Waffle Video

Waffle Video (WaffleVideo.Ai) operates a marketplace and patent-pending mobile app through which AI companies commission custom video data for model training. Customer video orders are published in the app as gamified "Missions"; creators, referred to as WaffleMakers, onboard and agree to terms, film new footage on the go or at home through the app, tag and upload clips tied to their account, and are paid for each approved upload. Creators receive additional, ongoing compensation each time their footage is subsequently licensed to AI companies.

The company describes its output as quality-controlled, pre-validated video clips of 1080p or higher captured on creators' phones, delivered with granular metadata and clean chain-of-title and provenance. Clips are filmed in controlled scenarios intended to limit legal risk for buyers and to target specific model-improvement needs. Waffle Video frames the demand driver as the projected exhaustion of high-quality internet training data by 2026 and identifies end markets including media, robotics, healthcare and gaming. The platform is free for creators to join, with no subscription fees, while AI companies are offered pricing plans based on data needs and usage. The company also states that targeted mission-based data collection can reduce the number of training iterations and therefore the energy consumption associated with model training.

Founding story

The founders, working filmmakers, describe starting the company out of experience in film sets, auditions and the creator gig economy rather than a traditional technology background. During the actors' strike, which halted much Hollywood production, they took gig work helping train AI models and observed that they were paid once for a day of data creation while the resulting data was licensed repeatedly to multiple companies. Drawing on the film industry's revenue-share norms, they built Waffle Video so creators would share in the ongoing value of their data, framing creators as artists producing "micro-works" of training data and describing a feedback loop in which creators are paid to improve the AI tools they themselves use.

Business model

Two-sided marketplace: AI and technology companies place custom video orders ("Missions") and license the resulting clips under flexible pricing plans based on data needs and usage; creators join and use the app for free and are paid per approved upload plus a share when their footage is licensed or relicensed. Waffle Video manages the process end to end, from content creation through licensing, including quality control, metadata and chain-of-title documentation.

Revenue is generated from AI companies, which pay for commissioned video data and licensing under pricing plans tied to data needs and usage; creator earnings are structured as upfront payment per approved upload plus recurring payments on subsequent licensing.

Traction

Creator access is offered via a waitlist and app access requests, and the site publishes testimonials from named creators describing paid mission work and passive income from relicensed footage. No user, revenue or funding figures are disclosed.

Latest developments

Waffle Video is listed as a DMLA Leadership Member on the alliance's AI licensing solutions directory, with Co-Founder & COO Joshua Mesnik as the business contact, while creator onboarding continues through a waitlist for app access.