AI Agent Startup Instinct Raises $1B Series C at $10B Valuation

Instinct, a consumer AI assistant startup, confirmed on September 28, 2026, a $1 billion Series C round led by Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital and Coatue, valuing the company at $10 billion. The raise comes roughly one month after a round that valued Instinct at $2.5 billion. The company launched its invite-only service in August 2026 and operates via SMS rather than a mobile app. Instinct has not disclosed user numbers or growth metrics. Founder Noah Shinn declined interview requests. Instinct faces competition from Meta's AI assistant Muse, which offers similar agentic features plus deep integration with Meta's social products. Muse has topped U.S. app store rankings with millions of downloads, underscoring investor appetite for consumer AI agents despite user privacy concerns over data disclosure. Instinct has since updated its initial privacy policy.