongside makers such as Kamaka and KoAloha.

Kanile'a has 2 products cataloged on Equipboard, including Ukuleles.