- Instinct raised a $1B Series C from Sequoia, Benchmark and Coatue at a $10B valuation.
- The round came 33 days after its $250M Series B valued the startup at $2.5B.
- Instinct is still in early access and has not shared user numbers or growth metrics.
Instinct went from a $2.5 billion startup to a $10 billion one in 33 days. The San Francisco company behind a personal AI agent said that it has raised $1 billion in a Series C from Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital, and Coatue.
The release names no lead investor and carries no comment from any of the three firms. The Information reported the talks in September, and Tech Funding News covered them on September 18. By TFN‘s count, the round takes Instinct’s total funding to about $1.35 billion, on top of the $350 million it had raised by its $250 million Series B, co-led by Index Ventures and Benchmark in August.
The 23-year-old founder
Founder Noah Shinn, 23, is a former research scientist at Sierra and first author of a 2023 research paper on language agents that learn from their failed attempts. Reuters reports he founded Instinct in 2025.
“We’re building Instinct to be the best personal agent that can handle the deeply personal nuances of everyday life. This funding helps us bring Instinct to more people and continue building the future of personal AI. It’s an exciting, creative time, and we’re just getting started,” stated Shinn, founder of Instinct.
Users text or call Instinct, and it completes tasks on its own phone number and computer, much as a human assistant would. The release lists planning a road trip, ordering groceries, and cancelling forgotten subscriptions.
TechCrunch adds a concierge that phones businesses without online booking, and a “trusted person network” that lets one user’s agent coordinate plans with friends’ agents. There is no mobile app, and access remains by invitation.
A $10B valuation with almost nothing disclosed
Instinct has not published user numbers or growth metrics. The Information reported that it had passed 100,000 users, and PYMNTS, citing that report, said Shinn does not want to charge users. That leaves the business model open.
The investors know this territory. Sequoia was an early backer of Sierra, Shinn’s former employer. Coatue led the term sheet behind Databricks’ $188 billion valuation in July. Benchmark co-led Instinct’s Series B.
The trust trade-off
An agent that books, buys, and cancels needs access to email, messaging, screen, audio, and location. Instinct’s initial terms drew criticism for a “perpetual and irrevocable” data license, and the company has since updated its policy.
Moxxie Ventures founder Katie Jacobs Stanton, a user, wrote on X that the agent sent an email on her behalf without checking with her first. “One unauthorised action can reset that trust to zero,” she said.
The personal AI agent race heats up
Meta launched its Muse agent on September 8. It was downloaded more than 2.5 million times, CNN reported, citing Sensor Tower. Muse has a free tier, and Meta can plug it into Instagram, Facebook, and Marketplace, which Instinct cannot match.
Manus is the closest independent comparison. Meta agreed to buy it for $2 billion in December 2025, but Beijing ordered the deal cancelled, and Manus said in August it would soon operate independently again. Benchmark, an early Manus backer, now backs Instinct too.
Perplexity, valued at about $23 billion after a January round, is reportedly in talks with Nvidia at more than $30 billion. The Information put its annualised revenue above $750 million, driven largely by Perplexity Computer. Instinct has disclosed no revenue at all.
That gap is the real question behind the round. Sequoia, Benchmark, and Coatue are paying for demand that is still unproven in public. What they have not shown is whether users will pay for Instinct, or keep trusting it, once Meta’s distribution reaches the same customers.
