The $6 million seed funding round was closed today by Halo AI, the company revolutionizing the way creators and brands work together. Strategic investors including former C-level executives from Snapchat, executives from Microsoft and Airbnb, senior executives from Amazon, and early backers of gaming industry unicorns were part of the round, which was led by Raed Ventures and Shorooq.
The announcement highlights Halo AI’s goal of facilitating effective, scalable partnerships between creators and brands. It was made as part of the 1 Billion Pitches competition during the 1 Billion Followers Summit.
With immediate plans for Dubai and Kuwait, as well as rapid scaling across MENA, Europe, and North America, the investment will support Halo AI’s global expansion beyond its successful launch in Saudi Arabia.
Leading companies like Kitopi, ToYou, 1/2M, and Syarah have already partnered with Halo AI’s state-of-the-art AI capabilities, which were created by experts from AWS, Meta, and Snapchat.
In 2024, the global creator economy was valued at $250 billion, and by 2027, it is expected to have nearly doubled. The industry still has significant inefficiencies when it comes to scaling brand-creator partnerships, despite this expansion. In just a few months of operation, Halo AI’s ground-breaking AI technology has already produced outstanding outcomes, establishing the business as a pioneer in the field.
With Halo AI, brands can go live in as little as 48 hours and enjoy a 97% campaign completion rate, which is significantly higher than the industry average of 65%. The platform is the first in the area to guarantee payment to creators within 72 hours.
“After decades of building ad products at Meta and Snapchat, we recognized that traditional approaches couldn’t solve the fundamental inefficiencies in creator marketing,” said Vito Strokov, Co-Founder and CEO of Halo AI. “Our agentic AI operates as an intelligent partner in the collaboration process, making autonomous decisions about creator-brand matches, optimizing campaign performance in real-time, and consistently delivering breakthrough results. Unlike traditional automation tools, our AI actively thinks, learns, and adapts to each brand’s unique needs while understanding what drives creator success, resulting in an 85% reduction in manual work and performance metrics that far exceed industry standards.”
“The creator economy represents one of the most dynamic and transformative opportunities of our time, but it has long struggled with inefficiencies in scaling meaningful brand-creator collaborations,” said Tina Daher, Principal at Shorooq. “Halo AI’s pioneering technology is a game-changer, bringing unmatched precision, scalability, and efficiency to this space. At Shorooq, we’re excited to support Halo AI’s vision to redefine how brands and creators connect, enabling them to unlock unprecedented value and impact across the region and globally.”
“The creator economy is booming, and brands are seeking authentic connections with their audiences,” said Wael Nafee, General Partner at Raed Ventures. “Halo AI’s innovative AI-powered platform is transforming how creator-brand partnerships are formed and executed. We’re proud to lead their fundraising round and confident Halo AI will become a definitive platform in this rapidly growing market.”
With 84% of brand deals taking place in the small and medium creator segment and the global creator economy expected to reach $480 billion by 2027, Halo AI is in a unique position to gain a sizable portion of the market. Its AI-powered solutions raise the bar for the sector by enabling scalable creator collaborations while lowering expenses and enhancing quality.
