Key facts
- AI startup Photon has raised $4.5 million in seed funding.
- Photon helps developers build agents that work over messaging apps like iMessage and WhatsApp.
- The company reported a tenfold revenue growth in four months.
- Photon has over 40,000 developer sign-ups.
- The startup's platform offers 99.95% uptime and is SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA-compliant.
- Photon's technology is used by companies including Corgi Insurance, Boardy, and Rho.
AI startup Photon has secured $4.5 million in seed funding to further develop its agent-building platform, which it believes will eventually replace traditional mobile applications. The company held a symbolic funeral for mobile apps on September 17 in San Francisco, featuring industry speakers and a coffin adorned with app icons.
Photon's core thesis is that users prefer interacting with agents through existing messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, rather than installing new apps. The startup offers a suite of tools, including a unified API and an extensible channel framework, enabling developers to build agents that function across various communication channels such as iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS, RCS, and email.
The idea for Photon originated from the co-founders' experiences building consumer apps, where they encountered difficulties with user discovery. By creating an agent that operated within iMessage, they could reach users through an application they already used daily. The open-source version of their technology, initially developed as a bot that texted friends back as the user, has been widely adopted by thousands of developers.
In April, Photon launched a managed platform offering 99.95% uptime, SOC 2 Type II, and HIPAA compliance, alongside subscription tiers. The platform has attracted over 40,000 developer sign-ups, with paying clients including Corgi Insurance, Boardy, and Rho. The company reported a tenfold revenue increase in four months and a customer churn rate below 3%.