Instinct raises $250M Series B at $2.5 billion valuation
Instinct, an AI assistant startup founded only last year and helmed by 23-year-old founder Noah Shinn, told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that it had raised $250 million in a recent Series B round. The round was co-led by Index Ventures and Benchmark, the Journal reported. The new funding brings the company's total funding to $350 million and gives it a valuation of $2.5 billion.
Instinct is offered by a company called Spear Street Technology. The company describes Instinct as an agent that can efficiently organize a user's life: people connect it to their apps and devices and communicate with it via texts and calls.
In a tweet on Wednesday, Shinn wrote: "I'm thrilled with everything our early users are doing with Instinct. They've told us they've planned cross-country road trips, bought weekly groceries and concert tickets, and cancelled hundreds of dollars of subscriptions. Someone's even planning their wedding with Instinct."
Instinct is currently in private beta and runs a deliberately lo-fi website. It has also drawn controversy over privacy: online, users have raised concerns about the app's overly generous permission requirements, and some have been unsettled by the invasive potential of its terms of use.
Key facts
- Instinct raised $250 million in a Series B round co-led by Index Ventures and Benchmark.
- The round brings Instinct's total funding to $350 million and its valuation to $2.5 billion.
- Instinct is an AI assistant, offered by Spear Street Technology and led by founder Noah Shinn, that connects to a user's apps and devices and is reachable by text and calls.
- Founded only last year, Instinct is run by a 23-year-old and remains in private beta.
- The app has drawn privacy controversy over its permission requirements and the invasive potential of its terms of use.
Why it matters
Instinct's jump to a $2.5 billion valuation, from a company founded barely a year ago, is a fresh data point in the AI agent funding wave: investors are still willing to price consumer AI assistants at multibillion-dollar valuations on the strength of early user enthusiasm, without public usage or revenue figures appearing anywhere in the reporting.
Who it affects
Instinct's early beta users, who according to founder Noah Shinn have used the assistant to plan trips, order groceries, buy tickets and cancel subscriptions; the round's co-lead investors, Index Ventures and Benchmark; and Instinct's parent company, Spear Street Technology, now valued at $2.5 billion.
How to use it
Instinct is currently in private beta rather than open to the public. The source gives no pricing, no public sign-up path and no timeline for a wider release.
How solid is it
The funding amount, the round and the valuation come from Instinct's own statement to the Wall Street Journal, as reported by the Journal. The source offers no independent confirmation of user numbers, revenue or the startup's broader financials beyond the funding figures themselves.
Risks and caveats
Instinct has already drawn privacy criticism. Online, users have objected to the overly generous device and app permissions the assistant requires, and some have been unsettled by the invasive potential of its terms of use, concerns that sit awkwardly next to a product built to text, call and act across a user's own accounts.
“I'm thrilled with everything our early users are doing with Instinct. They've told us they've planned cross-country road trips, bought weekly groceries and concert tickets, and cancelled hundreds of dollars of subscriptions. Someone's even planning their wedding with Instinct.”
— Noah Shinn, founder of Instinct