# Zette

Knocking down paywalls to provide your news, your way

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/zette
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:139482
- Last updated: 2026-06-03T18:09:01Z
- Generated at: 2026-06-04T02:13:23Z

## Quick facts
- 50,000+ registered readers with a 5x YoY growth rate
- 110 publisher deals incl. Forbes, New Scientist, Miami Herald, Pulitzer-Prize winning outlets
- $1.7mm oversubscribed pre-seed from Afore, Halogen, The Community Fund, Hyphen & MGV
- 1st place winner, Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs Accelerator Demo Day
- Featured: Forbes, TechCrunch, Biz Journals, Fast Company’s “World Changing Ideas” Honoree

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:91727: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)
- wefunder:fundraise:91728: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## Story
If you recognize this screen, you’re one of a billion people who hit paywalls every day.Paywalls have a 99.7% bounce rate, leading to a global epidemic of clickbait, misinformation, and fake news.Now imagine surfing the internet paywall-free.Zette magically drops paywalls from articles with just one click. Our revolutionary pay-per-article model lets you legally unlock paywalled news, giving you access to over 100 publishers with a single subscription.Our world-class team comes from Harvard, MIT and the Quebec AI Institute.We're experts across media (Forbes, Digital Trends), tech (Twitter, Entelo), startups (Classhook, Below the Fold) and AI research (ServiceNow, MILA).Together we're well-equipped to build the future of online content consumption.Our underlying competitive advantage is our extensive network of publishers.We’ve secured 110 publishers, ranging from Forbes to New Scientist to Pulitzer-Prize-winning local news outlets like the Miami Herald.We're one of the only companies in the world to close this caliber of deals with publishers—giving us a massive competitive advantage.Each unlocked article saves readers money, pays accredited journalists, and generates revenue for us.Similar to Netflix or Spotify, we share revenue with our media partners through licensing agreements, with expected future margins averaging 50%.Pricing starts at $9.99 per month for 30 articles, and scales up from there. For every article unlocked, a portion goes back to newsrooms—so that every time you read, a journalist gets paid.We're first movers in an untapped market, and we're growing—fast.50,000+ readers have already signed up.If our 5x growth rate from 2023 continues into the future, then we’re on track to grow our readership to a quarter million by the end of 2024 and 1 million by the end of 2025.Unlike news tech 1.0 companies, we're ushering in a new era of innovation.No existing model of content consumption perfectly captures what we do, and innovation in this industry has been stagnant for a long time.Almost all of our competitors were founded in the 2010's, and none of them directly address the consumer paywall pain point we're tackling with Zette.We've raised from top venture capital firms and refined our model through multiple accelerators.We've also received coverage and accolades from across the internet.The future of news consumption is intelligent, fact-checked, and personalized. We're building that future with Zette AI.We were just accepted into the 2024 cohort of AI startups at the MILA Institute, the world's largest academic research institution for deep learning.Thanks to resources and support from MILA, we're currently in the R&D phase of our core AI innovation, centering around a four-part algorithm that can recommend, summarize, interact with, and contextualize the news.Our 1st acquisition is already paving the way.In December 2023 we acquired Below the Fold from parent company Acciyo—a startup founded out of MIT that uses AI to bridge the widening gap between reading the news and understanding it.Acciyo scans thousands of news sites, employs machine learning and natural language processing to identify key topics, entities, and metadata, and generates an AI-powered timeline that provides helpful context behind news stories.We aim to integrate Acciyo's core technology into Zette AI, which would be a major step in simplifying and contextualizing the news reader’s experience.For us, journalism is just the beginning.At Zette, our mission is to democratize access to information across the internet. We plan to scale our pay-per-view model beyond journalism, expanding across digital content including e-books, academic journals, podcasts, shows and more.Our go-to-market strategy is to service consumers, businesses, and universities, making knowledge accessible to everyone. Ultimately we are targeting a venture-scale outcome (100x return) in the next 10 years with the end goal of an IPO.If you share our vision of a future where information can be accessible to everyone, and our belief that we'll be the ones to do it—then we invite you to join the Zette revolution on Wefunder today.FAQHow does investing work?(1) Join Wefunder. Click ‘Sign Up’ in the top right corner using your email address.(2) Choose an amount you’re comfortable investing. You can commit any amount you’d like, starting from $250 up to your legal max. (3) Confirm investment amount. When the campaign ends, the funds will be deposited to Zette. If we exceed our maximum allotment of $1.235m, we’ll have to refund some investments (more on refunds below).What happens if the $1.235m maximum allotment is exceeded?We can’t exceed $1.235m. If we become oversubscribed, we may need to refund you some or all of your investment amount. We will aim to give a $1,000 USD allocation or more to active Zette customers, but if we have too much interest in the round, then we may need to reduce the allocation.What is the minimum investment?The minimum check size is $250 USD.What's the maximum I am legally allowed to invest?Through Regulation Crowdfunding everyone can invest up to $2,500. How much you're able to invest above that depends on your net income and net worth. You can see how much you're allowed to invest by adding those two numbers under "Investor Limits" here: https://wefunder.com/settingsDo I need to be an accredited investor?No. Wefunder allows you to invest without being an accredited investor. All you have to do is sign up and invest.Do I have to do anything for Zette as an investor?No. All you do is invest. When will my investment leave my account?If you fund your Wefunder Cash account, your funds will move from your account immediately, similar to online shopping. You'll also be able to pay via bank account, wire transfer, credit card, or check.Once you confirm your investment, the funds you invest are permanently deposited into Zette via Wefunder once our campaign closes. This is irreversible and confirmed investments cannot be refunded.For other questions, please check out Wefunder's FAQs or contact support@wefunder.com.

