Short videos are driving massive engagement across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook. With billions of daily views, creators face pressure to produce content quickly while remaining relevant. Palo, a startup founded by former MrBeast content lead Jay Neo, ex-Palantir engineer Shivam Kumar, and creator Harry Jones, aims to address this challenge with AI-powered tools for video creation and analysis.
How Palo Works
Palo’s platform has three core components: an AI ideation and planning tool, analytics, and a community feature. Creators integrate their social accounts into the platform, allowing Palo to analyze their video performance and provide actionable insights. Metrics tracked include audience sentiment, engagement hooks, originality, and trending topics.
Kumar, Palo’s CTO, explained that the platform uses multiple AI models to generate structured insights and build a “persona” for each creator. This persona reflects the creator’s style and preferences, helping the AI suggest content ideas, scripts, and storyboards tailored to their strengths.
The AI planner functions like a conversational chatbot. Creators can ask general questions, request scripts based on formulas, or generate visual storyboards for low-dialogue content. The community feature currently allows creators to message one another, with plans to expand social and collaborative functionality.
Testing and Launch
During its test phase, Palo worked with 40 creators, collectively reaching over 1 million users across platforms. The platform is now open to creators with at least 100,000 followers, starting at $250 per month, with higher tiers for larger usage.
The startup has raised $3.8 million in funding from Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India), with participation from NFX and individual investors. Peak XV managing director Rajan Anandan cited the team’s experience with top creative teams and technical expertise as reasons for investing.
Addressing Burnout and AI Tension
Palo’s approach emphasizes enhancing creators’ intuition rather than enforcing formulaic content creation. Neo likens it to a comedian learning from audience reactions: the AI provides insights to help creators iterate faster without replacing their creative instincts. Josh Constine, former TechCrunch editor and Palo investor, said the tool helps creators avoid burnout from constantly consuming content to track trends and algorithms.
The AI-Creator Balance
Palo’s launch comes amid growing debates about AI’s role in content creation. Platforms like TikTok, Meta, and Google are integrating AI tools, but some creators, including MrBeast, have warned of AI’s potential to homogenize content. Palo aims to use AI as a supportive tool, nudging creators toward potential success while preserving originality and creativity.
By combining analytics, AI-assisted planning, and a nascent creator community, Palo positions itself as a platform designed to help creators thrive in a competitive, fast-moving short-form video landscape.
