---
title: "Clipto $15M at $250M: 17× ARR, Profitable, No Named Lead"
description: "On August 31, 2026 Clipto told TechCrunch it raised $15 million all-equity at a $250 million post-money valuation. Founder Henry Kang said $15 million ARR at the start of 2026 and net-income profitability, with just over 20 employees. No lead was named. HSG (formerly Sequoia China) is not Sequoia Capital."
date: 2026-09-02T00:00:00.000Z
tags: ["2026-vc-news", "startup-funding", "venture-capital", "artificial-intelligence", "market-analysis"]
source: https://venturecapitaltracker.com/2026-clipto-15m-250m-hsg-local-video-search
---

# Clipto $15M at $250M: 17× ARR, Profitable, No Named Lead

> On August 31, 2026 Clipto told TechCrunch it raised $15 million all-equity at a $250 million post-money valuation. Founder Henry Kang said $15 million ARR at the start of 2026 and net-income profitability, with just over 20 employees. No lead was named. HSG (formerly Sequoia China) is not Sequoia Capital.

**Clipto raised $15 million all-equity at a $250 million post-money valuation**, announced **August 31, 2026** — company [WebWire](https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=359768) plus [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/31/three-year-old-ai-media-search-startup-clipto-hits-a-250m-valuation/) (Kate Park). This page is the September 2 gap-fill: the print landed on the August 31 tape and was not in that day’s roundup. Last verified **September 2, 2026**.

Founder **Henry Kang** told TechCrunch the company hit **$15 million ARR** at the start of 2026 and is **profitable on a net-income basis**, with **just over 20 employees**. That is a **~17× ARR** print if both numbers hold. **No lead was named.**

## Five-minute decision

| If you need… | Verdict |
| --- | --- |
| What happened | **Funded.** $15M equity. **$250M post.** Stage unlabeled. |
| Lead | **None named.** Participant list only. |
| Traction | Company: **$15M ARR**, profitable, **~20** people. Kang **declined** subscriber count and ARPU. |
| Sequoia? | **HSG** (ex-Sequoia China) ≠ [Sequoia](/fund/sequoia). |

**Investigate further when:** you want a profitable, local-first media-search tool and can live without a named lead.

**Wait or pass when:** you need ARPU, net-retention, or a `/fund/` for HSG (there isn’t one).

## What happened

| Field | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Company | [Clipto](/startup/clipto) — on-device search across video, audio, images, documents |
| HQ | San Francisco; teams in Singapore and Hong Kong (TC) |
| Founded | **2023** (PR). Kang’s prior company Zenvideo was acquired by Tencent in **2020** (Kang to TC). |
| Amount / valuation | **$15M** · **$250M post** · all equity |
| Investors | HSG, GL Ventures, EnvisionX Capital, Palm Drive Capital, Hans Tung, Lu Zhang, 522 Ventures. **No lead named. No `/fund/` pages.** |
| Users | **>30 million** have used the products (company). **Hundreds of thousands** paying; Kang declined a precise count (TC). Creators are **~25–33%** of users (Kang). |
| Headcount | **Just over 20** (Kang to TC) |

The product bet: generative tools create more footage than people can find. Adobe Premiere, Apple Photos, and Google Photos already search **inside their own libraries**. Clipto’s claim is **cross-format, local, and MCP-accessible** to ChatGPT/Claude — user-authorized, on-device, per Kang.

## Worked numbers (indicative)

1. **Setup:** **$15M ARR**, beginning of 2026, founder to TechCrunch.
2. **Move:** **$250M** post on **$15M** new primary → **$15M / $250M = 6%** headline dilution if the raise is all new primary at that post-money. **Illustrative**, not an option-pool model.
3. **Punch:** **$250M / $15M ARR ≈ 16.7×**. That multiple only works if ARR is still **$15M**. Kang did not give a September 2026 ARR. **~20** people on **$15M ARR** is **~$750K ARR/employee** — company math, not audited.

## What remains undisclosed

**Lead, stage name, current ARR, subscriber count, ARPU, and gross margin** are missing. Do not file this under [Sequoia](/fund/sequoia), invent a Series A label, or treat **30 million** “have used” as **30 million** paying. Related: [Clipto](/startup/clipto) · [September 2 tape](/2026-september-2-investment-news-afterquery-frontier-clipto).

**By:** [Venture Capital Tracker](https://venturecapitaltracker.com/editorial-policy)
**Last updated:** September 2, 2026

**Editorial note:** AI tools assisted with research, structure, or drafting. Venture Capital Tracker retains human editorial responsibility for factual accuracy, relevance, and source quality before publication.