## FAQ
1. **How do you actually unlock an article on a publisher's site?**
   - We have seamless backend integration with every publisher we partner with via two main methods. 1. We embed our product directly onto the publisher’s website, offering custom solutions that require minimal effort from the publisher, as we handle most of the technical aspects. 2. We integrate with third-party paywall providers, which are common among publishers. By partnering with these providers, we enable a single integration to apply to any publisher using that vendor, which streamlines our...
2. **What do I get in return. For investing ?**
   - You not only get access to our Early Bird discounted valuation if you’re among the first $300k in investments, but you also get access to a number of investor perks (please see wefunder.com/zette for the full suite of perks depending on how much money you invest). As for potential ROI, our long-term goal at Zette is to target an IPO (initial public offering), which would value the company at a billion dollars or more. The upside of investing early can be incredibly high. So if you believe in ...
3. **It looks like there's been a relatively recent pivot towards AI. Please elaborate. How is ML relevant to your business model (which is ostensibly primarily "surfing the internet paywall-free. "). How much are you investing in ML (e.g., relative to to other costs)? It's not bro...**
   - We're using AI to make our service better by helping users find and read articles that are usually hidden behind paywalls. This is important because it's hard to discover good articles that people usually can't access without paying—not only are these articles not shared on social media, but they’re less discoverable on search engines and receive less engagement overall. An AI-powered recommendation system allows us to surface the best content for our readers, paywall-free. We have an edge he...
4. **How do you address varying subscription rates among news outlets?**
   - Currently we address varying subscription rates by standardizing the cost per article. That means that each article across different news outlets costs the same amount to the user. This makes it easier for both publishers and readers alike to know the cost of each article within the Zette platform, and standardizes negotiations with publishers as well.
5. **Who is your target audience?**
   - Although we’ve designed our product to be accessible for everyone seeking high-quality information, on the consumer side we’re particularly focused on engaging younger digital natives. We call this demographic the HENRY CATTS: High Earners (Not Rich Yet), Curious and Aspiring Twenty and Thirty-Somethings. This group spans from older Gen-Z’s to older Millennials, or those in their early 20s to late 30s. They range from college students accessing high-quality information for the first time, to ...

## Team
- Yehong Zhu (Founder & CEO)
- Mo Samsami (Zette AI Co-Founder | Head of AI Research)
- Axel Bobee (Partnerships | Head of Business Development)
- Alexander Deeb (Engineering | Chief Technology Officer)
- Vivian Diep (Engineering | Co-founder of Below the Fold (Acquired))

## Recent posts
- Zette’s Round is Closed! THANK YOU ✨💫 [Our Last Wefunder Post] (2024-05-01T22:11:27Z)
- ⏳ Last Call While We’re Live: Final Hours to Invest in Zette on Wefunder ⏳ (2024-04-30T00:16:15Z)
- ⏰ Zette’s Crowdfunding Campaign Closing TODAY at 11:59 PM EST / 8:59 PM PST! ⏰ (2024-04-29T16:24:34Z)
- Round Extended: Invest in Zette before new April 29th Deadline! 🚀 (2024-04-26T22:25:16Z)
- Zette’s Round Closes in 24 Hours! + Register for our Media x AI Webinar 📢 (2024-04-25T17:16:56Z)
- Startup Grind Day 3/3: Zette Pitches at Global Conference 2024 (2024-04-25T06:47:21Z)
- Zette’s Been Featured on TheSkimm, Morning Brew & more! + Two Days Left to Invest ⏰⏰ (2024-04-24T20:55:07Z)
- 📝 Zette Featured in Wefunder’s Newsletter + We Hit $1 Million!!! (2024-04-23T19:44:46Z)
- ⏱️ Let the Countdown Begin: 4 Days Left to Invest + Zette Crosses $820k! (2024-04-22T18:06:44Z)
- 5 Days Left to Invest in Zette: The Race to $1 Million 🏁 (2024-04-21T18:22:08Z)
- Join us for Zette's Exclusive Final Webinar: AI & Media's Next Chapter! (2024-04-21T00:03:34Z)
- Early Bird Shares SOLD OUT 🤯 + Zette Pitching at Startup Grind! (2024-04-19T18:21:51Z)
- KingsCrowd Founder Profile with Zette CEO Yehong Zhu (2024-04-18T16:25:20Z)
- Zette Named AI Division Finalist in the 2024 Next Challenge for Media & Journalism (2024-04-17T17:50:34Z)
- Zette Selected to Pitch at SuperCrowd24 + Only 2 Weeks Left to Invest! 🕒 (2024-04-15T20:27:04Z)

