Tolan 是一款旨在帮助人们管理日常生活、处理人际关系和情绪、实现目标的 AI 伴侣，刚刚通过再融资 3000 万美元扩大了其发展空间。
Tolan, the AI companion designed to help people manage their daily lives, navigate relationships and emotions, and accomplish their goals, has just expanded its runway with another $30 million in capital.
根据 Upstarts Media 的最新报道，该初创公司在本轮融资中的投资者包括 Union Square Ventures、Khosla Ventures 和 Homebrew，融资总额较之前翻倍，估值突破此前的 1.2 亿美元。（该初创公司未披露新估值，但 PitchBook 估计其估值超过 2.68 亿美元，置信度为“中等”。）用户通过 Tolan 应用中的卡通形象进行互动，该形象旨在提供支持并帮助用户完成待办事项。
The startup’s investors in the latest round include Union Square Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and Homebrew, doubling the total amount it has raised to date and pushing its valuation beyond the previous $120 million, according to a new report by Upstarts Media. (The startup didn’t disclose its new valuation, but PitchBook estimates it at more than $268 million, with “medium confidence.”) Users engage with Tolan’s app through a cartoonish character that’s meant to offer support and help them get through their to-dos.
Tolan 通过分层会员制获取收入，全功能访问需要付费会员。该公司向 Upstarts Media 表示，其年经常性收入目前处于“双位数百万”水平。
Tolan generates revenue from its tiered memberships, which are required for full access to all features. The company told Upstarts Media its annual recurring revenue is now in the “double-digit millions.”
这家初创公司是少数获得一定市场认可的 AI 伴侣之一，其宣称拥有超过 25 万活跃用户，过去一年内这些用户进行了超过 7000 万次对话。Tolan 团队向该新闻媒体透露，约 70% 的用户为女性，40% 为父母。（根据轶事，该应用似乎尤其受到神经多样性人群的欢迎，他们可能从额外的支持中受益，无论是情感支持还是任务组织方面的帮助。）
The startup is one of the few AI companions that have found some traction, as it claims to have more than 250,000 active users who have had more than 70 million conversations over the past year. Around 70% of its users are women, and 40% are parents, Tolan’s team told the news outlet. (Anecdotally, the app is said to appeal in particular to neurodivergent people, who may benefit from additional support, whether that’s emotional support or help with organizing tasks.)
与其他伴侣相比，Tolan 似乎在“有帮助”和“不被视为过于奇怪”之间找到了平衡。相比之下，Friend 基于吊坠的 AI 伴侣曾遭到公众羞辱；用户称 Friend “非常尴尬”，《纽约时报》称其为“被憎恨”，《连线》杂志说它“毫无灵魂”。与此同时，该领域另一家曾经的领先企业 Character.ai 最近因创始人回归谷歌而申请破产。
Compared with other companions, Tolan seems to have found a balance between being helpful without being perceived as too weird.
（其剩余员工正在过渡到迪士尼，后者收购了其一些资源。）然而，Tolan 可能会面临来自新一代 AI 代理的加剧竞争，这些代理帮助用户规划、组织和完成任务和目标，而不仅仅是通过对话来应对。例如，Meta 为其 AI 代理 Muse 设计了一个可爱的头像，供用户交谈，并且还计划将其未来以硬件产品形式推出。
Compare that with the public shaming that Friend’s pendant-based AI companion faced; users dubbed Friend “very cringe“, The New York Times called it “hated,” and Wired said it “has no soul.” Meanwhile, another former top contender in the space, Character.ai, recently filed for bankruptcy after its founders’ return to Google. (Its remaining staff is transitioning to Disney, which bought some of its assets.) However, Tolan could end up facing increased competition from the more recent crop of AI agents, which help users plan, organize, and accomplish their tasks and goals, not just talk their way through them. For instance, Meta gave its AI agent Muse a cute avatar for its users to talk to, which it also plans to release as a hardware product in the future.
该初创公司还必须应对提供 AI 驱动的情感支持所带来的风险，鉴于多起诉讼已被提交 przeciwko 通用型 AI 应用程序制造商，指控聊天机器人互动导致了用户的自杀。
The startup also has to navigate the risks of offering AI-powered emotional support, given that multiple lawsuits have been filed against general-purpose AI app makers alleging that chatbot interactions contributed to users’ suicides.