In a world that is increasingly being flooded with AI-generated content, a startup called First Voyage wants to help people avoid all the pitfalls of AI and instead create the habits they want. And it’s doing so through an AI companion app: Called Momo Self CareThe app offers a digital pet called Momo that you can care for, and in return, it will remind you to complete habit-forming tasks.
Users can set reminders for tasks they want to complete, and Momo will remind you of them. similar to hit productivity app focus friendMomo also rewards you with coins for completing tasks which can be used to purchase items within the app to further customize the pet. Users can also talk to Momo about self-care, and the AI companion will recommend habits and tasks based on what you want to achieve.
“Momo helps users become the best version of themselves, and users reward Momo with care, affection, and beautiful stuff,” co-founder and CEO Besart Opa told TechCrunch. He launched the company with Egehan Ozsoy, who serves as CTO.
On Monday, First Voyage said it had raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round from a16z Speedrun, Signalfire, True Global and other investors.
Kopa said Momo users have already created more than 2 million actions on the platform, and the most popular habits are related to productivity, spirituality and mindfulness.
But with the wave of AI apps and toys hitting the market, not to mention the growing influence of AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Cloud, and Grok, there is growing concern that these new, so-called “companions” may cause more harm than good.
For one, Koopa believes that the relationship between AI characters and humans will only increase in the next few years. However, he said the growing number of AI apps aimed at wellness and self-care are at least better than the apps the target base urges.
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“We’re glad that many founders (and) startups are working in the AI self-care wellness space instead of creating waifs,” he said, adding, “AI’s personalization capabilities will take the impact of these relationships to another level.”
He said Momo has put in place safeguards such as quick filters to ensure that interactions between AI and users remain within reasonable limits.
The fresh cash from the fundraise will be used to help launch Momo on the Android App Store (it’s already available on iOS). The First Voyage team also hopes that Momo will make the way we interact with people become more intelligent.
“We hope that Momo and its surrounding community will become a defining consumer brand that makes the best use of AI, animation and gamification to improve the lives of as many people as possible,” Kopa said.
