DIY Chatbot startup raises $150m

Author: EIS Release Date: Apr 3, 2023

Character.AI, a startup which enables DIY chatbots, has raised $150 million. The 16 month-old company, which has 22 employees and zero revenues, is valued at over $1 billion.

 

The company was intending to raise $250 million last January and is said to be looking for more investors, though founder and CEO Noam Shazeer (pictured) says: “The  best way to grow the business is going to be to fund ourselves directly from users, from delivering something of value to a huge number of people.” He is thought to be looking to introduce a subscription model

 

Before the latest funding round, led by Andreessen Horowitz, Character.AI was bankrolled by Gmail creator Paul Buchheit and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman.

 

Character.AI allows users to create a chatbot in in the persona of a particular character e.g Elon, Boris, Donald or whoever.