Angel AI Raises $4.75 Million in Oversubscribed Seed Round Led by Cortical Ventures
May 16, 2024 | Published on PRNewswire
New AI platform offers a trusted internet companion with age-appropriate guardrails, helping parents foster and support curious children
Angel AI, a parent-designed AI platform that provides an age-appropriate internet experience for children aged 5 to 12 years old, announces a $4.75 million Seed funding round led by Cortical Ventures with significant participation from Village Global and several other prominent angel investors.
Angel AI uses the most powerful and advanced AI technology today, such as large language models, natural language processing (NLP), speech recognition and synthesis, and agent-based systems with memory. This technology allows Angel to generate age-appropriate answers to children's questions, delivering compelling but safe content and entertainment. Additionally, Angel's platform has the ability to learn, personalize, and understand the child over time. The AI supports children's curiosity and encourages them to find answers by providing multi-modal content at their comprehension level, including video and audio, to enhance the learning experience.
Angel's content is also free from distracting advertisements or predatory monetization tactics, which have become commonplace in children's digital experiences–often to their detriment. In stark contrast to the status quo, Angel is also free of data collection for reselling and always will be.
"We have already seen how social media platforms and children's content sources are too akin to 'digital narcotics,' designed to be addictive and feed children age-inappropriate content, leading to higher rates of depression and loneliness," said Tim Estes, CEO and founder of Angel AI.
"As a father of two young boys, I wanted something better for my kids. So did the many parents that make up the Angel team. Instead of fully disconnecting children from the internet, we're advocating for an innovative and more effective approach. By using the Angel platform, parents can carefully integrate technology, letting their children explore safely while building healthy online and offline habits and promoting digital fluency."
The Angel AI platform will also include a parent insight portal, offering unique insights about children's interests online and offline. In addition to the platform's current services, Angel will continue to roll out new capabilities in the coming months with the ultimate goal of creating a multi-faceted ecosystem that will redefine how children experience the internet.
"Angel AI is solving a problem that every parent in the world encounters and yet remains unsolved: allowing their kids to use the internet without exposing them to inappropriate and unsafe content," said Jeremy Achin, general partner at Cortical Ventures, founder and CEO of NeoCybernetica and hOS and former CEO of DataRobot. "Changing this paradigm is a massive opportunity and one Cortical is excited to support as we continue to focus on the theme of AI-powered human engagement for good."
The round will accelerate Angel AI's investments in hiring, product development, and marketing initiatives. Over 100 parents are actively testing Angel's platform, demonstrating significant interest and anticipation for the app. Others who are interested are encouraged to join Angel's waitlist. Invitations to use the platform will be rolled out in phases this summer as a part of the company's plan to continue expanding parent and child engagement with the platform.
"Village Global prides itself on carefully selecting partners who are both leaders and responsible stewards in their areas of expertise," said Anne Dwane, co-founder & partner at Village Global. "Angel is changing the world by using AI for good. We are proud to partner with an organization that helps protect children and educates and empowers families while modeling behaviors of responsible digital citizens."
