Portrait No. 001
Jenny Shao
Founder and CEO
Robyn AI
Raised — $5.5M
As a surgeon, I saw the disconnection and isolation in my patients firsthand. We live in a world where technology has made us more isolated, not less. I took an oath to do everything I can to help those who come to me, and it was clear that our healthcare system was not set up to do that -- so I took the plunge to build something that will allow me to uphold my oath and solve the problem of disconnection. We as humans have a biological need to be seen and connected. Robyn was founded to address this problem, to bring relational, emotionally intelligent AI to life. Our vision is a world where people are empowered by AI to be more human and in touch with themselves and each other, not less. It's not just about building cool technology -- it's about building for the real humans with real problems and real lives, like my former patients and even my younger self. Robyn bridges neuroscience and technology to build a more emotionally connected world, so I can uphold my oath, at scale.
In her words
“Technology should empower, not replace. Robyn was built to be a deeply human place -- one that addresses the biological need to be seen, known, and connected.”
Chapter I
The toughest challenges you've faced as a founder.
It's no secret that less than 2% of VC funding goes to female founders, and approximately 0.2% of total VC funding goes to women of color. I knew that going in, I knew the arena I was entering, but that didn't matter -- because I know the enormity and necessity of what're building -- a more connected world in which AI democratizes a fundamental human need: to be seen, known, and empowered. We spoke to over 100 investors before raising $5.5M for our seed round in 2025. Two years ago, I left Harvard and residency with nothing but an insane idea to build relational AI, an idea that became Robyn. Now, we are backed by incredible investors like M13, Google Maps cofounder Lars Rasmussen, xAI cofounder Christian Szegedy, Bill Tai (first investor in Zoom and Canva), Sangha Capital, and ACTAI Ventures. We are in 90% of the world and loved by 40K+ humans--including Red Sox and Dodgers players--many of which send us love notes on how Robyn has changed their lives. And we're just getting started.
Chapter II
Your vision.
We're building a more emotionally connected world, where billions of humans are more empowered by the technology we build. By mapping the neurological foundations of memory formation to our relational memory layer, we are bringing to life the first relational AI built to know and grow with you.
Chapter III
The impact you want to leave behind — for your industry, your community, and the women who come next.
I want to I want to prove that the most transformative companies can come from the people the system wasn't built for — immigrants, women, those who built alone without a safety net or a warm intro. Robyn exists because I believed connection shouldn't be a luxury, and that the architecture of how AI remembers us will define whether this technology heals or hollows. Thirty years from now, I want a female founder starting out on her journey to look at what we built and think: she did it without permission. So can I.