Wabi’s AI Agent Ambition Valued at $1.25 Billion After $55 Million Raise

From Prompt‑Powered Apps to Personal AI Messenger

The competition to develop the next breakthrough AI assistant is heating up, and investors are spreading their bets across the field. On Thursday, Wabi, now describing itself as a “personal agent,” announced it had secured $55 million in fresh funding at a $1.25 billion valuation.

Wabi was founded by Eugenia Kuyda, who previously created the AI companion startup Replika. The company originally allowed users to build applications simply by entering prompts. Last month, however, it announced a strategic pivot, rebranding its product as Wabi 2.0 and positioning it as an AI messenger that can generate the interfaces needed to accomplish everyday tasks.

In this new form, Wabi is intended to function as a personal AI agent, capable of constructing mini apps for activities such as meal planning, tracking local restaurants, organizing date nights, designing fitness plans, and creating specialized trivia games, among other uses.

The additional capital reflects investors’ belief that Wabi’s agentic approach holds promise, especially as the market for AI agents surges. In September, the viral AI agent Instinct raised another billion dollars at a $10 billion valuation, and even Tolan, a cute, Muppet‑like AI companion that helps people navigate life, recently closed a $30 million round.

“Eugenia has a unique sense for where AI is headed and a track record of great taste in building it,” said Alex Lim, general partner at IVP, which led the new round, in a statement. “She has a clear vision for how people will interact with AI, one that goes far beyond the text box or command line. Wabi is the expression of that vision, and we’re thrilled to support her.”

Other participants in the round included Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Forerunner, 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 of The Chainsmokers.