replika founder raises $20m pre-seed for wabi, the ‘youtube of apps’ 

Eugenia Kuyda and the Vision of Accessible AI Applications

Eugenia Kuyda is recognized as a pioneer in the field of consumer AI. She established Replika, a leading AI companion application, in 2017 – predating the widespread release of ChatGPT by several years. Currently, Replika boasts a user base of 35 million individuals.

Introducing Wabi: The "YouTube for Apps"

Kuyda is now introducing Wabi, a novel startup envisioned as a platform for app creation akin to YouTube. Wabi is a social environment where users can leverage prompts to rapidly generate and distribute simplified applications to their network. Launched in beta last month, Wabi signals a shift towards personalized software becoming increasingly commonplace.

Significant Pre-Seed Funding

Wabi has successfully secured $20 million in pre-seed funding from a distinguished group of investors. This includes Naval Ravikant, co-founder of AngelList; Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator; Justin Kan, co-founder of Twitch; Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit; Akshay Kothari, co-founder of Notion; DJ Seo, co-founder of Neuralink; Shruti Gandhi, founder of Array Ventures; and Sarah Guo, founder of Conviction.

A Track Record of Prediction

Anish Acharya, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, commented to TechCrunch, “Kuyda demonstrated foresight in the realm of AI companions, even when its potential wasn’t widely apparent.” He further stated, “It’s uncommon to encounter someone with a proven ability to anticipate consumer desires, and we believe she is doing so once again.”

Navigating a Competitive Landscape

Kuyda is entering a dynamic market. Tools focused on vibe-coding, such as Cursor and Lovable, are attracting substantial venture capital. Simultaneously, no-code AI platforms – including Emergent, Replit, and Bloom – are competing to empower non-technical users to construct applications through prompt-based interfaces. Wabi differentiates itself through its integrated platform for creation, discovery, and hosting, eliminating the need for a traditional app store.

Democratizing App Development

“The primary goal was to enable individuals without coding experience or technical backgrounds to swiftly create applications relevant to their everyday lives,” Kuyda explained to TechCrunch during a recent appearance at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. “Simply inputting a request like ‘build me an AI therapy app’ is all that’s required. The platform will propose features, facilitating brainstorming, and ultimately construct the application. Extensive prompting skills are unnecessary, and users are shielded from the underlying code.”

Social Features and Community Engagement

Wabi recently introduced social functionalities to its beta users, including the ability to like, comment on, and remix existing applications. Users can also explore profiles to view the apps others have utilized or created.

The platform has generated considerable buzz on X (formerly Twitter) since the initial distribution of invites. Numerous founders, designers, and investors have shared their experiences with Wabi’s ease of app creation. Logan Kilpatrick, a product lead at Google DeepMind, also publicly acknowledged the platform.

The Importance of a Social Layer

“We firmly believe that a social component is essential, as it fosters creativity and discovery, transforming these mini-apps into catalysts for communities and conversations,” Kuyda stated.

Future Development and Personalization

Wabi’s Explore page currently showcases recent and trending applications, but Kuyda anticipates a more algorithm-driven approach in the future. The startup intends to implement personalized onboarding in the coming weeks, automatically generating starter apps tailored to new users.

Wabi's Core Value Proposition

Wabi’s fundamental offering mirrors that of ChatGPT’s GPT store and Quora’s Poe bot: the ability to build miniature applications using prompts to address specific needs. Wabi excels at presenting this capability to customers by removing the complexities of technical infrastructure. Even minimal input from the user is sufficient for Wabi to manage tasks such as icon creation, database setup, and UI design.

User Control and Customization

Kuyda informed TechCrunch that users can select their preferred foundational model (such as ChatGPT or Gemini) for AI-generated app components and even modify the prompts generated by Wabi within the application settings.

Early Challenges and Debugging

While creating a basic app is straightforward, some debugging may be necessary to resolve errors, a common occurrence in the software development process.

For instance, an app designed to display a daily dog picture with a fact occasionally generated the same dogs repeatedly. Similarly, a daily news app displayed dates of October 1, 2023, despite the news items being weeks old, and sourced information from Wikipedia.

User Responsibility and App Maintenance

Maintaining the functionality of these apps requires user engagement. Without it, the discovery section of these platforms may become populated with unmanaged applications.

Future Roadmap and Monetization

Kuyda acknowledges that Wabi is still in its early stages and that ongoing work is needed to ensure apps function seamlessly out of the box. She notes that improvements to underlying models are continuously being made. A significant portion of the $20 million in funding will be allocated to expanding Wabi’s product development team.

Funding will also be used to subsidize Wabi’s usage while the startup explores monetization strategies. Kuyda expressed disinterest in incorporating advertisements, which she believes can lead to negative user experiences and manipulative design patterns.

Network Effects and Professionalization

Acharya believes that once network effects take hold, monetization will become easier. He envisions a future where the platform attracts a professional element, with aspiring content creators choosing software development on Wabi over platforms like TikTok.

“Looking at the evolution of YouTube, it began with amateur, low-quality content,” he said. “Now, after 20 years, it features highly polished productions.”

The Value of Compounding Software

Acharya added that software presents even greater potential because “video content’s value diminishes over time, while software’s value compounds.” A successful application will remain relevant for an extended period.

Disposable Software and Internet Participation

The concept aligns with Acharya’s thesis on “disposable software” – small, adaptable applications that users can create and discard as easily as opening a new browser tab or interacting with ChatGPT.

“Software represents the final frontier of participation,” Acharya stated. “The internet has driven participation, allowing anyone to share their thoughts. It’s ironic that the internet is fundamentally software-based, yet so few people have the ability to create it.”

A Return to the Early Web Ethos

“What will a web3 look like when everyone can build and share software in minutes?” Kuyda pondered.

“The internet has become somewhat sterile – we all use the same Instagram, TikTok, and have similar home screens. Apps have become monotonous,” he said. “Wabi offers the opportunity to restore the rebellious, unconventional spirit of the early 1990s web.”