Clouted Raises $7M to Automate Viral Short-Form Video Growth
Short-form video has become a primary engine for digital marketing, yet the logistics of identifying and distributing the most engaging clips remain a complex operational hurdle for brands. Clouted, a startup focused on streamlining this process, announced today that it has secured $7 million in a seed funding round.
The investment was led by Slow Ventures, with additional backing from Peak XV’s Surge, Gold House Ventures, and Weekend Fund. The company, which participated in the a16z Speedrun accelerator in 2024, intends to use the capital to expand its infrastructure for automated content clipping and strategic distribution.
Scaling the Clipping Economy
Marketing agencies frequently rely on independent creators to manually sift through long-form content—such as podcasts or films—to extract 30 to 90-second segments. Clouted aims to replace this fragmented workflow by leveraging a network of over 100,000 gig creators paired with proprietary AI. This system handles the editing process and employs machine learning to pinpoint the ideal platform and audience for each specific clip.
Justin Banusing, co-founder and CEO of Clouted, developed the initial technology to support his own work in festival production. He utilized the platform to scale &Friends, an electronic dance music event in Manila that has grown to attract more than 20,000 attendees.
A Data-Driven Approach to Virality
Unlike marketing tools that prioritize the sheer volume of posts, Clouted utilizes a continuous testing loop. The system treats social media algorithms similarly to how cybersecurity professionals approach penetration testing; instead of identifying system vulnerabilities, the platform tests thousands of clipping and distribution variations to uncover what triggers viral performance.
Key operational benefits of the Clouted platform include:
- Iterative Optimization: Each campaign provides data that informs future efforts, increasing efficiency over time.
- Algorithmic Learning: The AI identifies which specific formats and audience segments yield the highest conversion rates.
- Strategic Compounding: Distribution channels are refined based on historical performance data rather than guesswork.
“The result is that every campaign Clouted runs makes the next one faster, smarter, and more effective,” Banusing explained. “The platform learns which formats win, which audiences convert, and which distribution channels compound over time.”
Market Positioning
While the company operates within the automated clipping sector alongside competitors like Overlap AI, Banusing views his firm as a broader contender in the enterprise marketing infrastructure space. By targeting the scale achieved by companies like CreatorIQ and Hightouch—the latter of which recently surpassed $100 million in ARR—Clouted is positioning itself as a foundational tool for large-scale digital marketing operations.