Runbo Li
| Runbo Li | |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, CEO |
|---|---|
| Known for | Co-founder and CEO of Magic Hour |
| Education | Bachelor's in Economics, Penn State University; Master's in Economics, University of Toronto |
Runbo Li is an American entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Magic Hour, a platform for AI-powered video and image generation. The company participated in Y Combinator's Winter 2024 batch and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.[1]
Early life and education
Li holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Penn State University and a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Toronto.[2]
Career
Li co-founded Magic Hour, a browser-based AI video and image creation platform designed to make professional video production accessible to creators, small businesses, and social media marketers who may lack editing skills or large production budgets. The platform integrates multiple AI video models into a single workflow, allowing users to create videos by selecting templates and customizing them. Magic Hour offers over 100 tools, including face-swap video, lip sync, image-to-video, text-to-video, talking photo, AI headshot generation, video-to-video transformation, and animation capabilities.[3]
As of early 2026, Magic Hour reported being used by more than 3 million creators and over 2,000 teams. The platform has been recognized on Product Hunt, earning the #1 Product of the Day designation.[4]
In January 2026, Magic Hour announced support for up to 60-second video generation using OpenAI's Sora 2 and Google's Veo 3.1 models, orchestrating multiple short scenes into a single narrative with consistent characters and visuals. The company also launched an AI UGC Ad Generator designed to produce 60-second video advertisements. In October 2025, Magic Hour introduced an advanced lip sync video tool with 4K resolution and both Standard and Pro modes.
Li has appeared in media coverage related to generative AI. In December 2025, he participated in a segment for The Des Moines Register demonstrating how to identify AI-generated images. He has also been quoted in Fast Company and College Recruiter on topics related to AI skills and workforce trends.
Li resides in Oakland, California.
References
- ↑ "Magic Hour – Y Combinator". 'Y Combinator}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "Runbo Li – Featured". 'Featured}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "Magic Hour – Create AI Videos & Images". 'Magic Hour}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "Magic Hour – Create AI Videos & Images". 'Magic Hour}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.