Generative AI Software
SubMagic is a bootstrapped AI-powered short-form video tool founded in May 2023 by David Zetune and his co-founder in France. The product enables creators, small business owners, and agencies to add captions, generate viral clips, and edit short-form content in as few as three clicks. As of June 2025, the company operates entirely without outside funding.
In roughly two years of operation, SubMagic reached 8 million dollars in annual recurring revenue with a team of 13 people, producing approximately 700,000 dollars of revenue per employee. The company serves 2,500 paying customers and reports more than 5 million free users, with between 5,000 and 10,000 new signups arriving each day.
Growth has been driven primarily by an affiliate program launched within the first 30 days of operation, organic short-form video virality, a Product Hunt launch in July 2023, and a free-tool SEO strategy that briefly generated roughly 1 million visitors per month. Affiliates now account for 20 percent of total revenue, or approximately 1.7 to 1.8 million dollars of ARR, with more than 10,000 active affiliates earning a 30 percent lifetime commission.