Jenny Shao, who was once a practicing doctor and a resident at Harvard, noticed during the pandemic that isolation was having neurological effects on people and that they needed more support. This realization inspired her to leave her medical path and Harvard residency to create a startup offering an AI assistant named Robyn.
Robyn is designed to serve as an emotionally aware and empathetic AI for individuals.
The intersection of AI assistants and human relationships is a complex area. There are broad chatbots like ChatGPT, as well as apps focused on companionship, friendship, or avatars such as Character.AI, Replika, and Friend, not to mention therapy apps like Feeling Great. A study from July showed that 72% of American teenagers have tried AI companion apps. Some of these apps have faced lawsuits alleging they contributed to several suicides.
Shao explained that Robyn is being positioned so that it is neither a friendship platform nor a substitute for therapists or clinical professionals.
“From my experience as a doctor, I’ve witnessed negative outcomes when tech companies attempt to take the place of physicians. Robyn is not, and will never be, a clinical substitute. Think of it as someone who deeply understands you and is there to support you. Robyn acts as your emotionally intelligent companion,” Shao explained.
Image Credits: Robyn
The founder shared that her startup aimed to mimic how people remember things with Robyn. Shao previously conducted research on human memory in the lab of Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000. She said she applied those insights to Robyn so the AI could better understand its users.
Robyn, currently available for iOS, features an onboarding process similar to many apps for journaling or mental wellness. It prompts users to share information about themselves, their aspirations, how they respond to challenges, and the preferred tone for Robyn’s replies.
Image credits: Robyn
After onboarding, users can discuss a variety of topics with Robyn. For example, when I requested help creating a morning routine, Robyn asked several follow-up questions and engaged in a thoughtful conversation about limiting screen time at the start of the day.
As users interact more with Robyn, the app provides deeper insights into their behaviors and highlights personal traits such as emotional patterns, attachment styles, love languages, areas for growth, and inner critics. The company has also developed a demo website that analyzes X profiles to demonstrate the types of feedback Robyn can offer.
Image credits: Robyn
Shao emphasized that safety is a top priority for the company, and she implemented safeguards even during her own solo testing of the chatbot. If a user mentions self-harm, the app provides a crisis hotline and directs them to the nearest emergency room. Robyn also sets boundaries on certain requests; for example, if asked for sports scores or to count to 1,000, it will decline but offer to assist with personal matters instead.
The company secured $5.5 million in seed investment, led by M13, with backing from Google Maps co-founder Lars Rasmussen, early Canva investor Bill Tai, former Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman, and X.ai co-founder Christian Szegedy. The team has expanded from three members at the beginning of the year to ten now.
Rasmussen commented that he was drawn to invest because of the app’s impressive emotional memory system and Shao’s dedication to supporting people.
Image Credits: Robyn
“We’re facing a significant issue of disconnection. Despite being surrounded by technology, people often feel less understood. Robyn directly addresses this by helping individuals reflect, identify their own patterns, and reconnect with themselves. It’s not about therapy or replacing relationships, but about enhancing one’s ability to connect—starting with themselves and then with others,” he shared with TechCrunch via email.
One of Robyn’s main hurdles will be ensuring user safety and preventing users from attributing human qualities to the chatbot.
Latif Parecha, a partner at M13, noted that while Robyn’s main aim is to encourage human connection, it’s crucial for AI in this space to have protective measures in place.
“There must be protocols for escalation in situations where someone is truly at risk. Especially as AI becomes as integrated into our lives as family and friends,” Parecha told TechCrunch during a call.
The startup has been piloting Robyn with a limited group of users for several months and is now launching in the U.S. The app is subscription-based, costing $19.99 per month or $199 annually.
