Clipto secures $15 million round, valuing AI video-search startup at $250 million
Clipto, a San Francisco-based AI tool that indexes and searches video, audio and documents, raised $15 million in equity, bringing its valuation to $250 million.
Clipto, an AI-driven platform that makes video, audio, image and document files searchable on a user's device, completed a $15 million equity round that values the company at $250 million post-money. The financing involved investors including HSG (formerly Sequoia China), GL Ventures, EnvisionX Capital, Palm Drive Capital, Hans Tung, Lu Zhang and 522 Ventures. Founded in 2023 by Henry Kang, who previously built AI-focused startups and sold ZenVideo to Tencent, Clipto now serves creators, lawyers, doctors, researchers and other professionals, with more than 30 million users and hundreds of thousands of paid subscribers.
The firm achieved $15 million in annual recurring revenue at the start of 2026 and remains profitable. Recent product updates added support for the Model Context Protocol, enabling AI agents to retrieve indexed data with user permission, all processed locally without cloud reliance. Clipto aims to compete with larger platforms by offering cross-type search and AI integration across files stored outside major services.
Why it matters
The funding gives Clipto resources to expand AI search tools that help users manage growing volumes of digital media.
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