Zette
7 known investors
Find your way into Zette
371 people in our graph share verified history with the Zette team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Zette AI develops and monetizes proprietary datasets from a network of publishers for use in AI foundation models and enterprise applications. The company provides fact-checked, up-to-date datasets to enhance AI training and real-time insights.
Also known as Zette AI
Founders & leadership
Investors · 7
Also in the syndicate · 3
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements- Undisclosed amountpre-seed roundAug 2022
Afore Capital, Halogen Ventures, Hyphen Capital, MGV Capital Group, The Community Fund
Source ↗
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Zette AI (zette.com, also zette.ai) is a San Francisco-based company that licenses premium news content from publishers to AI companies. It positions itself as an intermediary between publishers and enterprises: it works with a network of publishers to develop and monetize proprietary datasets, and offers enterprises data intended for use in foundation model development and real-time insights. The company describes its datasets as fact-checked and up to date, and frames its mission as democratizing access to information.
The company began as a consumer news product. Under founder and CEO Yehong Zhu, Zette offered readers pay-per-article access to paywalled articles from a network of premium publications, with revenue shared back to newsrooms, plus an AI-curated newsfeed and legal sharing of paywalled articles. As of early 2024 it operated three subscription tiers at $9.99, $19.99 and $29.99 per month, granting 30, 60 and 90 credits respectively, where one credit unlocked one paywalled article. Mohammad Reza Samsami is listed as co-founder of Zette AI, leading AI research and product development, with an MA from the MILA AI Institute and a BS from Sharif University.
Founding story
Founder and CEO Yehong Zhu was born to immigrant parents, a journalist and an engineer, and graduated from Harvard College with a joint B.A. in philosophy and government. She worked as a journalist at Forbes Magazine and then as a consumer product manager at Twitter, on the Tweets team in San Francisco and the Events team in London, shipping products to more than 300 million users. Observing that fewer than 0.5% of readers hitting a paywalled article subscribe to that publication, she founded Zette to provide pay-per-article access while sharing revenue with newsrooms. Zhu is a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Media honoree and an angel investor across more than 10 early-stage startups.
Business model
Zette AI licenses news datasets sourced from a publisher network to AI companies and enterprises, monetizing publisher content on their behalf. Its earlier consumer product used a credit-based subscription: monthly tiers of $9.99, $19.99 and $29.99 provided 30, 60 and 90 credits, each credit unlocking one paywalled article, alongside revenue-share agreements with more than 100 publisher partners so newsrooms were paid for articles read on the platform.
Data licensing fees from AI companies and enterprises for access to publisher-sourced news datasets; previously consumer subscription tiers ($9.99/$19.99/$29.99 per month) with per-article credits, with revenue shared with publisher partners.
Traction
By February 2024 the company reported 50,000 registered readers with 5x year-over-year growth and more than 100 closed publisher deals, including Forbes, New Scientist, the Miami Herald and Pulitzer-Prize-winning local news, with plans to add hundreds more outlets across technology, business, finance and culture. As of January 2023 Forbes reported licensing deals with more than 100 premium publications, thousands of users on a waiting list and 25% month-over-month growth. Recognition includes a Fast Company "World Changing Ideas" honoree designation, first place at the Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs Accelerator Demo Day, and coverage in Forbes, TechCrunch and Us Weekly.
Latest developments
As of 2025 the company presents itself as Zette AI, licensing premium news data from trusted publishers to AI companies and collecting sign-ups for updates ahead of launch.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Zette operates at the intersection of news publishing and AI data licensing, aggregating content rights from over 100 premium publications, including Forbes, New Scientist, the Miami Herald and Pulitzer-Prize-winning local outlets, and repackaging that content for AI buyers. Its consumer positioning addressed the observation that fewer than 0.5% of readers who encounter a paywall subscribe to the publication.
The company aggregates licensing agreements across a large publisher network and pays publishers through revenue share, offering per-article access rather than requiring readers to subscribe to individual outlets, and marketing its datasets as fact-checked and current for AI use cases.
Technology
An AI-powered newsfeed curated articles to individual reader interests in the consumer product, and the company describes assembling proprietary, high-value news datasets for AI training and real-time insight applications. AI research and product development is led by co-founder Mohammad Reza Samsami.
Go-to-market
AI companies and enterprises building foundation models or requiring real-time news-derived insights; news publishers seeking to monetize their archives and articles; previously, individual readers encountering paywalled articles.
Geography
Built in San Francisco, California; the founder splits time between California and New York, and publisher partners include U.S. and international outlets.
History
Zette raised an oversubscribed $1.7 million pre-seed round, covered by Forbes and TechCrunch, and by January 2023 was reported as raising almost $2 million at a $10 million valuation with more than 100 publisher licensing deals. In February 2024 the company launched a crowdfunding campaign on Wefunder, with an early-bird round offering participants a 10% valuation discount and a $250 minimum investment. The company subsequently operates as Zette AI, focused on licensing premium news data from publishers to AI companies.
Risks & controversies
","market_position_note":"
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsZette was named a Fast Company "World Changing Ideas" honoree and took first place at the Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs Accelerator Demo Day.
Zette opened a community crowdfunding round on Wefunder, with an early-bird tranche offering a 10% discount on valuation versus public round investors and a $250 minimum investment; the early-bird window closed that week.
Zette closed licensing deals with more than 100 publishers, including Forbes, New Scientist, the Miami Herald and Pulitzer-Prize-winning local news outlets, with plans to add hundreds more across technology, business, finance and culture.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 6
primary sources listed
- Zettezette.com · web
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Zette do?
- Zette AI licenses premium news data from a network of publishers to AI companies and enterprises.
- Who founded Zette?
- Zette was founded by Yehong Zhu.
- Who are Zette's investors?
- Zette's investors include Halogen Ventures Management Company Llc, MGV Capital, Afore Capital, Hyphen Capital.