Artificial intelligence startup Wabi has raised $55 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm IVP, valuing the company at $1.25 billion. The investment follows Wabi's transition from an AI-powered app creation platform to a personal AI agent designed to help users complete everyday tasks through customised applications.
The funding was announced on October 29, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Forerunner and Amazon Alexa Fund. Several technology executives and entrepreneurs also joined the round as angel investors.
These included Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo and musician Alex Pall of The Chainsmokers.
Wabi was founded by Eugenia Kuyda, who previously established Replika, an AI companion platform designed for conversational interactions.
The company initially focused on allowing users to create applications through natural language prompts, reducing the need for conventional coding skills. Users could describe the functionality they wanted, and the platform would generate smaller applications based on those instructions.
However, Wabi announced a change in its product direction in September, introducing a version described as Wabi 2.0. The updated platform is positioned as an AI messenger that can also function as a personal agent.
Under the revised approach, Wabi aims to move beyond responding to questions by creating interfaces and mini applications that help users organise activities and complete specific tasks.
The company has outlined several potential applications, including meal planning, discovering local restaurants, organising date nights, developing fitness routines and creating personalised trivia games.
Rather than requiring users to navigate separate applications for each activity, Wabi's approach involves generating task-specific interfaces within its AI environment.
The development comes as technology companies and startups explore AI agents capable of carrying out actions on behalf of users, rather than operating solely as conversational assistants.
Alex Lim, General Partner at IVP, which led the funding round, said Kuyda's experience and approach to product development informed the firm's investment decision.
He also indicated that IVP sees opportunities for AI interfaces extending beyond conventional text-based chatbots and command-line interactions.
Wabi's funding follows other investments in consumer-focused AI agents and companion applications. AI agent startup Instinct reportedly secured $1 billion in September at a $10 billion valuation, while AI companion developer Tolan recently raised $30 million.
These investments reflect continued venture capital interest in companies developing alternative approaches to consumer AI interactions.
Wabi has not disclosed detailed user adoption figures, revenue performance or a timeline for the wider rollout of its updated personal agent capabilities.
The latest investment gives the company additional funding as it develops its agent-based product strategy and expands beyond its original prompt-driven application creation model.
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