Y Combinator-Backed Clueso Secures Funding for AI-Powered Video Creation Tools

Key Points

1. Clueso, an enterprise tech startup, has secured $1.4 million in seed funding led by f7 Ventures, with participation from existing backer Y Combinator.
2. Founded by IIT Madras alumni Akash Anand, Prajwal Prakash, and Neel Balar in June 2023, Clueso leverages generative AI (GenAI) to create instructional videos and documentation for employee training and customer engagement.
3. The startup’s AI capabilities include automatic removal of fumbling from videos, transcript rewriting for enhanced content coverage, and replacement of audio tracks with professional-sounding AI voiceovers. It also generates written articles for each video, complete with screenshots and GIFs.

Clueso, an enterprise tech startup, has successfully raised $1.4 million (approximately INR 11.6 crore) in its seed funding round, led by f7 Ventures. The funding round also saw the participation of existing backer Y Combinator.

Founded in June 2023 by IIT Madras alumni Akash Anand, Prajwal Prakash, and Neel Balar, Clueso harnesses generative AI (GenAI) to assist companies in creating instructional videos and documentation for employee training and customer engagement.

Clueso boasts of AI capabilities that automatically remove fumbling from videos, rewrite transcripts to cover content more efficiently, and replace audio tracks with professional-sounding AI voiceovers. Additionally, it generates written articles for each video, complete with screenshots and GIFs.

In a LinkedIn post, Prajwal Prakash revealed that, until now, the startup had only the three co-founders working full-time. With the new funding, Clueso plans to expand its team.

Commenting on the funding, Kelly Graziadei, General Partner at f7 Ventures, stated, “As long-time operators and builders of both sales and support teams, we know firsthand the pain and expense that comes with creating and maintaining engaging content for both internal teams and customers, especially at high-growth companies with rapidly changing products and policies. Clueso is the solution we wish we always had.”

Clueso was also selected for the winter cohort of Y Combinator’s early-stage startup accelerator program in April 2023, securing an investment of $500,000 through its participation in the three-month-long initiative.

This funding round arrives amidst a surge in investments within the Indian GenAI market. In January, AI startup Krutrim, led by Bhavish Aggarwal, entered the unicorn club with a $50 million funding round. Other startups like Vodex, Arya.AI, and Sydelabs have also attracted significant investor attention in recent months. The Indian GenAI market is projected to exceed $17 billion by 2030, growing from $1.1 billion in 2023.

Clueso competes in the burgeoning AI video creation space alongside companies such as Rephrase.ai, Trainn.co, Just Baat, and Hippo Video. Notably, Invideo, which initially focused on enterprise consumers in the AI-led video creation space in 2017, pivoted to become a B2C startup in 2019.