DURHAM, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Scale Social AI, a marketing technology pioneer that turns authentic customer content into localized advertising, announced today it has raised $1.3 million in pre-seed funding. The round was led by LAUNCH, an early-stage venture fund, and The Syndicate, a global angel investing club both led by Jason Calacanis with participation from RTP Angel Fund, Primordial Ventures, Charlotte Fund, Triangle Tweener Fund, Blue Valley Capital, and additional strategic angel groups and individual investors, including Mike Cristinziano, former SVP of Citrix and Digital Ocean. Scale Social AI also received a $50,000 SEED grant from NC IDEA Foundation in the Spring of this year.
The funding comes at a moment when franchises and multi-location businesses are struggling with declining ROI from generic corporate ads and rising influencer costs. Scale Social AI fills this gap by transforming real customer moments into high-performing local ads, helping brands drive new traffic, repeat visits, and stronger community engagement.
“Authenticity has become the most valuable currency in marketing,” said Runbin Dong, Founder and CEO of Scale Social AI. “We’re giving local and national brands the ability to turn their happiest customers into their most effective marketers, driving measurable results like the 104% sales increase we’ve seen with our partners.”
Through a simple QR code scan, diners and customers capture photos and videos of their experience. Scale Social AI then automatically converts that content into polished, branded short-form ads, optimized for platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Google, and hyper-local ad networks.
With this injection of capital, Scale Social AI will accelerate its product development goals to meet the needs of local and national brands, expand on its existing partnerships and pilots, and further streamline its automation platform. Early customers include quick service brands like Osmow’s, as well as full service restaurant chains like Mimi Garden, demonstrating the platform’s ability to deliver measurable results across diverse markets. Beyond food and beverage, the company is seeing strong inbound interest from gyms, studios, museums, and experiential businesses.
During a recent This Week in Startups podcast episode, well-known entrepreneur and angel investor Jason Calacanis highlighted Scale Social AI’s business model, which focuses on identifying customers who have genuinely positive experiences with businesses and transforming those authentic interactions into a self-reinforcing marketing cycle that can serve as effective advertising.
“What you’re building is trying to find people who authentically went to the business, had a great experience, and start a flywheel going — and then use that as advertising,” said Calacanis.
Founded by Runbin Dong, a veteran of IBM Watson and former restaurant business operator, Scale Social AI blends deep technical expertise with firsthand F&B and entrepreneurial experience.
About Scale Social AI
Scale Social AI helps franchises and multi-location brands harness customer-generated content for local marketing. Founded in 2025 and based in Durham, NC, the company’s platform has generated over thousands of authentic content driving measurable foot traffic for both local and national brands. Learn more at https://www.getsocialscale.com.
Contacts
Media Contact:
Runbin Dong
CEO, Scale Social AI
[email protected]