## Q&A
- Q: Beyond the current 110 publishers, how does Zette plan to partner with additional publishers, including name brand outlets like the New York Times or WSJ?
  - A: We aim to expand our partnerships with leading publishers by 1) leveraging our existing strategy of cultivating long-term relationships with newsrooms, and 2) presenting them with new revenue and audience opportunities that are hard to turn down. Our approach is grounded in the belief that mutual success is paramount. As a second generation journalist, I understand the nature of the media industry better than entrepreneurs who only come from a tech background. This industry is in dire need of innovation, a gap that Zette was founded to fill. Our commitment to improving the ecosystem for both readers and publishers alike, coupled with the significant progress we've already made, positions us strongly for future collaborations with top-tier outlets and makes us confident in our ability to continue securing access to the world’s leading publications for our readers.
- Q: did you folks pivot to zette ai? how about an update?
- Q: Really like the concept but missing key publishers for me to sign up. It would be cool if there was some sign-up-and-be-notified feature when/if these publishers were onboarded to Zette, and I'd sign up then.
  - A: This is an awesome idea, thank you for sharing! One of the reasons we're raising a community round on Wefunder is to add key titles to our publisher network that our readers want to see. We're starting off with 110 publishers but plan to add plenty more over time. What are the key publishers that you'd like to see? Can make a note of it to my team.
- Q: With so much bias in the media, how do you make sure you have a balanced set of publications in your offering?
  - A: We stay away from extremist views in the media. This aligns well with our business model because a lot of the more extreme publications on either side of the political spectrum do not have paywalls. Because having a paywall is currently a requirement for our publisher set, it usually filters out publications that are too extremist, resulting in higher-caliber publishers overall. We also only work with newsrooms that produce fact-checked content or employ fact checkers themselves. So there has to be a degree of legitimacy that a publication has reached in order for them to be a verified partner with Zette. Publishers that push extreme views, especially those that veer towards misinformation, are not considered viable options for us to partner with.
- Q: Do you have plans to IPO in the next couple years? What would an IPO depend on?
  - A: We have plans to IPO within the next decade for sure. An IPO is typically one of the biggest defining moments of a startup, but it's also just the beginning if the goal is to build a lasting multi-generational company. Typically, an IPO is dependent on a few factors, including: 1. 20-30% yearly growth 2. $100 million in revenue per year Typical valuations for a company that goes public usually start at a billion dollars and above. Because we're a software company solving for such a huge, largely unaddressed problem, we're very optimistic about our future IPO prospects. At the moment we're still a very early stage startup, so I do want to caveat that an IPO is still far off in the future at this point. But if you're as excited about Zette’s prospects as we are, we encourage you to join our round on Wefunder today.
- Q: I want to look into using Zette as a service at my company; is it possible to get a set of licenses under one account?
  - A: Absolutely. We're working on tailoring every individual company's needs based on the number of seats that you're interested in buying. Please contact me directly if you have additional questions or I can refer you to the correct team member to assist.
- Q: Are you planning to expand your team size in the next year? If so, what roles or areas are you focused on?
  - A: While we intend to keep our team relatively lean, we are planning to add technical talent, including machine learning engineers, as well as business development / sales specialists. This would bolster two fronts for our company: 1) AI development, which would create cutting edge technology for our readers to access, 2) New revenue and sales opportunities, which would help us deliver our product into the hands of paying customers with greater efficiency.
- Q: It seems like many of Zette’s current publishers are local outlets. Why would the majority of Zette readers care about the news of other loc al communities besides their own?
  - A: Local news is a cornerstone of our democracy. One thing that people might not realize is how frequently local news filters into national media cycles. I'm sure you've heard of local stories blowing up in the national media—ranging from the Parkland, Florida school shootings to the contaminated water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Occasionally small new stories, even from the furthest reaches of the globe, will become the biggest in the world. This is by design, as it plays into the distribution model of media. As the world is becoming increasingly global, our own stories are becoming increasingly interconnected. This is true digitally as well as physically—plenty of people travel across the country these days, whether on vacation, business trips, or for personal reasons—and would really like to see the local news of the region they’re in during that time. Additionally, there's many reasons why a given person or business would want access to local media to do local research, even if they don't live in a given place. For example, we’ve spoken to some VCs who want to keep up to date with portfolio companies they’ve invested in that are based in a different state, but they don't want to buy a subscription to that local newspaper just to read about one portfolio company, even if that company is constantly featured in the news. Zette provides them a way to access information in a convenient way suitable to their needs and at an economical price point without committing them to a long term local news subscription, simply because they don't live in the area.
