Small Portland startup Shelpful got a $3 million boost from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to build up its AI-driven personal coaching service.
The company announced the seed investment from the Altman-led Apollo Projects on Friday.
"The investment will fuel Shelpful's mission to support people in their pursuits, and stick with important habits for their health, happiness and self-care," Shelpful said in its news release.
The company gives users help managing daily tasks and self-improvement goals through an artificial intelligence-driven productivity assistant, named HabitGPT, personal accountability coaching from real people or a combination of both.
The company is marketing the service for those managing ADHD who need help with life tasks as well as parents, students and those who are working through major changes, such as a new job.
"This service was born out of my own need for it," co-founder and CEO Sharon Pope said in the news release. "I struggled with undiagnosed ADHD, as a career-minded mom for years. I felt like I showed up for everyone else, but I was last on my own list. With Shelpful, we are including the warmth of human support with the power and depth of AI."
The AI component likely led to the investment by Altman's fund. Shelpful's HabitGPT is built on OpenAI's GPT-4, and users can ask its chat function for recommendations such as recipes or podcast, according to the company.
"Members also can vent to HabitGPT 24/7 and are often pleasantly surprised about how warm and supportive it is in response," the announcement said.
Shelpful was founded by Pope, a former marketing adviser for Y-Combinator companies, Lydia Swift, a former PR executive for Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Chris Morse, who worked on Amazon's Alexa team, according to its news release.
