AI agents that perform tasks and solve everyday problems on behalf of users are all the rage in Silicon Valley. But startup Fambot also sees a future for agents in the real world, where they will be used by families who need help dealing with the emotional strain of children’s activities, school events, newsletters, and other family arrangements.
The startup, which is introducing a so-called “AI chief of staff” for parents, was founded by Greg Carlin, a former Instagram engineer and current CTO of Fambot, and CEO David Reich, his father and former president of United Masters and former head of product at Uber who last led the 250-person Uber Transit team.
Like many entrepreneurs, Reich developed a product that he wanted to use.
“I have three kids and it’s always a struggle between all these executive jobs. So does my wife,” he explained. “And then when you get home at the end of the day, just unplug, spend time with your kids, be with them, do homework together…kick a ball. Instead, you find yourself spending literally an hour catching up on 40 emails,” Reich said.
As any parent of an active child will tell you, information overload isn’t just limited to email. There are WhatsApp groups to keep up to date with the latest information, dedicated apps for schools and children’s sports and clubs, and leaflets sent home from school. In trying to keep up with all these responsibilities, Reich felt like he was taking away from spending time with his children, he said.
Reich and Karlin started working on the solution about a year and a half ago, when they were joined by a third co-founder, Jason Morrow, who previously worked at Google and LinkedIn. The team wanted to devise a way to use AI in a way that would make families feel as if they had a full-time personal assistant who not only reacted to their input, but also actively helped keep them informed.
To use Fambot, families connect to their email, calendar, and WhatsApp groups that need their attention. The bot then provides a daily checklist with to-dos and predicts what’s coming up on your calendar.
Under the hood, the company uses a mix of different AI models, but note that none of the models can be trained on your data.
What makes Fambot different compared to other trending AI agents like Poke and Instinct is that it doesn’t just work for text messages.
This is a key differentiator for startups, as real-world users of these AIs also want to engage with AI bots on the web or through traditional mobile app interfaces.
Fambot allows you to build more advanced functionality by providing software solutions rather than just text.
Of course, if you prefer, you can also text Fambot to ask questions and get updates. Additionally, the team plans to gradually integrate Fambot with other apps where family and child communication takes place, such as those used in schools, sports, groups, and clubs. Eventually, Fambot will become the central hub for all child-related and family-related communications. This is a bigger promise than just an AI agent that can send text messages.
“There are 43 million families in the United States with children under 16 who are not getting the support they need,” Reich said. “We know in advance what you’re going to face so we can prepare for it.”
Prior to its launch, Fambot was tested in more than 1,000 households. As a result, the company learned that its target audience includes not only large dual-income households where both parents work, but also one-child households, single-parent households, households where both parents do not work, and other variations. This proved that the concept wasn’t just for people with the busiest families, but that Fambot could potentially be useful for anyone with children.
The startup is backed by $3.5 million in pre-seed funding co-led by NextView Ventures and Baukunst, with participation from Correlation Ventures, Karman Ventures, and Founders Network.
Fambot is currently free during beta testing on iOS, Android, and the web. After that, we expect the price of the service to be similar to the price of a Netflix subscription, but that may change.
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