What if breaking the rules was the unlock?
We’re excited to announce our investment in Cluely, the AI-powered desktop assistant that delivers real-time support during everyday moments — whether meetings, customer support calls, project brainstorming sessions, or collaborative tasks.
You’ve almost certainly heard of Cluely’s founder, Roy Lee — the mind behind viral stunts like Interview Coder (which helped users “cheat” on coding interviews), hiring 50 interns to fuel Cluely’s content engine, and his infamous exit from Columbia University. While Roy’s bold approach may seem outwardly controversial, behind the scenes his moves are rooted in deliberate strategy and intentionality.
Cluely’s AI-powered assistant operates discreetly on users’ desktops, intelligently interpreting live audio and on-screen context to deliver proactive insights. This lightweight tool has quickly become important in high-stakes professional settings. Initially popularized among consumers through dramatic marketing campaigns, Cluely has already proven its value in enterprise environments — particularly in sales — quickly securing contracts and deployments.
The team’s strength in distribution (the growth team is comprised of 7 people who have independently grown personal audiences of over 100,000 followers apiece) has driven impressive brand awareness and mindshare: within a few weeks of launch, Cluely generated meaningful consumer subscription revenue, boosted by viral campaigns and systematic user-generated content. The strength of this initial traction underscores the clear demand for innovative, real-time productivity tools.
We see real opportunity in Cluely’s vision to pioneer a new category of proactive, multimodal AI assistants. Unlike traditional note-taking and transcription products, Cluely combines instantaneous responsiveness with deep contextual understanding, effectively positioning it across the consumer and enterprise markets.
Roy and his team are building with intention, creativity, and velocity, developing products that resonate deeply, scale quickly, and engage users in novel ways. We’re thrilled to support them on this journey. If you’re passionate about the future of real-time, AI-powered productivity, Cluely is hiring. Check out their open roles here.
