In a world rapidly filling with AI-generated content, the startup First Voyage aims to help people avoid low-quality AI material and instead build positive habits. It is pursuing this goal through an AI companion app called Momo Self Care. The app features a digital pet named Momo that users care for, and in return, Momo reminds them to complete habit-building tasks.
Users can set reminders for tasks they want to accomplish, and Momo will notify them. Similar to the productivity app Focus Friend, Momo rewards task completion with coins. These coins can be used to purchase in-app items for further customizing the pet. Users can also talk to Momo about self-care, and the AI companion will recommend habits and tasks based on individual goals.
Co-founder and CEO Besart Çopa stated that Momo helps users become the best versions of themselves, while users reward Momo with care, affection, and cute accessories. On Monday, First Voyage announced it raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round from investors including a16z speedrun, SignalFire, and True Global.
Çopa reported that Momo users have already created over 2 million tasks on the platform, with the most popular habits relating to productivity, spirituality, and mindfulness. However, amid a wave of new AI apps and toys entering the market, alongside the growing influence of AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok, there is increasing concern that these so-called companions could lead to more harm than good.
Çopa believes relationships between AI characters and humans will only increase in the coming years. He noted that the rise of AI apps focused on wellness and self-care is preferable to those targeting base urges. He expressed satisfaction that many founders and startups are working in the AI self-care wellness space rather than building different types of AI companions, adding that the personalization capability of AI will take the impact of these relationships to another level.
He explained that Momo has built-in safety guardrails, such as prompt filters, to ensure conversations remain within appropriate boundaries. The new funding will support launching Momo on the Android app store, as it is currently only available on iOS. The First Voyage team also aims to make Momo more intelligent in its interactions with people. Çopa shared the hope that Momo and its community become a defining consumer brand that uses the best of AI, animation, and gamification to improve as many lives as possible.