AI gaming startup Born raises $15M to build ‘social’ AI companions that combat loneliness

Fabian Kamberi, CEO and co-founder of the Berlin-based AI gaming startup Born, thinks the current AI companions on the market are designed to be exploitative and geared towards isolating users through one-to-one relationships with AI chatbots. 

“It feels like it fuels the loneliness epidemic, instead of making it more fun and giving users the opportunity to make their lives better,” Kamberi told TechCrunch. 

The future of AI companions, he says, is about shared experiences that strengthen real-world bonds.

Born’s flagship AI product is an app where users can raise, play mini-games with, and co-parent a cute virtual pet named Pengu. Think of it as a generative AI-powered Tamagatchi or Neopet, but one that requires collaboration with another human, like a friend or romantic partner. It’s a freemium app where users can pay for a Pengu Pass subscription for additional features. And while it’s reached more than 15 million users globally, according to Born, the company hasn’t disclosed how many of those are paying customers – a critical question for any consumer subscription business. 

The idea behind Pengu is that the social aspect turns the pet into a shared project, helping users engage with both the AI character and their real-life relationships. Now, Born is gearing up to release new characters for the Pengu app and launch another social AI product designed for young people. 

Born’s thesis that AI companions should both entertain and incorporate a social element has attracted investor attention. The startup, formerly known as Slay, has raised a $15 million Series A, bringing its total funding to $25 million, from investors including Accel, Tencent, and Laton Ventures. 

The thesis doesn’t stray too far from when Born was Slay, a social media app for teenagers that revolved around giving and receiving compliments. At the time, Kamberi described Slay as the “go-to spot for teens to rediscover social interactions in various play modes.” The pivot to Born’s AI companions carries forward that same principle of making digital interactions more positive and socially engaging.

With the fresh funds, Born plans to launch new characters on the Pengu app, including another “cute” digital companion that would double as a learning companion, according to Kamberi. The startup is also opening an office in New York later this year focused on marketing and AI research. That research will include improving its character engine so that each new AI friend can form a consistent personality, remember interactions, and grow alongside the user. Enrico Dal Re, Born’s head of finance, will lead the company’s expansion in the U.S.

Born is also preparing to launch another AI social product specifically for young people ages 16 to 21 – though kids as young as 13 can use Born’s apps. Kamberi noted that Born mainly relies on OpenAI’s generative AI models, but has built additional safety layers on top. 

The new product is still in stealth mode, but Kamberi says it will allow users to create and engage with “culturally relevant AI companions that feel like real friends.” For example, the bots might send you TikTok videos or Instagram Reels based on the content you already consume on social media, he said. 

Kamberi added that he expects Born’s new product to have “network effects” as users share their creations on social media.  

“We don’t believe that the current chatbot landscape is the final form factor for how AI friends and consumer AI is done,” Kamberi said. “There must be ways for consumer social AI to be way more engaging to users than just entering a platform and texting a bot that was maybe created by me or another person.”

For Luca Bocchio, partner at Accel, the appeal lies in Born’s ambition to create a new consumer social category built around emotionally intelligent AI characters.

“We’ve been really impressed by the team’s ability to develop chart-topping apps and their inspiring product vision, and we’re looking forward to continuing our partnership with them as they scale globally,” Bocchio said.