Town, a San Francisco startup that gives each employee an AI assistant called a "Townie," raised a $108 million Series B at a $1 billion valuation, co-led by Forerunner Ventures and Menlo Ventures, with a16z and First Round Capital participating. The company launched publicly in June 2026 with a $55 million Series A and says it reached seven figures of annual recurring revenue within weeks; since July, paying customers have grown 4x and paying teams 9x. The new funding lets Townies work together across a company and with outside contacts.
Town is betting that AI assistants are more valuable when they collaborate as a team rather than working solo. Founded by Jean-Denis Greze (former Plaid CTO) and Tony Vincent (former Google applied-AI product lead), it positions itself as a trusted layer that drafts rather than sends, never trains on customer data by default, and is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant—aiming to win over businesses wary of handing inbox access to AI.
Town, the AI assistant startup founded by former Plaid CTO Jean-Denis Greze, announced a $108 million Series B at a $1 billion valuation, co-led by Forerunner Ventures and Menlo Ventures. It launched publicly in June 2026 with a $55 million Series A and says it hit seven-figure annual recurring revenue within weeks.
Greptile announced a $50 million Series B at a $750 million valuation led by Menlo Ventures, and says it reviews and tests more than 1% of all pull requests opened on GitHub every day. Y Combinator is among the participants.
MA startup called Town just hit a billion-dollar valuation four months after launch.
CFour months. That's not a startup, that's a rocket.
MIt's an AI assistant for teams. Each employee gets a 'Townie' that drafts emails and messages.
CSo it's like having a very eager intern who never sleeps.
MAn intern that costs a hundred and eight million dollars in Series B funding.
CThe ex-Plaid CTO founded it. They hit seven-figure annual recurring revenue within weeks.
MAnd here's the part I actually like: it drafts, it doesn't send. You stay in control.
CThat's the trust layer. No training on your data by default. SOC 2 compliant.
MBut TechCrunch says it's one of many AI assistants flooding the market. The field is crowded.
CCrowded, sure. But Menlo Ventures co-led this. They're not throwing money at a copycat.
MThey're betting assistants work better as a team than solo. Townies can now collaborate across a company.
CThat's the pitch: your AI talks to my AI, and we both get more done.
MOr we've just automated the meeting that could have been an email.
CNow the AIs are having the meeting. We're free.
MPaying customers grew four times since July. Paying teams, nine times.
CThose are real numbers. Someone's finding value.
MOr someone's afraid of being left behind. FOMO is a hell of a sales strategy.
CCome on. You don't get to a billion valuation on fear alone.
MYou do in AI right now. We've seen crazier.
CFair. But Greptile just raised fifty million at a seven-fifty valuation too.
MDifferent world. Greptile reviews code. It says it checks more than one percent of all GitHub pull requests daily.
CThat's a lot of code passing through one tool every single day.
MAnd it's independent. Not owned by Microsoft or Google. That matters to developers.
CMenlo Ventures led that round too. They're building a portfolio of AI trust tools.
MMeanwhile, over on Bluesky, the AI backlash is getting loud.
CA voice actor named Liv Smith posted: 'If you use AI generators, I hate you.'
MSix thousand likes. That's not a fringe opinion anymore.
CLuke Plunkett added: 'AI is unavoidable? Lmao, it's not. You can just hit the bricks.'
MAnd Alex Rochon with the sarcasm: 'Yes, you'll be trampled by AI except for the many modern success stories that did not use AI.'
CThere's real anger here. People feel like AI is being shoved down their throats.
MBut 'hit the bricks'? That's not a strategy. AI is in your phone, your email, your car.
CYou can choose not to use generative AI for creative work. That's a legitimate choice.
MBut the anger is aimed at people using the tools, not the companies building them.
CBecause the tools are replacing their income. Voice actors, writers, artists. They're scared.
MAnd the response is to hate the user. That's not going to stop the technology.
CNo, but it might make people think twice about using it for certain things.
MCale Michael joked about 'Epic AI MegaJam' — the name alone describes the absurdity.
CIt's a game jam, but the name sounds like a parody of every AI announcement.
MThe fatigue is real. Every company is slapping AI on everything.
CAnd the backlash is growing. But the funding keeps flowing. Town, Greptile, billions in.
MTwo worlds colliding. The people building AI and the people who feel run over by it.
CAnd neither side is listening to the other.
MThat's the real story this morning. Not the valuations. The gap.