Shapes raises $8M to bring AI characters into group chats

Shapes, a consumer app founded in 2022, is emerging from stealth with $8 million in seed funding. The platform integrates AI characters directly into group chats with human users, contrasting with the private, one-on-one interactions typical of existing AI tools. In the app, these AI characters—referred to as “Shapes”—are treated like any other user in the chat, though they are clearly labeled for transparency.

According to founders Anushk Mittal and Noorie Dhingra, the app addresses a common issue where group chats die because participants do not want to be the first to send a message. To solve this, the AI characters have free will and can decide when to message, initiating or responding to conversations without needing to be summoned. Users can also create their own custom Shapes and define their personalities.

The startup, which has grown primarily through word of mouth, reports the following engagement metrics:

• More than 400,000 monthly active users, representing a sixfold increase since the start of the year.
• Three million Shapes created by users.
• Some users spending two to four hours in the app each day.

Mittal and Dhingra believe that bringing AI into a shared, human-centric environment can address concerns regarding “AI psychosis,” which refers to cases where prolonged interactions with AI chatbots or AI companions can cause individuals to develop delusions or paranoia. By embedding these characters within everyday group interactions with real people, the platform aims to keep AI use grounded in a social context. The startup is aware that not everyone will want to bring AI into their group conversations, designing the app instead for highly active online users.

“Shapes is about human conversations,” Mittal, the CEO of Shapes, said. “It’s more of a next-gen chat app than an AI app. The demographic is people who are obsessively online, who spend a lot of time online connecting and sharing. Those are the users who come in and they get an opportunity to obsess about their interests, and the AI acts as a facilitator in those conversations.”

The $8 million seed round was led by Lightspeed, a venture capital firm, with participation from AI Capital Partners and AI Grant. Shapes plans to use the capital to accelerate its development and user acquisition.

Why it matters

Shapes represents a shift from solitary AI interaction to social, community-driven integration, attempting to solve engagement issues in group messaging. By embedding AI characters in group chats, the startup also seeks to mitigate the psychological risks associated with isolated, one-on-one AI companionship.