Photon raises US$4.5 million to build AI agent tools for messaging platforms
The seed round was co-led by Gradient and A*. Photon says it has more than 40,000 developer sign-ups and revenue has grown tenfold in four months.
Photon has raised US$4.5 million in seed funding to develop tools that let developers build and run AI agents through messaging services including iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS/RCS, email and voice.
The round was co-led by Gradient and A*, with Vercel, HongShan, Z Fellows, Llama Ventures, Karman and angel investors also participating. No valuation or detailed funding terms were disclosed.
Photon says it has more than 40,000 developer sign-ups and revenue grew tenfold over four months. It did not disclose revenue figures or a baseline for that growth. The company also reports messaging volume rose fivefold in the past month and churn is below 3%.
Founded by Daniel Tian and Ryan Zhu, Photon began with an iMessage bot the founders released as open-source software. The company says that version still accounts for 98% of use. It launched a managed subscription platform in April.
Photon’s thesis is that people may increasingly use agents through messaging services they already have, rather than downloading new apps. That shift will take time, Tian told TechCrunch. The company says its hosted service offers 99.95% uptime and is SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA-compliant.
