22-Year-Old Dropout Launches KledAI: Users Earn Thousands Monthly Selling Data, Platform Valued at $150M

KledAI, a San Francisco-based startup founded by 22-year-old college dropout Avi Patel, pays users worldwide to submit personal data used to train AI models. Users earn money by uploading specific content—such as videos of themselves taking out the trash or photos of potholes—and some have earned thousands of dollars per month. The platform is especially popular in lower-income countries like the Philippines, where users can make $20 to $40 monthly. KledAI emphasizes "paid data collection" and accepts submissions only from newer iPhone models to ensure quality. The platform currently has over 200,000 users who upload approximately 5 million data points daily. The company recently raised $6.5 million in funding at a $150 million valuation, with investors including Sebastian Thrun, founder of Waymo. The new capital will be used to build a fraud detection system to ensure data authenticity.