Wabi, the AI agent that builds mini apps, now valued at $1.25B after latest round
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Wabi raised $55 million at a $1.25 billion valuation as it repositions from a prompt-to-app builder into a personal agent that generates mini apps inside a messenger.
Wabi, the AI app founded by Replika creator Eugenia Kuyda, said Thursday it has raised $55 million at a $1.25 billion valuation, joining a crowded field of startups competing to become the default AI assistant. The company now describes itself as a "personal agent," a shift from its original pitch.
Wabi began as a tool that let anyone build apps through prompts. Last month, the startup announced what it framed as a pivot, relaunching as Wabi 2.0, an AI messenger. The underlying idea is that the assistant should generate the interfaces you need on demand, rather than making users search for existing software. Under that model, Wabi would spin up mini apps for meal planning, tracking local restaurants, planning date nights, building fitness plans, or designing specialized trivia games.
The round reflects investor appetite for the agentic category generally. TechCrunch notes the market has been hot: viral AI agent Instinct raised another billion in September at a $10 billion valuation, and Tolan, which makes a muppet-like AI companion marketed to help people navigate life, just raised $30 million of its own.
IVP led the Wabi round, with general partner Alex Lim pointing to Kuyda's track record and her view of how people will interact with AI. "She has a clear vision for how people will interact with AI, one that goes far beyond the text box or command line," Lim said in a statement, calling Wabi the expression of that vision. Other institutional participants included Andreessen Horowitz, Forerunner, and Amazon's Alexa Fund. The angel roster leaned toward commerce and platform executives: Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, former Yahoo leader Marissa Mayer, former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, and Alex Pall of The Chainsmokers.
For builders, the pitch is a familiar one — generate software just in time — but the messenger wrapper is the differentiator: instead of a chat window bolted onto a builder, the app is meant to emerge inside the conversation where the request was made. What remains unproven is whether users will return to that surface repeatedly and whether generated mini apps can do more than novelty tasks. Watch for whether Wabi discloses retention or usage for those generated apps, whether the messenger framing survives contact with users, and whether the Alexa Fund connection hints at hardware or voice distribution. Also worth tracking: whether investors keep rewarding category-wide momentum or start demanding evidence that any single agent can hold attention the way a native messenger does.
The competitive context is unforgiving. Wabi is competing for the same assistant slot as well-capitalized rivals and, implicitly, the platform assistants from the companies whose executives just wrote it checks.
keyFacts:[
Key facts
- • AI app, Wabi, now describing itself as a "personal agent," said it has raised $55 million at a $1.25.
- • Wabi, the AI agent that builds mini apps, now valued at $1.25B after latest round | TechCrunch Wabi, the AI agent.
- • another AI app, Wabi , now describing itself as a “personal agent,” said it has raised $55.
- • Last month, however, the startup announced a pivot of sorts to become an AI messenger.
Why it matters
Takeaway: On Thursday, AI app, Wabi, now describing itself as a "personal agent," said it has raised $55 million at a $1.25 billion valuation.
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