Ollie, a startup whose mission is to provide an AI assistant that respects user privacy, has announced that it will be shutting down in less than a week. Bill Lennon, the company’s co-founder and CEO, spoke to X on Friday and said the app would be officially shut down on November 6th.
“I’m really proud of what we accomplished,” Lennon said. “We built a great personal assistant with a small team and learned a lot. We are grateful to our amazing team, users, investors, and everyone who has supported us on this journey.”
The text-based AI assistant market has exploded over the past year as the models underpinning such applications have become increasingly powerful and significantly more useful in everyday tasks.
Ollie, who spoke with TechCrunch about a $7.5 million seed round led by Khosla Ventures in September, offered a subscription-based model. This assistant focused on helping families stay connected and organized. The app connected to users’ email and calendars, while also offering integrated features to help with reservations, meal planning, and bill payments. The company eventually planned to expand into household management.
Importantly, Ollie was one of the first mainstream apps to achieve SOC 2, a privacy compliance standard that businesses can achieve through independent audits. Unfortunately, user privacy has not been a huge benefit to the tech industry. Rather, as companies like Instinct demonstrate, many new digital assistants pose unique privacy challenges for users.
Ultimately, the pressures of the burgeoning AI industry took a toll on the company, Lennon said. “We came close but couldn’t catch up in the end,” he added. “The entry of Muse, Instinct, and other companies into this space has made it difficult to stand out, grow, and raise the capital needed to succeed.”
Olly customers will receive instructions on how to export their data and receive a refund within the next few days, Lennon added.
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