Pengu<\/a>. 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\u2019s a freemium app where users can pay for a Pengu Pass subscription for additional features. And while it\u2019s reached more than 15 million users globally, according to Born, the company hasn\u2019t disclosed how many of those are paying customers \u2013 a critical question for any consumer subscription business.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Born\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The thesis doesn\u2019t 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 \u201cgo-to spot for teens to rediscover social interactions in various play modes.\u201d The pivot to Born\u2019s AI companions carries forward that same principle of making digital interactions more positive and socially engaging.<\/p>\n
Techcrunch event<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 27-29, 2025\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
With the fresh funds, Born plans to launch new characters on the Pengu app, including another \u201ccute\u201d digital companion that would double as a learning companion, according to Kamberi. The startup is also opening\u00a0an 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\u2019s head of finance, will lead the company\u2019s expansion in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Born is also preparing to launch another AI social product specifically for young people ages 16 to 21 \u2013 though kids as young as 13 can use Born\u2019s apps. Kamberi noted that Born mainly relies on OpenAI\u2019s generative AI models, but has built additional safety layers on top.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new product is still in stealth mode, but Kamberi says it will allow users to create and engage with \u201cculturally relevant AI companions that feel like real friends.\u201d For example, the bots might send you TikTok videos or Instagram Reels based on the content you already consume on social media, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kamberi added that he expects Born\u2019s new product to have \u201cnetwork effects\u201d as users share their creations on social media.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t believe that the current chatbot landscape is the final form factor for how AI friends and consumer AI is done,\u201d Kamberi said. \u201cThere 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Luca Bocchio, partner at Accel, the appeal lies in Born\u2019s ambition to create a new consumer social category built around emotionally intelligent AI characters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been really impressed by the team\u2019s ability to develop chart-topping apps and their inspiring product vision, and we\u2019re looking forward to continuing our partnership with them as they scale globally,\u201d Bocchio said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fabian Kamberi, CEO and co-founder of the Berlin-based AI gaming startup Born, thinks the current AI companions on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[261],"tags":[291,6662,289,290,40164,18,4500,19,17,40165,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-55303","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-ai-companions","10":"tag-artificial-intelligence","11":"tag-artificialintelligence","12":"tag-born","13":"tag-eire","14":"tag-exclusive","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-slay","18":"tag-technology"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}