Instinct raises $1 billion at a $10 billion valuation — Fortune
Startup Instinct, which develops a personal AI assistant, has raised $1 billion in a Series C funding round at a company valuation of $10 billion. The company was founded by 23-year-old Noah Shinn. Fortune reports on the new funding.
In August, Instinct raised $250 million at a valuation of $2.5 billion. At that time, the total amount of funding raised by the company stood at $350 million. Shinn founded the company last year.
In an interview with the Invest Like the Best podcast, Shinn said that the platform is approaching $1 billion in annual transaction volume, although access to the assistant is currently available only to users with invitations.
An assistant for messages and calls
Instinct offers a free personal assistant based on artificial intelligence that users can communicate with via messages or by phone. The service launched in closed beta testing in February and moved to an invitation-only beta version last month. Each user receives five invitations.
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According to Shinn, users have used the assistant to plan weddings and cancel subscriptions. He also noted that travel accounts for about half of the platform's annual transaction volume. The founder believes that the service can remember users' preferences and take them into account in future bookings.
Shinn said that the company has not spent money on marketing. According to him, users are selling invitations to Instinct on eBay.
Competition with Muse
Instinct competes with the personal AI agent Muse, which Meta announced earlier this month. Meta's chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, has repeatedly joked about Instinct in posts on X, comparing the two products.
Shinn said he considers Muse a good product but spends little time thinking about competitors. Instinct's number of users has not been disclosed. At the same time, according to estimates by analytics firm Apptopia, Muse received 2.8 million installations worldwide in its first 12 days.
