Clipto has raised $15 million at a $250 million post-money valuation to expand its AI-powered local media search platform, which indexes video, audio, images and documents on a user’s device.
The San Francisco-based startup announced the all-equity round in an interview with TechCrunch. HSG, GL Ventures, EnvisionX Capital, Palm Drive Capital, Hans Tung, Lu Zhang and 522 Ventures participated. Clipto has teams in San Francisco, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Clipto AI searches the files already on your devices
Clipto’s software is designed to search across a user’s videos, recordings, images, meetings and other files using natural-language prompts. It can also make selected indexed information available to AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude through the Model Context Protocol, with the user’s authorisation required for access.
The company says processing takes place locally on the device rather than through cloud services. Its website currently offers a Mac version, a Windows beta, iOS access, and Android and web versions powered by the cloud. The Mac version requires Apple silicon and at least 16GB of memory, while the Windows version requires at least 12GB of RAM, according to the company’s homepage.
Founder Henry Kang told TechCrunch that Clipto started with video creators who had footage scattered across computers and external drives. Creators now make up roughly one-quarter to one-third of its users, he said, with lawyers, doctors, researchers, marketers, HR professionals, professors and students making up the rest.
“The real insight is that in this AI era, we don’t have a content shortage. The opposite is true. We have too much content,” Kang told TechCrunch.
Clipto was founded in 2023. Kang previously founded ZenVideo, a video-creation startup acquired by Tencent in 2020. Clipto says it has attracted more than 10 million users across more than 100 countries and generates more than $15 million in annual recurring revenue. TechCrunch, reporting the new round, puts usage at more than 30 million people and says the company reached $15 million in ARR at the beginning of 2026 while remaining profitable on a net-income basis.
What happens next for Clipto AI
The new money will fund AI models, computing infrastructure for consumer hardware and integrations with more AI agents, Kang said. That puts Clipto between two increasingly crowded categories: cloud software that already owns users’ files, and device makers adding natural-language search to their own apps.
Adobe offers AI search in Premiere, while Apple Photos and Google Photos can find images and videos from descriptions. Clipto’s pitch is that it can search across different file types and locations without requiring users to move everything into one company’s cloud. Whether that is enough to support a standalone product is the question the funding round now gives it more time to answer.
Clipto’s product is available internationally, but the company does not list UAE-specific pricing or availability on the sources checked for this article.
TechCrunch reported the funding round and interview. Clipto’s official website lists the current platforms and device requirements, while the company’s January funding announcement gives its earlier user and revenue figures.
What is Clipto AI?
Clipto AI is a local media search platform that indexes video, audio, images, meetings and documents so users can find them with natural-language prompts.
How much did Clipto AI raise?
Clipto AI raised $15 million in an all-equity round at a $250 million post-money valuation, according to TechCrunch.
Does Clipto AI process files in the cloud?
Clipto says its local processing runs on the user’s device. Its Android and web versions are described on the company website as cloud-powered.
