"Even in 2023, companies can still raise hundreds of millions without any proof of product market fit. Since co-founding their startup five years ago, ex-Apple executives Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri have used a selective stream of buzzwords without mentioning what their company will even do. Their website offers that their technology "improves the human experience" and is "built on trust" and that interactions with it will "feel magical"-all grossly vague phrases you could also use to describe your child's first lap-sit with Santa Claus at Macy's."
"But this isn't some seed-stage stealth operation. In the last five years, their company-called Humane-has hired some 200 people across San Francisco, New York, and other cities, about 40% of whom have spent some amount of time working at Apple. With no product to debut or even talk about publicly, the cofounders have raised $241 million from investors like OpenAI's Sam Altman, the renowned solo VC and ex-Stripe engineer Lachy Groom, and firms like Steve Jang's Kindred Ventures, Tiger Global, and SoftBank."
"Yesterday the company said it had raised its latest $100 million in funding and that strategic investors including Microsoft and LG were teaming up with the company-adding to a long list of funding announcements, hiring updates, and promotional videos that lack an actual product. Bongiorno, who is CEO, and Chaudhri, chairman and president, told me this week that they have built a new "mobile compute device" as well as a "new software distribution platform," but don't try asking what that means. The product will launch in June, according to a company spokeswoman-on what they hope will be their own terms."
A company founded by former Apple executives has raised $241 million over five years without publicly demonstrating product-market fit or clearly describing what it will build. The company’s website uses broad, non-specific claims about improving human experience, building trust, and creating “magical” interactions. Despite having no publicly debuted product, it has hired about 200 people across multiple cities, with many employees previously working at Apple. The company announced an additional $100 million round with strategic investors including Microsoft and LG. Leadership describes a “mobile compute device” and a “new software distribution platform,” with a planned June launch, while public materials remain vague and promotional.
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