A former physician and Harvard resident, Jenny Shao, has left her medical career to launch Robyn, an AI companion designed to provide empathetic, emotionally intelligent support for users seeking personal insight and emotional balance.
Shao said her experience during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the neurological effects of isolation and the need for accessible emotional support. “As a physician, I have seen things go badly when tech companies try to replace your doctor,” she explained. “Robyn is and won’t ever be a clinical replacement. It is equivalent to someone who knows you very well… an emotionally intelligent partner.”
Unlike AI chatbots such as ChatGPT or friendship-focused companions like Replika and Character.AI, Robyn positions itself as neither a therapist nor a social substitute. Instead, it aims to help users understand their behavioral patterns, emotional responses, and personal growth areas.
Shao drew on her neuroscience background to design Robyn’s “emotional memory system.” Before founding the company, she conducted research on human memory under Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel, whose work inspired Robyn’s approach to learning from users over time.
Available now on iOS, Robyn begins with an onboarding process similar to mental health or journaling apps, asking questions about the user’s goals, communication style, and personality. As users chat, the AI provides insights into traits such as their emotional fingerprint, attachment style, love language, growth edge, and inner critic. For example, when asked to design a morning routine, Robyn engages in a detailed dialogue about screen time and personal habits.
The app’s safety features include automatic responses to discussions of self-harm, directing users to crisis hotlines or nearby emergency resources. Robyn also declines unrelated or mechanical tasks — like reporting sports scores or performing long counts — to stay focused on emotional engagement.
Robyn launched in the U.S. with a subscription model priced at $19.99 per month or $199 per year, following several months of closed testing. The startup has raised $5.5 million in seed funding, led by M13, with participation from Google Maps co-founder Lars Rasmussen, early Canva investor Bill Tai, former Yahoo CFO Ken Goldman, and X.ai co-founder Christian Szegedy.
Rasmussen praised Robyn’s emotional memory capabilities, calling the app a response to the “massive disconnection problem” created by technology. “People are surrounded by technology but feel less understood than ever,” he said. “Robyn tackles that head-on, helping people reflect, recognize patterns, and reconnect with who they are.”
The startup, which began the year with three team members and has since grown to ten, is focused on maintaining strict guardrails for user safety. M13 partner Latif Parecha said the company’s success will depend on balancing empathy with caution. “There needs to be guardrails in place for escalation when people are in real danger,” he noted. “Especially as AI becomes part of our lives just like family and friends are.”
While the market for AI companions continues to expand — with studies showing that 72% of U.S. teens have tried such apps — Robyn aims to stand apart by focusing not on imitation of friendship or therapy, but on helping users build self-awareness and healthier emotional connections.
Featured image credits: Freepik
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