AI assistant startup Instinct said it has closed a $1 billion Series C financing round that included investors such as Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital and Coatue. The new capital values the company at $10 billion.
The Information reported the fundraising earlier this month; Instinct confirmed in a press release on Monday that the round was indeed a Series C. The raise is a rapid growth step for a company whose invite-only service launched in August 2026.
Why investors are interested
Instinct belongs to a new class of consumer AI agents that do more than answer questions or chat—they perform tasks on users’ behalf, such as booking travel and restaurant reservations, making purchases, paying bills, canceling subscriptions, conducting research, or ordering groceries. Instinct’s system performs tasks using its own phone number and computer when asked.
The company recently introduced features including a “concierge” that can make phone calls to handle tasks at services without online booking, and a “trusted person network” that lets one user’s Instinct agent coordinate plans with friends’ agents.
Privacy concerns
Those capabilities have raised privacy questions: some users have expressed concern about how much personal information must be shared to access full functionality. Instinct’s initial privacy policy drew particular criticism for overreach, and the company has since updated the policy.
Competition from Meta’s Muse
Despite viral adoption of Instinct’s assistant, the startup now faces competition from Meta’s own assistant, Muse, which provides many similar features and deeper integration with Meta’s social products. Muse can perform tasks such as monitoring and summarizing Instagram direct messages or Facebook Groups, tracking Marketplace listings, and more.
Those capabilities have pushed Muse to the top of U.S. app store charts, where it has been downloaded millions of times. Instinct currently communicates with users via SMS and text messaging and does not yet offer a mobile app. The company has not disclosed user counts or growth metrics publicly, but its investors clearly see promise.
Founder statement
Instinct declined interview requests tied to the fundraising announcement, but released a statement attributed to founder Noah Shinn: “We’re building Instinct to be the best personal agent that can handle the deeply personal nuances of everyday life. This funding helps us bring Instinct to more people and continue building the future of personal AI. It’s an exciting, creative time, and we’re just getting started.”
