Investors back Skye’s AI iPhone home screen app before launch
▼ Summary
– Skye is an iPhone app in private testing that aims to create an “agentic homescreen” using iOS widgets to deliver ambient intelligence and personalized insights.
– The app can draft email replies, assist with meeting prep, send reminders, flag suspicious bank charges, and offer location-specific recommendations.
– Data is pulled through authorized connections granted by the user.
– Signull Labs has raised over $3.58 million in pre-seed funding, with a post-money valuation of $19.5 million, and has attracted interest from investors like a16z and True Ventures.
– The creator claims “tens of thousands” of users have joined the waitlist, suggesting strong consumer demand for a more AI-aware iPhone.
Even without a public launch, a new iPhone app called Skye is already generating buzz , and serious investor interest. Still in private testing, the app aims to redefine how people interact with AI on their smartphones, and its creator reports that it has already attracted “tens of thousands” of users and significant venture capital attention. That early traction suggests a growing consumer appetite for a more AI-aware iPhone experience.
Rather than functioning as a standalone app or a chatbot interface, Skye is being built as an “agentic homescreen” for the iPhone. It uses iOS widgets as its primary interface, embedding ambient intelligence directly into the user’s device. According to its creator, who goes by signüll on X, the app can deliver personalized insights about local weather, your current context, health data, and more. It can draft email replies, prepare you for meetings, send reminders, and even flag suspicious charges in your bank accounts. While you’re out, Skye can also offer location-specific recommendations and details about nearby businesses, neighborhoods, and attractions.
All of this data is pulled in through authorized connections that the user controls.
The startup behind Skye, Signull Labs, is a small team that has already secured significant funding. According to an SEC filing, the company raised more than $3.58 million in pre-seed funding, with a round that closed in September 2025. Pitchbook lists the New York-based startup’s post-money valuation at $19.5 million. TechCrunch confirmed the founder’s identity as Nirav Savjani, based on SEC filings and other documents.
Since announcing the project on X, signüll claims the app has added “tens of thousands” of users to its waitlist. If accurate, that metric points to strong consumer demand for a more AI-integrated iPhone , and perhaps hints at a market for a new type of AI device, like the rumored OpenAI smartphone.
In a post from April 14, 2026, signüll wrote: “holy fuck the response to yesterday’s lunch has been absolutely unreal. ~million views on our video, tens of thousands added to a waitlist that was already 25k+, & hundreds & hundreds of emails & DMs from investors & ppl genuinely excited about what we’re building.”
TechCrunch spoke with signüll, who shared details about the product and funding but asked to remain pseudonymous. TechCrunch declined that request, noting that his name is already publicly listed in SEC filings. The publication said it would still be happy to publish an interview when he is ready to go on the record.
Savjani previously worked at Google and Meta, though he has no obvious LinkedIn presence. He told TechCrunch that Skye’s early backers include a16z (Andreessen Horowitz), True Ventures, SV Angel, and other individual investors. Offline Ventures also lists Signull Labs in its online portfolio.
Since Skye’s announcement, Savjani has appeared on the TBPN podcast as his avatar and has been active on X, sharing his own experiences using the app. He told TechCrunch that Skye plans to launch to its waitlist soon, though he declined to provide a specific timeline.
(Source: TechCrunch)