New York, September 10, 2025

Born raises $15M to build the future of digital life through AI friends

Born raises $15M to build the future of digital life through AI friends

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press@born.com

press@born.com

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Born creates AI friends—companions that enter people’s lives at the right moment and stay for a lifetime. These friends are always there when needed most, making conversations, play, and connection fun. At the intersection of AI and consumer social, Born is building experiences that feel natural, joyful, and lasting.

The new funding will accelerate Born’s product roadmap and hiring of top consumer AI talent. This includes opening a US office in New York, scaling new characters for Pengu, and launching a new social AI product currently seeing strong traction in stealth.

Born is backed by investors such as Supercell Co-Founder Ilkka Paananen, King Co-Founder Riccardo Zacconi, former Adobe CPO and A24 partner Scott Belsky, and The Chainsmokers’s Alexander Pall. Accel, who led Born's seed round, participated in the Series A alongside Tencent and Laton Ventures.

Born is establishing itself as a leader in consumer AI by building virtual friends that grow, evolve, and connect like humans. Unlike chatbot-centric or roleplay platforms, Born creates social, emotionally resonant, and culturally relevant companions that feel like real friends—the foundation for the next generation of consumer products.

Since launching in 2022, Born has released five #1 global social apps. Its flagship AI character, Pengu—raised, played with, and even “co-parented” by friends and family—has reached more than 15 million users globally, becoming the biggest AI character app with its own IP in the US. Born has now raised $25M to cement its position as leader in consumer AI by creating companions that feel alive, grow with users, and fit into daily life—moving beyond chatbot experiences toward social, emotionally resonant, and culturally relevant AI friends.

Born creates AI friends—companions that enter people’s lives at the right moment and stay for a lifetime. These friends are always there when needed most, making conversations, play, and connection fun. At the intersection of AI and consumer social, Born is building experiences that feel natural, joyful, and lasting.

The new funding will accelerate Born’s product roadmap and hiring of top consumer AI talent. This includes opening a US office in New York, scaling new characters for Pengu, and launching a new social AI product currently seeing strong traction in stealth.

Born is backed by investors such as Supercell Co-Founder Ilkka Paananen, King Co-Founder Riccardo Zacconi, former Adobe CPO and A24 partner Scott Belsky, and The Chainsmokers’s Alexander Pall. Accel, who led Born's seed round, participated in the Series A alongside Tencent and Laton Ventures.

Born is establishing itself as a leader in consumer AI by building virtual friends that grow, evolve, and connect like humans. Unlike chatbot-centric or roleplay platforms, Born creates social, emotionally resonant, and culturally relevant companions that feel like real friends—the foundation for the next generation of consumer products.

Since launching in 2022, Born has released five #1 global social apps. Its flagship AI character, Pengu—raised, played with, and even “co-parented” by friends and family—has reached more than 15 million users globally, becoming the biggest AI character app with its own IP in the US. Born has now raised $25M to cement its position as leader in consumer AI by creating companions that feel alive, grow with users, and fit into daily life—moving beyond chatbot experiences toward social, emotionally resonant, and culturally relevant AI friends.

From left to right: Baran Yildirim, Fabian Kamberi, Jannis Ringwald and Stefan Quernhorst

From left to right: Baran Yildirim, Fabian Kamberi, Jannis Ringwald and Stefan Quernhorst

Born

Born

"The AI space has seen rapid advances in infrastructure and B2B, but little movement in delivering real value to consumers. We see a tremendous opportunity to change that—by creating products that entertain, engage, and help people socialize in meaningful ways. This funding allows us to push forward on building AI experiences that feel human, relevant, and deeply integrated into people's digital lives. We intend to lead this new category by doing what we do best: delivering exciting and valuable consumer social experiences."

"The AI space has seen rapid advances in infrastructure and B2B, but little movement in delivering real value to consumers. We see a tremendous opportunity to change that—by creating products that entertain, engage, and help people socialize in meaningful ways. This funding allows us to push forward on building AI experiences that feel human, relevant, and deeply integrated into people's digital lives. We intend to lead this new category by doing what we do best: delivering exciting and valuable consumer social experiences."

