Zette is a San Francisco AI startup developing a "Spotify for news" product and a core AI system to recommend, summarize, interact with, and contextualize news content. The company emphasizes fair compensation for newsrooms alongside easier access to paywalled journalism. It was founded by Harvard graduate and former Twitter product manager Yehong Zhu and includes team members from Harvard, MIT, and the Quebec AI Institute. Zette reports traction with 50,000 readers onboard and partnerships with 110 publishers, including Forbes and New Scientist. Financially, Zette has surpassed $750,000 in equity crowdfunding on Wefunder, exceeding its initial target. The company says the funds will support scaling its product and advancing its mission to revolutionize news consumption while ensuring a sustainable future for quality journalism. Zette, founded by former Forbes reporter Yehong Zhu in July 2020, provides pay-per-article access to paywalled online publications through a monthly subscription. The product charges $9.99 per month for subscribers to access up to thirty articles, and Zette negotiates custom revenue-share agreements with publishers, aiming to return roughly 50% of Zette revenue to partners. The company has landed major licensing deals with top-tier publications including Forbes and plans to expand publisher partnerships and licensing deals. Zette intends to roll out a three-tiered, usage-based pricing structure, explore one-off article credits, and consider charging more credits for in-depth content. The startup has seven team members and operates with footprints in Los Angeles and New York City. The $1.7M pre-seed raise closed in March 2021 and will fund growth marketing, publisher partnerships and licensing deals, operational and software development expenses, and headcount. Competitors cited include Apple News+, Blendle and Nicklpass.

Total raised

$2M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Apr 2024