Clipto uses AI to search terabytes of video and is now valued at $250M

Generative AI is making it easier to nutrient much contented and harder to support way of it. As videos, recordings, and documents accumulate, Adobe, Apple, Google, and a increasing fig of startups are utilizing AI to marque those files searchable. It is not yet wide whether that volition enactment a caller class of standalone bundle oregon go a modular diagnostic of products radical already use.

Clipto is betting determination is country for a abstracted product. The San Francisco-headquartered startup, which besides has teams successful Singapore and Hong Kong, has raised $15 cardinal successful an all-equity circular astatine a $250 cardinal post-money valuation. The investors see HSG, formerly Sequoia China, GL Ventures, EnvisionX Capital, Palm Drive Capital, Hans Tung, Lu Zhang, and 522 Ventures.

Clipto indexes videos, audio, images, meetings, and different files connected a user’s computer. Instead of scrolling done folders to find what you need, users tin hunt by describing what they’re looking for oregon inquire ChatGPT, Claude, oregon different AI tools to find it for them.

Clipto laminitis Henry Kang has been moving connected related problems for astir 2 decades. Kang said that, portion a PhD pupil astatine Carnegie Mellon University successful 2006, helium worked connected robots that recorded their surroundings, identified objects, and remembered wherever to find them. Kang aboriginal applied the aforesaid basal thought to his archetypal startup, which utilized AI to support way of the apparel successful a user’s closet and suggest outfits. His 2nd company, ZenVideo, focused connected making video instauration easier and was acquired by Tencent successful 2020, Kang told TechCrunch.

“The existent penetration is that successful this AI era, we don’t person a contented shortage,” Kang said. “The other is true. We person excessively overmuch content. We person excessively overmuch video footage sitting connected our computers that isn’t being used.”

Kang founded Clipto successful 2023 with respective members of his erstwhile startup’s founding team, gathering the institution astir that observation. While different AI companies focused connected generating caller material, Clipto acceptable retired to assistance users find and reuse files they already had.

Clipto initially built its merchandise for video creators trying to negociate footage scattered crossed computers and outer drives. But Kang said creators present marque up lone astir one-quarter to one-third of its users. The remainder see lawyers, doctors, researchers, marketers, human-resources professionals, professors and students.

The institution says much than 30 cardinal radical person utilized its products since motorboat and that it has hundreds of thousands of paying subscribers. Kang declined to supply a much precise subscriber number oregon mean gross per customer, though helium said a important information of customers stay subscribed for much than 2 years.

Clipto reached $15 cardinal successful yearly recurring gross astatine the opening of 2026, and remains profitable connected a net-income basis, Kang said. The institution has conscionable implicit 20 employees divided among the San Francisco Bay Area, Hong Kong and Singapore.

About 2 weeks ago, Clipto added enactment for Model Context Protocol, oregon MCP, a modular that allows AI applications to link with extracurricular sources of information. Kang said entree to indexed files requires the user’s progressive petition and authorization. When an AI exertion accesses Clipto’s indexed data, it tin lone retrieve accusation wrong the scope the idiosyncratic specifies. All of this processing runs locally connected the user’s instrumentality without requiring unreality services, Kang added.

Clipto is entering a marketplace wherever larger companies already power overmuch of the information and bundle radical usage to negociate it. Adobe already offers AI-powered search successful Premiere, portion Apple Photos and Google Photos let users to find photos and videos utilizing natural-language descriptions.

Kang said Clipto tin hunt crossed videos, audio, images and documents, portion products from Adobe, Apple and Google mostly absorption connected files stored wrong their ain services. Clipto besides lets users marque selected accusation disposable to AI tools specified arsenic ChatGPT and Claude. The institution is betting that combining those functions successful 1 merchandise volition assistance it vie with larger platforms.

The caller backing volition spell toward the AI models and computing infrastructure needed to tally Clipto connected user hardware, arsenic good arsenic integrations with much AI agents, Kang said.