In a world rapidly filled with AI-generated content, a startup called First Voyage wants to help people avoid all the negative effects of AI and instead build the habits they want. And it’s done by an AI companion app. The app, called Momo Self Care, gives you a digital pet named Momo that you can care for and in return reminds you to complete habit-building tasks.
Users can set reminders for tasks they want to complete and Momo will remind them. Similar to the hit productivity app Focus Friend, Momo also earns coins as you complete tasks and allows you to purchase items within the app to further customize your pet. Users can also talk to Momo about self-care, and the AI companion will recommend habits and tasks based on what they want to accomplish.
“Momo helps users become the best versions of themselves, and users reward Momo with care, love, and cute accessories,” co-founder and CEO Besart Çopa told TechCrunch.
First Voyage announced Monday that it has raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round from a16z Speedrun, SignalFire, True Global, and other investors.
Copa said Momo users have already created more than 2 million tasks on the platform, and the most popular habits are related to productivity, spirituality, and mindfulness.
But as a wave of AI apps and toys flood the market, not to mention the growing influence of AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok, there are growing concerns that these new so-called “companions” may do more harm than good.
Chopa believes that the relationship between AI characters and humans will only deepen in the coming years. However, he noted that the number of AI apps aimed at health and self-care is growing, and at least better than those targeting basic needs.
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“I’m happy to see so many founders (and) startups working in the AI self-care wellness space rather than building wives,” he said, adding, “AI’s personalization capabilities will take the impact of these relationships to another level.”
He noted that Momo has built-in safety guardrails such as prompt filters to ensure conversations between the AI and the user stay within appropriate boundaries.
The new cash raised will be used to launch Momo on the Android app store (already available on iOS). The First Voyage team also wants to make Momo more intelligent in the way it interacts with people.
“We want Momo and the community around it to become a distinctive consumer brand that takes full advantage of AI, animation, and gamification to improve as many lives as possible,” Chopa said.
