Chungin “Roy” Lee, a 21-year-old former Columbia University student, has raised $5.3 million in seed funding for his startup Cluely, an AI-driven tool designed to assist users in real-time during job interviews, exams, sales calls, and more—essentially, a tool to “cheat on everything.” The funding round was led by Abstract Ventures and Susa Ventures. Lee co-founded the startup with Neel Shanmugam, another former Columbia student, who now serves as Cluely’s COO. Both founders faced disciplinary action and ultimately dropped out of Columbia University due to the controversial nature of their tool.
Originally called Interview Coder, the tool gained attention after Lee shared in a viral X thread that it helped him during technical job interviews, including securing an internship with Amazon. The product has since evolved into Cluely, which operates via a discreet in-browser window invisible to interviewers or examiners. According to Lee, the company has already surpassed $3 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR).
Cluely promotes itself as a modern productivity enhancer, likening its role to that of early calculators or spellcheck tools—technologies once criticized as shortcuts but now widely accepted. The startup released a bold launch video featuring Lee using Cluely’s AI assistant to mislead someone on a dinner date, pretending to know more about art and his own age than he actually does. The video sparked significant online debate, with some calling it innovative marketing and others criticizing it as ethically troubling and reminiscent of the dystopian themes in the show Black Mirror.
Despite the controversy, Cluely has attracted strong investor interest and user growth. Its core audience includes those who view current evaluation systems—particularly coding interviews and standardized tests—as outdated and inefficient. Still, critics argue that the tool promotes dishonesty and could undermine trust in education and hiring processes.
While Amazon declined to comment on Lee’s specific claims, the company reiterated that job candidates are required to confirm they won’t use unauthorized tools during interviews. Columbia University also declined to comment, citing privacy regulations.
Cluely is one of several recent startups pushing the limits of what AI can and should do. As the tech world debates the ethical boundaries of automation and augmentation, Cluely is positioning itself at the center of one of the most provocative conversations in artificial intelligence today.
