Flick Raises $6M in Seed Funding Round by Y Combinator

The company plans to use the funding to accelerate product development, enhance its cinematic creative tools, and expand its community of filmmakers.

Flick is built on the idea that AI should support filmmakers, not replace them. Instead of a simple one-click video tool, it provides an AI-driven workflow that gives creators more control over storytelling, editing, and artistic direction.

The team is also launching the Flick Filmmaker Residency, featuring 10+ short AI-native films by emerging creators, to be showcased at events such as the Cinequest Film Festival, MIT, and the Omni AI Film Festival. Co-founder Zhang leads each cohort and provides filmmakers with mentorship, resources, and industry connections throughout the process. Through this program, Flick aims to support new creative talent and help develop the next generation of filmmakers in the AI era.

Before starting Flick, Wang helped build Instagram Stories in 2016, which grew to over 400 million daily users. Co-founder Zhang started in traditional filmmaking in 2013, and later moved into AI filmmaking in 2022. In 2025, she created her first AI short film at the MIT AI Film Hack and won the Best Visual Award; since then her films have received recognition at more than 30 international festivals.

When Wang worked with Zhang on her second AI film in April 2025 they began exploring how to combine large scale engineering with creative filmmaking expertise. In experimenting with existing AI video tools, they found common limits most tools were either too complex for creators or too restrictive to support real directing.

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“At Flick, creators don’t lose their authentic voice as AI scales,” Zhang said. “We’re building a bridge so filmmakers won’t think about ‘prompting models’ at all — they’ll just direct, compose, and feel, and the tools will disappear into their creative flow.”

“Ray and Zoey represent the perfect combination of world-class technical execution and deep creative understanding. They’re not just building AI tools they are empowering a new generation of filmmakers to focus on what matters most: storytelling and artistic expression. Their craft first approach and genuine commitment to the creative community make them the ideal team to define this emerging category of AI native filmmaking.” Mike Montano, Partner at True Venture.

“The majority of generative video is unrefined, prioritizing volume over substance. Flick is part of an entirely new category, built for the serious filmmakers who want to use AI, not as a shortcut, but as a tool to enhance their creativity. The next Tarantino, the next Spielberg, the next Scorsese – I believe they’re going to get their start on a platform like Flick.” - Sangeen Zeb, General Partner at GV.

About Flick

Founded in 2025, by Zoey Zhang and Ray Wang, Flick is an AI filmmaking platform designed for creators who want strong control, aesthetics, and flexibility. It let's filmmakers direct AI generated content using cinematic tools, and non linear workflows, combining generative AI with real filmmaking techniques. Flick also runs the Flick Filmmaker Residency to support and develop the next generation of AI native filmmakers.

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