Skye, an iPhone app nonetheless in personal testing, needs to alter how individuals work together with AI on their smartphones. And even earlier than it’s launched, it’s already attracted curiosity on-line and from traders and “tens of hundreds” of customers, in accordance with its creator — an indication that customers would possibly need a extra AI-aware iPhone.
As an alternative of launching an app or chatting with an AI chatbot, the startup is working to design an “agentic homescreen” for the iPhone, utilizing iOS widgets as its interface.
By way of these widgets, Skye would convey a type of ambient intelligence to your machine, providing customized insights about your native climate, your present context, your well being, and extra, in accordance with a put up from its creator, who goes by signüll on X. The app may draft e mail replies, provide help to together with your assembly prep, ship reminders, and flag suspicious fees in your financial institution accounts. Its creator additionally claims it may present location-specific suggestions and extra details about native companies, neighborhoods, and points of interest whilst you’re out and about.
A lot of this knowledge can be pulled in by means of licensed connections granted by the person.
The app, which is being constructed by a small group from the startup Signull Labs, has already attracted investor consideration, regardless of not but having a public product.
In accordance to an SEC submitting, the startup has raised north of $3.58 million in pre-seed funding, in a spherical that closed in September 2025. Pitchbook additionally presently lists New York-based Signull Labs’ funding together with a post-money valuation of $19.5 million.
Since saying the startup’s plans on X, signüll, whose identify TechCrunch confirmed as Nirav Savjani in accordance with the SEC filings and different paperwork, claims the app has added “tens of hundreds” of customers to the waitlist. This metric, if correct, would recommend robust client curiosity in a extra AI-aware iPhone. (And probably, the chance {that a} new sort of AI machine, just like the rumored OpenAI smartphone, might have an opportunity.)
TechCrunch spoke to signüll, who shared extra in regards to the product and funding, underneath the situation of defending his pseudonymity. TechCrunch declined, as signull’s identify is listed publicly within the SEC filings establishing Signull Labs. (TechCrunch stated we might nonetheless be blissful to publish an interview with him when he’s ready to go on the document.)
The founder famous he’s beforehand labored at Google and Meta, although he has no apparent LinkedIn presence. He additionally instructed TechCrunch that Skye’s early backers included a16z (Andreesen Horowitz), True Ventures, SV Angel, and different people. Offline Ventures additionally lists Signull Labs in its on-line portfolio, we discovered.
Since saying Skye, Savjani has appeared on the TBPN podcast as his avatar and has been posting on X about his use of the app.
He instructed TechCrunch that the Skye app plans to launch to its waitlist of customers quickly, although he declined to present specifics.
While you buy by means of hyperlinks in our articles, we could earn a small fee. This doesn’t have an effect on our editorial independence.