Kaito AI Launches Creator-Brand Matching Platform

Kaito AI's new platform marks a significant pivot from its origins as a crypto-focused search engine. Founded in 2022 by Yu Hu and Yunzhong He, the Seattle-based startup initially leveraged AI to index and analyze dispersed Web3 information from sources like Discord, governance forums, and podcasts. The company has raised a total of $10.8 million across two rounds, with a $5.3 million seed round in February 2023 and a $5.5 million Series A in June 2023. Backers include prominent venture firms such as Dragonfly Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Superscrypt, and Spartan. The launch of Kaito Studio follows the discontinuation of its previous service, "Yaps," which used a token-based system to incentivize content creation. This strategic shift was a direct response to changes in X's API policies that restricted incentivized posting, prompting a move toward a more traditional marketing platform structure. Kaito's new model moves from a permissionless, open network to a selective, tiered system for creator collaboration. This approach aims to address common industry pain points like ensuring creator authenticity, managing content rights, and measuring campaign ROI, which are persistent challenges in the rapidly growing influencer marketing space. The platform enters a competitive influencer marketing market that is projected to exceed $97 billion by 2030. The industry's growth is heavily driven by the integration of AI and machine learning to optimize influencer discovery and campaign performance, which is central to Kaito's new offering.