On Monday, Clipbook, an AI-powered platform that helps companies monitor their media coverage, announced a $3 million seed round. The investment was co-led by Mark Cuban, Commonweal Ventures, and Carpenter Capital.
The deal originated from a cold email. Clipbook’s founder, Adam Joseph, told TechCrunch he took a long shot with a message he never thought anyone would read. Joseph launched Clipbook in 2023 and bootstrapped the company to a million dollars in annual recurring revenue. About a year ago, feeling ready to seek investors, he made a list of the top five media investors in the world. His platform uses AI to help companies track press, podcast, and social media mentions, so he wanted investors who understood that landscape.
Mark Cuban, with his extensive media background, was at the top of the list. One evening in late 2024, Joseph sent a one-page investment pitch via cold email to everyone on his list, without any warm introduction. Cuban was the only one who answered.
Cuban explained that he still scans his own emails looking for deals, having invested tens of millions of dollars from emails that often turned into successful companies. But before investing, he put Joseph through a series of tests. His first response was a skeptical list of twenty questions. Cuban noted that many founders wilt under such pressure, but Joseph answered every question promptly and satisfactorily.
Next, Cuban asked Joseph to prove the product by producing a report for his own company, CostPlus Drugs, an online pharmacy he co-founded. Cuban stated he knows firsthand how difficult it is to research public relations and marketing, and to learn what people are saying about a company.
Clipbook operates in a competitive field that includes companies like Sprinklr, Sprout Social, and Hootsuite. Joseph contends Clipbook is different because it was built from the ground up to be AI native. This means it understands the context of words rather than just scanning for keywords, and it can effectively search audio and video content like podcasts. Joseph built the product after experiencing the pains of media sentiment research firsthand while doing PR work for Boston Consulting Group.
Joseph quickly produced the report for Cuban, which accurately nailed relevant references. Cuban was especially impressed when it uncovered a previously unknown podcast conversation about pharmacy benefit services. After a few days of negotiation, Cuban agreed to send a term sheet. The first part of the seed round closed in early 2025, with other investors joining over the following months.
Joseph declined to share updated annual recurring revenue figures since the seed round closed, only stating the company has grown beyond its first million. The company now counts 200 companies as customers, including Weber Shandwick and his former employer, the Boston Consulting Group.