Journaling app Rosebud has raised $6 million in seed funding as he is trying to flesh out the app as an AI mentor for self-reflection and personal growth.
Rosebud uses AI to analyze journal entries, identify patterns over time, and provide insights, questions, and guidance. The company says its goal is to help users understand themselves better, develop new habits and track their goals, as does human mentors.
Rosebud said users have recorded 500 million words and have spent more than 30 million minutes on the platform.
Rosebud was founded in 2023 by Y Combinator alumni and Secret co-founder Chrys Bader, and Sean Dadashi, a cognitive science alumni from Berkeley, California. The pair met in a boys group and came up with the idea of Rosebud based on their own experiences in treatment and coaching.
“Everyone is different, and everyone has different emotional languages, different ways of communicating, as well as the language they spoke,” Badder said in an interview with TechCrunch, explaining that AI allows for levels of personalized coaching and support that have not been available before.
“So, while some might want a validation and a soft approach, you might want something really difficult, like someone would call me about a ‘hey, challenge me, my BS’ approach,” he continued. “It’s that someone uses that understanding to best support each individual. That’s what AI unlocks. That’s not possible before. It’s expanding that kind of personalized advice and support that can have such a very different experience from other individuals, depending on what all individuals share.”
Rosebud says he is not looking to replace his therapist and wants to start access to quality mentorship instead.
The company plans to use the new funds to expand its four-person team of engineering and product talent and invest more in marketing. The startup is also planning to invest more in its own memory technology and build the functionality of the app.
Additionally, Rosebud wants to explore ways to make AI journals more accessible, perhaps through partnerships with schools, businesses and clinics.
The seed round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, along with participation from 776, initialized capital, fuel capital, Avenir, Tim Ferris and other investors.
Rosebud says that all journal data is encrypted and that journal entries will not be shared with third parties or used to train AI models.
Bader and Dadashi imagine Rosebud as mentors, teachers and partners who can develop strategic, long-term engagement plans with users. For example, if someone is about to become a father, Rosebud can create personalized content around that milestone with journaling and other resources.
“What if everyone had something they were looking for the best for them?” “I benefited a lot from having mentorship at different times. I struggled when I didn’t have that mentorship.
While Rosebud’s basic journaling features are free to use, the startup offers a $12.99 monthly subscription that unlocks long-term memory and premium features such as voice and call modes.
AI Journals are accessible on the web, iOS and Android.