Poke, an AI agent that operates entirely through text messages, raised an additional $10 million on top of its $15 million seed round, reaching a $300 million post-money valuation. The round is backed by Spark Capital, General Catalyst, and other angels, TechCrunch reported on April 8.
The 10-person startup, formally called The Interaction Company of California, launched Poke publicly in March 2026. Users visit poke.com, enter their phone number, and start interacting with a personal AI agent over iMessage, SMS, or Telegram. No app download, no account creation, no terminal.
What It Does
Poke handles daily planning, calendar management, health and fitness tracking, smart home control, photo editing, email alerts, medication reminders, and sports scores. Users can write custom automations in plain text and share them with friends.
Co-founder Marvin von Hagen told TechCrunch the general-purpose pivot came from watching beta testers: “People wanted to use Poke for everything. Even though it was only meant for email, people started asking Poke to remind them to take their medication. They asked Poke about sports results.” Users kept reaching for the agent because, as von Hagen put it, “people just like the personality and the humanness of it so much.”
Model-Agnostic Architecture
Under the hood, Poke routes each task to whichever AI model fits best, whether from a major provider or open source. Von Hagen positioned this as a long-term advantage: “Almost all of our competitors are just big tech and labs that are bound to a specific provider. Like Meta AI will only ever be able to use Meta models, and ChatGPT will only ever be able to use OpenAI models.”
To operate inside iMessage, Poke uses Linq, a platform that enables AI assistants to live within messaging apps. WhatsApp support is currently limited after Meta barred general-purpose chatbots from the platform last fall.
The Consumer Agent Interface Bet
TechCrunch framed the question directly: “Is Poke an OpenClaw for the rest of us?” The market seems to agree with the thesis. A $300 million valuation on a product that launched two months ago, built by a 10-person team, suggests investor conviction that the consumer AI agent interface is a category worth funding separately from enterprise tools and developer platforms.
The contrast with the broader agent ecosystem is instructive. OpenClaw requires terminal access and system-level permissions. Enterprise agent platforms like Automation Anywhere and HubSpot Breeze target IT departments and revenue teams. Poke targets anyone who sends text messages, which is effectively everyone.