Wabi announced on Thursday it has raised $55 million at a $1.25 billion valuation. Eugenia Kuyda founded the company after previously building the AI companion startup Replika. The firm originally allowed users to construct applications using prompts but recently pivoted to function as an AI messenger. This new version, sometimes called Wabi 2.0, generates interfaces to help users complete tasks. The company claims the tool can build mini apps for meal planning, tracking local restaurants, planning date nights, creating fitness plans, and designing specialised trivia games. Investors backing the round include Andreessen Horowitz, Forerunner, the Amazon Alexa Fund, and angel investors such as Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, former Yahoo! head Marissa Mayer, former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, and Alex Pall. IVP general partner Alex Lim stated that Kuyda understands where AI is heading and has a vision for interaction that moves beyond the text box or command line. The funding follows similar moves by Instinct, which raised another billion at a $10 billion valuation in September, and Tolan, which secured $30 million for its muppet-like AI companion. These investments reflect strong market interest in agentic AI tools that build functional interfaces rather than just processing text. The valuation suggests investors believe this approach offers distinct utility compared to standard chat assistants. The capital will likely support product development and marketing for the new messenger platform.
- The company raised $55 million in the latest funding round.
- Wabi describes itself as a personal agent that builds interfaces.
- Investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Forerunner, and the Amazon Alexa Fund.
