Berlin-based AI companion app Born has raised $15m in Series A funding from investors including Accel, Tencent and Laton Ventures.
Founded in 2022, Born (formerly known as Slay) develops AI-powered “characters” specifically built for emotional connection, which are released as App Store apps.
Its flagship character — Pengu, a virtual penguin — has over 15m registered users globally.
Players can personalise Pengu’s living space, play mini-games and “co-parent” the penguin with other users.
The fresh funding will go towards product expansion, including the launch of additional characters within Pengu, the development of a new human-style companion and the opening of a New York office later this year.
Unlike earlier digital companions, such as Tamagotchis or Nintendogs, Pengu is built on generative AI models — including those built by OpenAI — meaning its personality and conversations evolve based on users’ interactions, rather than relying on pre-scripted responses.
“With emotionally intelligent AI characters, the Born team has the potential to create a new consumer social category,” said Luca Bocchio, partner at Accel in a statement.
Existing investors include gaming unicorn Supercell’s cofounder Ilkka Paananen and popular band The Chainsmoker’s Alexander Pall. The Series A brings the startup’s total funding to $25m.
Born’s raise comes at a time when AI chatbots — whether designed for broad productivity or companionship — are under growing scrutiny. Several developers face legal challenges from families who allege unsafe chatbot interactions contributed to their children’s deaths.
Born says it's developed content filters and uses regular human oversight to minimise risks to users, which sit alongside OpenAI's built-in safeguards.
The German startup is one of a number of European startups looking to leverage advances in AI to build companion apps. In January, UK-based Oh — which generates NSFW adult content and conversations with both fictional characters as well as bots based on real people — raised a $4.5m funding round.
