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Instinct — Startup ProfileThe viral personal AI assistant you text or callHQ: San Francisco, CA, United States | Founded: 2025 | Employees: Not disclosed (small team; ~5 per Tracxn 2025 snapshot) | Stage: Series B at $2.5B (Aug 2026) | Website: https://instinct.comAboutInstinct is the d/b/a of Spear Street Technology, Inc., a San Francisco company founded by Noah Shinn (23), a Northeastern University CS undergrad who dropped out in 2023 after co-authoring research in MIT's computational photochemistry group, then joined Sierra — Bret Taylor's enterprise AI-agent company — as one of its first employees and a research scientist. Shinn left Sierra in 2025 and built what reporters frame as an AI assistant 'founded last year' (2025); the California corporation was registered in April 2026. The product is a personal assistant you text or call (iMessage, WhatsApp, SMS, or phone) with no new interface to learn. Behind the chat sits a persistent per-user cloud computer with browser access and cached credentials; with user permission it can see screen contents, keKey Metrics

Latest Valuation: $2.5B post-money (Series B, Aug 26 2026)

Last Round: $250M Series B, Index Ventures + Benchmark (co-leads)

Total Funding: ~$350M (seed + $75M A + $250M B)

Valuation Trajectory: ~$50-100M seed -> >$500M A -> $2.5B in ~4 months

Flagship: Instinct personal agent + Instinct Mail (agent email)

Revenue: None disclosed; free in private beta

Funding Rounds

Round: ~$25M (pre-Series-A total ~$100M incl. Series A) (2026-04) — Conviction (Sarah Guo), Greenoaks (Neil Mehta)

Round: $75M (2026-08-01) — Kleiner Perkins (Mamoon Hamid)

Round: $250M (2026-08-26) — Index Ventures + Benchmark (co-leads)

Key People

Noah Shinn

Luca Borletti

Key Competitors

ChatGPT (OpenAI) —

Google Gemini Spark —

OpenClaw —

Meta Muse —

Timeline Highlights

2026-09-08: Instinct Mail

2026-08-27: Payments, 1Password, location

2026-08-26: $250M Series B at $2.5B

2026-08-20: Vellum technical breakdown

2026-08: $75M Series A