Instinct raises $1 billion Series C at $10 billion valuation
TechCrunch reports the personal AI agent startup's valuation quadrupled in a month, as investors Sequoia, Benchmark and Coatue backed founder Noah Shinn's bet against Meta's rival Muse assistant.
Instinct raised $1 billion in a Series C round that values the AI agent startup at $10 billion, TechCrunch reported. The round came from Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital and Coatue. It arrived about a month after a $350 million round valued the company at $2.5 billion, according to the outlet.
Instinct's AI agent books travel, makes restaurant reservations, buys items, pays bills, cancels subscriptions and orders groceries on a user's behalf. It uses its own phone number and computer to complete tasks, TechCrunch reported. Users interact with it over SMS. The company has not built a mobile app.
The company added a "concierge" service that places phone calls to book appointments at places without online booking. It also introduced a "trusted person network" that lets a user's agent coordinate plans with a friend's agent, according to TechCrunch.
Founder Noah Shinn told TechCrunch: "We're building Instinct to be the best personal agent that can handle the deeply personal nuances of everyday life... we're just getting started." TechCrunch noted Instinct now competes with Meta's Muse assistant, which offers similar tasks with deeper integration into Meta's social platforms. Instinct has not disclosed user numbers, the outlet said.