Photon raises $4.5M to replace mobile apps with AI agents over iMessage and RCS
darian314 · x · 2026-10-02
AI startup Photon raised a $4.5M seed round led by Gradient VC. The company helps developers build AI agents that communicate with users over iMessage and WhatsApp/RCS, betting agents will eventually replace mobile apps.
Key facts:
- Over 40,000 developers signed up; revenue grew 10x in four months
- The company even held a real "funeral for mobile apps" in a San Francisco church, with panels from Vercel, Stripe, and OpenAI
- CEO Daniel Tian admits the app era won't end soon, but calls the shift directionally inevitable
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