- Q: What social media channels or accounts should I follow to stay up to date on Zette’s latest updates?
  - A: You can follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn! All of our social media links are on wefunder.com/zette directly under our main video. While LinkedIn is where we’re primarily posting business updates, we'll also have a newsletter that all investors will receive to stay up to date with what we’re building.
- Q: Could you explain Zette's pricing structure and how it's determined?
  - A: Our $9.99 price point allows readers to unlock 30 paywalled articles per month. That means each paywalled article unlock is roughly 33 cents apiece. If users would like to read more, they can pay more for a bundle of credits. So, access to up to 60 articles is $19.99 per month, and access to up to 90 articles is $29.99 per month. With this pricing structure, we wanted each article to feel affordable enough for readers while also generating enough revenue for both us and our publisher partners, too.
- Q: How do you actually unlock an article on a publisher's site?
  - A: We have seamless backend integration with every publisher we partner with via two main methods. 1. We embed our product directly onto the publisher’s website, offering custom solutions that require minimal effort from the publisher, as we handle most of the technical aspects. 2. We integrate with third-party paywall providers, which are common among publishers. By partnering with these providers, we enable a single integration to apply to any publisher using that vendor, which streamlines our access across multiple publications without repeated individual integrations. This approach simplifies the process, making it efficient for us to connect with a wide range of publishers.
- Q: Hello there, is there still something happening? I invested here and do not really see any updates.
- Q: What is Zette doing differently (and better!) than Blendle.com, which stopped all non-NL offers -- https://www.blendle.support/hc/en-us/categories/17146507837841-Announcement -- a while ago?
  - A: Hey KL, thanks for your question! As you mentioned, Blendle is not supported in the US, so unfortunately most Americans have never heard of or used the company’s services. While we love what Blendle has built in Europe, given that it doesn't exist here anymore (and was also acquired years ago), we can't wait to bring democratized journalism access through Zette stateside. A few things that differentiate us from Blendle: 1) We're a subscription model with credits, as opposed to pure play microtransactions—recurring revenue makes it easier to both us and our publishers to predict cash flow, while helping our readers not feel “nickel and dimed” by not having to make a purchasing decision every time they read 2) Our use of AI and the features we’re building on top of Zette’s base access layer can do much more than simply unlocking articles — we also intend to help our readers recommend, summarize, contextualize, and interact with information as well 3) Finally, we plan to extend beyond journalism in the future, supporting paid digital media of all kinds and helping to unlock media democratization across all mediums. For us, journalism is just the beginning of our journey!
- Q: Hello, The number of publishers is still 100+ and registered users are only 50,000. Compared to this AppleNews+ has 400+ publishers and 700,000+ registered users. Do you have executable plans to at least onboard all the 400+ publishers of AppleNews+ on Zette. For example; you could have College Interns working on a standard playbook with call scripts to sign-up all 400+ Publishers with Zete. Handshake is a good app that has attention of all College students looking for internship. Do you have similar plans to sign-up users? Getting an early critical mass will ensure survival of Zette.
  - A: Hey Valerian, great questions! Currently we have 5% of the global paywall market of publishers because 100% of our 110 publishers are premium sources. In contrast, many of Apple News' 400+ publishers are entirely free sources. Two ways we're planning to increase our publisher count: 1) We can easily onboard free publishers as no business development deal is required, to recommend to our audience 2) We are actively working on adding new publisher deals to the pipeline, and in fact much of the money we raise in this campaign will be going towards publisher partnerships Many of our deals are sensitive and require high-level business executives to work on licensing, so unfortunately it’s not something that is easily executable with college interns. That being said, your college intern playbook could be a great idea to facilitate growth and marketing of new readers for Zette.
- Q: Hey there, I run a venture fund and have a few questions for you that I'd love to ask 1 on 1 if possible. What's the best way to reach you before end of the community round for a zoom meeting?
  - A: Hey Tristin, it's great to hear from you! Please feel free to reach out at y@zette.ai. We're solely focused on equity crowdfunding investors in April while our campaign is live, will target a VC round later in spring though. Would love to get to know you and your fund better in the meantime!