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IrisGo.AI, a startup developing AI personal computer software, has raised $2.8 million in seed funding led by AI Fund, the venture studio founded by AI pioneer Andrew Ng. The Taiwanese company has secured Acer as its first OEM partner, with its software to be pre-loaded on devices. IrisGo.AI differentiates itself through a "contextual awareness engine" featuring persistent memory that learns user preferences, hybrid computing using local NPUs for privacy-sensitive tasks, and tool orchestration across existing applications. Its "Watch and Learn" feature allows users to demonstrate tasks once, which the AI then automates whilst keeping data processing local. The funding will accelerate IrisGo.AI's market expansion as the AI PC market is projected to exceed 100 million units annually. The startup plans to announce partnerships with two additional PC manufacturers in late 2026.

AI butler IrisGo nets $2.8m, eyes series A after CES buzz. IrisGo, a US startup building a "digital butler" for PC users, has closed a US$2.8 million seed round led by Andrew Ng's AI Fund, the startup confirmed to Tech in Asia last week. The company is valued at US$21 million. Jeffrey Lai, IrisGo's co-founder and CEO, says he's already in talks with new investors for a potential series A round of around US$20 million. The company hasn't set any specific timeline for the series A, though it expects June "to be a good candidate." The startup will use the funds for product development. It recently hired four new engineers, though Lai emphasizes that he wants the team to stay lean due to the heavy involvement of AI coding tools such as Claude Code. Lai and his team demoed IrisGo's desktop butler app at CES in Las Vegas earlier this month, showing off features such as screen recording as well as mouse and keyboard controlling. The app ran on laptops built by Acer, a launch partner for IrisGo. "We're getting a lot of traction after CES. What we did there proved that we're able to attract new investors for a potential series A round," Lai tells Tech in Asia. Acer devices with IrisGo's app preinstalled are scheduled to ship globally by the end of this month. Three more launch partners are expected to come in the following months, Lai adds, though he declined to disclose names. IrisGo also plans to make the app available to download publicly for any devices running Intel's AI-focused Core Ultra Series 3 (Panther Lake) and similar processors. Having the app preinstalled could help IrisGo reach users at scale with minimum expenses, says Lai, noting that the startup did not pay to have its AI butler installed on its partners' computers. Any revenue will come from user subscriptions. IrisGo plans to offer both free and premium tiers, the latter at US$20 per month. The startup expects to have 1 million daily active users by the end of 2026 through Acer's ecosystem. Taking into account a 10% conversion rate, this would generate around US$2 million in annual recurring revenue, Lai estimates. IrisGo vs. Copilot? Most laptop makers are aggressively promoting devices with Microsoft's Copilot built in. This means users will have access to multiple AI assistants preinstalled on new laptops. Lai isn't concerned about users choosing one over the other, as he believes Copilot and IrisGo serve different purposes.

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