Fabian Kamberi, CEO and Co-Founder of Born

"By setting out to build a new generation of digital life, with emotionally intelligent AI characters, the Born team has the potential to create a new consumer social category. We’ve been really impressed by the team’s ability to develop chart-topping apps and their inspiring product vision, and we’re looking forward to continuing our partnership with them as they scale globally."

"By setting out to build a new generation of digital life, with emotionally intelligent AI characters, the Born team has the potential to create a new consumer social category. We’ve been really impressed by the team’s ability to develop chart-topping apps and their inspiring product vision, and we’re looking forward to continuing our partnership with them as they scale globally."

Luca Bocchio, Partner at Accel

About Born
Born is a consumer technology company reinventing how people connect through AI. Launched in 2022, Born creates social apps that blend AI, play, and community. Its flagship app, Pengu, is the world's largest AI character platform with its own IP, engaging millions of users globally. With new products underway, Born is pioneering AI characters as the future of consumer technology.

About Born
Born is a consumer technology company reinventing how people connect through AI. Launched in 2022, Born creates social apps that blend AI, play, and community. Its flagship app, Pengu, is the world's largest AI character platform with its own IP, engaging millions of users globally. With new products underway, Born is pioneering AI characters as the future of consumer technology.

About Accel
Accel is a global venture capital firm backing exceptional founders building transformative companies. With a strong track record in consumer and social technology, Accel has supported category leaders such as Facebook, Spotify, Supercell, and Deliveroo. The firm partners with entrepreneurs from seed through growth, helping them scale globally. Founded in 1983, Accel has offices in Palo Alto, London, and Bangalore.

About Accel
Accel is a global venture capital firm backing exceptional founders building transformative companies. With a strong track record in consumer and social technology, Accel has supported category leaders such as Facebook, Spotify, Supercell, and Deliveroo. The firm partners with entrepreneurs from seed through growth, helping them scale globally. Founded in 1983, Accel has offices in Palo Alto, London, and Bangalore.

About Tencent
Founded in 1998, Tencent is one of the world's largest internet and technology companies. Through its strategic investment arm, Tencent has become a leading global backer of consumer platforms, supporting companies such as Epic Games, Supercell, Snapchat, and Discord. Tencent's investments span gaming, entertainment, and social networks, making it a key partner for entrepreneurs building products with massive cultural reach.

About Tencent
Founded in 1998, Tencent is one of the world's largest internet and technology companies. Through its strategic investment arm, Tencent has become a leading global backer of consumer platforms, supporting companies such as Epic Games, Supercell, Snapchat, and Discord. Tencent's investments span gaming, entertainment, and social networks, making it a key partner for entrepreneurs building products with massive cultural reach.

About Fabian Kamberi
Fabian Kamberi, CEO and Co-Founder of Born, is 26 years old. While in high school, he took college classes and wrote the bestseller What You Don't Learn in School and was already building consumer social apps. Fabian co-founded Born together with Jannis Ringwald and Stefan Quernhorst, driving the company's vision to make AI characters the next wave of consumer technology. He is also a co-initiator of Project Europe. Beyond that, he is personally focused on supporting the European tech ecosystem—especially engineers and builders in consumer technology.


In a prior announcement, Supercell Co-Founder Ilkka Paananen said: "I decided to invest in Born because I was so impressed by Fabian and his vision to build this type of new social network."

About Fabian Kamberi
Fabian Kamberi, CEO and Co-Founder of Born, is 26 years old. While in high school, he took college classes and wrote the bestseller What You Don't Learn in School and was already building consumer social apps. Fabian co-founded Born together with Jannis Ringwald and Stefan Quernhorst, driving the company's vision to make AI characters the next wave of consumer technology. He is also a co-initiator of Project Europe. Beyond that, he is personally focused on supporting the European tech ecosystem—especially engineers and builders in consumer technology.

In a prior announcement, Supercell Co-Founder Ilkka Paananen said: "I decided to invest in Born because I was so impressed by Fabian and his vision to build this type of new social network."