Key facts
- Persona, an AI agent startup, has raised $10 million.
- Vine Ventures led the funding round for Persona.
- The startup plans to release a $179 wearable band in December.
- Persona's AI assistant aims to integrate various daily utility apps.
- User data is encrypted and stored in Persona's cloud, with options to delete.
- Persona is developing safeguards against phishing and prompt-injection attacks.
Persona, a new AI agent startup founded by 19-year-old Zach Yadegari, has secured $10 million in seed funding. Vine Ventures led the round, with participation from Z Fellows founder Cory Levy and Collective Global.
Yadegari previously co-founded Cal AI, a calorie-tracking app that was acquired by MyFitnessPal in March for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition followed Cal AI's rapid rise in app store rankings, generating over $30 million in annual revenue in under two years. Yadegari and his co-founders initially worked for MyFitnessPal post-acquisition but he departed in June to launch Persona.
Persona aims to function as a personal AI assistant, similar to existing offerings but with a distinct hardware component: a $179 wearable band set to be available in December. Unlike ambient AI devices, Persona's band will require activation via a button press or a wrist flick, addressing privacy concerns. Yadegari stated that the AI model runs in the cloud, not on the device, with user data encrypted in transit and at rest, and users will have the ability to delete their data. The company also plans to implement safeguards against phishing and prompt-injection attacks.
While user data will not be sold to advertisers, Persona's business model will incorporate ads during shopping research, with the agent designed to provide unbiased recommendations based on user preferences, including sponsored results. The wearable band is expected to ship in December, and an accompanying app is in development. Currently, Persona is available as a free beta product via iMessage, attracting several thousand users and generating five figures in preorder revenue for the band.