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The startup behind You.com is receiving $50 million in new funding, according to a source familiar with the matter, as it looks to establish a presence in the booming market for AI-powered assistants.
SuSea Inc, the four-year-old firm behind You.com, would be valued between $700 million and $900 million based on the nearly completed Series B fundraising, according to Reuters. According to the person, users have searched You.com 1 billion times since its introduction.
After ChatGPT sparked interest in You.com’s AI-powered search engine in early 2023, some of its users began to explore elsewhere. Microsoft (MSFT.O) updated its Bing search engine with its own AI chatbot, while Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O) added AI-generated replies to more nuanced inquiries.
According to Similarweb data, You.com had 11 million visitors in May, reflecting a year-over-year increase in web traffic, but the number was still lower than its 20 million peak in February 2023. Sensor Tower, a market intelligence organization, reported that its app downloads have declined by an estimated 69% so far in 2024 compared to the same period last year. Other AI businesses have encountered similar challenges.
Against this backdrop, the Palo Alto, California-based startup has transformed You.com into an AI assistant that focuses on both productivity and internet search, according to its website.
The market for sophisticated AI assistants is new and crowded. Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, the originator of ChatGPT, and now Apple are among the major players promoting new agent-like capabilities to their millions of customers.
You.com costs $15 per month for its premium consumer subscription when invoiced annually, which includes access to top AI models from across industries as well as other productivity tools. Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI offer alternative subscriptions that cost around $20 monthly.
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