# Born

> Born builds consumer apps around AI characters and shared digital routines. Its Pengu virtual pet became Friends, a platform with companions for connection, learning and self-care; Life by Born offers human-looking AI friends. The company operates in New York and Berlin and reported $25 million raised in September 2025.

- **Founded:** 2022
- **Headquarters:** New York, United States; operations in Berlin, Germany
- **Founders:** Fabian Kamberi (CEO and co-founder), Jannis Ringwald (Co-founder), Stefan Quernhorst (Co-founder)
- **Products:** SLAY / W App, frfr, Pengu, Friends - Pengu, Bao & Mellow, Life by Born
- **Notable:** Accel reported 2.5 million monthly active users and over 10 million downloads across the SLAY portfolio in June 2024., Kamberi reported more than 5 million registered Pengu users in an October 2024 interview., Born reported more than 15 million Pengu users in September 2025.

## Products & services

- **SLAY / W App** — Earlier consumer social product centred on positive polls and compliments; the founding app reached No. 1 on the German iOS App Store.
- **frfr** — Earlier AI voice messaging app for Instagram stories.
- **Pengu** — AI-enabled virtual penguin users raise, customize and play with, including shared care with another person; launched in late 2023 and later became part of Friends.
- **Friends - Pengu, Bao & Mellow** — Multi-character companion app: Pengu supports shared social play, Mellow study and focus, and Bao self-care routines. Expansion announced January 13, 2026.
- **Life by Born** — Human-looking AI friends with chat, stories, photos and video calls; public iPhone listing exists, with version history reaching November 2025 and a company preview announced January 2026.
- **Born React Native Godot** — Open-source library created by Born and developed with Migeran to embed Godot in React Native apps on Android and iOS.

## Achievements

- Accel reported 2.5 million monthly active users and over 10 million downloads across the SLAY portfolio in June 2024.
- Kamberi reported more than 5 million registered Pengu users in an October 2024 interview.
- Born reported more than 15 million Pengu users in September 2025.
- The CEO reported over 1 million daily active users for Friends in January 2026.
- Born says it has launched five consumer social apps that reached No. 1 on App Store charts; the homepage does not define the markets or time windows.
- US Friends App Store listing displayed 4.8/5 across about 238,000 ratings at research time.

## Latest updates

- **2025-09** — Rebranded from SLAY to Born and announced a $15 million Series A; reported total funding of $25 million.
- **2026-01** — On January 13, announced the expansion of Pengu into Friends and previewed Life.
- **2026-09** — Friends iOS version 2.3.12 lists bug fixes and performance improvements on September 24, 2026.

## Links

- Website: https://www.born.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/born-dot-com/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/borndotcom
- GitHub: https://github.com/borndotcom

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/born
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-04