Singapore startup Acti has launched an agentic keyboard for iOS and Android that executes actions within your current app rather than just suggesting words.
The tool integrates directly into email clients, messaging platforms, and social media. It removes the need to switch contexts to get help from an AI assistant.
The problem with switching apps
Young Wang, the founder and CEO, argues that current AI agents are restricted because user context is scattered across separate applications. Acti sits across all of them to build a context layer that belongs to the user instead of the platform.
Wang told TechCrunch that this approach forms the foundation for the entire AI-agent era.
Instead of opening various chatbots, Acti embeds AI into the interfaces you already use. If a friend asks for a nearby restaurant, Acti can drop in a local recommendation. If someone mentions a stock in a conversation, the app can share the live price right there in the chat. Previously, you would have to open a search engine, find the data, and return to the conversation app.
How it works
The software runs on Google’s Gemini models. Wang selected the engine for its balance of intelligence, speed, reliability, multilingual performance, and cost efficiency.
A key feature called Skills works like custom shortcuts. Users can program a single key on their keyboard to trigger a multi-step task automatically. Examples include translating a message or instantly sharing a meeting link.
Acti follows a local-first model. Personal context stays on the device by default. The app does not access or store private messages, conversations, or personal data unless the user explicitly invokes a feature that requires external processing.
Building skills
The app ships with built-in Skills. The “T” key allows you to translate a message to another language by long-pressing the letter. The “C” key fires off a meeting link.
Users do not need to know how to code to create a Skill. They can describe what they want in plain language, and Acti builds it. Early access testers created over 1,000 Skills in less than two weeks ahead of the launch.
These Skills can be private for your own use or shared publicly to a Skills marketplace. The marketplace currently contains Skills for accessing real-time World Cup data or Polymarket links. The Skill Hub could offer additional monetization opportunities in the future.
Team and funding
Acti closed a seed funding round of $5.3 million led by BITKRAFT Ventures. Jonathan Huang, Partner at BITKRAFT Ventures, backed the company because the team has a real shot at owning the next phase of human-computer interaction.
The team includes CTO Mike Sun, who was the founding technical lead behind Yike Album, Baidu’s cloud-photo platform. The app scaled to over 10 million daily active users. CSO Junbo Yang joined from HashKey Capital, where he led dozens of consumer investments.
Wang spent a decade at Baidu growing the Facemoji Keyboard to over 300 million daily active users. He believes text has become a carrier of intent that can now be directly translated into action. He views the opportunity to rebuild a foundational surface like the keyboard for the AI era as deeply exciting.
The business model is still taking shape. The company plans to generate revenue via subscriptions. These plans offer users access to more advanced AI models, higher daily usage limits, and other premium features.
