Photon held a funeral for mobile apps in San Francisco on September 17, turning a bold prediction about software into a public event. Now the AI startup has $4.5 million in seed funding, over 40,000 developer sign-ups, and revenue that grew 10x in four months.
The message from Photon is clear: AI agents could change how people use software, and developers are already building toward that shift. At the same time, Doxx.net has raised $38 million in a Series A round as its private agentic defined networking platform prepares to launch into open beta.
Photon Bets on a World Beyond App Screens
Photon’s app funeral brought together a striking collection of companies and ideas around the future of apps. OpenAI was involved in panels at the event, while Meta’s Muse tested the theory that agents could replace apps.
Daniel Tian, CEO and co-founder of Photon, described the shift as a long-term change rather than an instant replacement. “Honestly, it’s going to take a while, but I think, directionally, it’s inevitable,” Tian said.
Photon’s platform has attracted over 40,000 developer sign-ups and includes paying clients. Its open source version accounts for 98% of its use, giving developers a major path into the platform while Photon builds its hosted offering for production needs.
The company’s hosted platform offers 99.95% uptime and is SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA-compliant. Photon’s technology reaches millions of end users, connecting the developer platform to products that people already use.
- Corgi Insurance uses Photon.
- Boardy uses Photon for social introductions.
- Ditto uses Photon as a Gen Z dating platform.
- Rho uses Photon as a business banking platform.
- Fliptexts uses Photon as a finance AI assistant.
- Slashy uses Photon as an AI email client.
Photon is also the layer under Tencent’s QClaw and NanoClaw. Its framework and infrastructure integrations include LangChain, Mastra, Convex, Render, Railway, and Telnyx, while Vercel serves as both a technology integration partner and a backer.
Funding Follows Developer Momentum
Photon’s seed round was co-led by Gradient and A*, with participation from Vercel, HongShan, Z Fellows, Llama Ventures, Karman, and other angel investors. The round gives Photon $4.5 million in seed funding to develop its products.
The startup’s numbers show a platform moving from experimentation into active use. Revenue grew 10x in four months, churn stayed below 3%, and messaging volume grew by 5x in the last month.
Those figures sit alongside the company’s open source adoption and hosted reliability targets. Developers can use the open source version, while clients that need a managed platform can turn to an offering with 99.95% uptime and compliance with SOC 2 Type II and HIPAA requirements.
Ryan Zhu, CTO and co-founder of Photon, is building that platform alongside Tian as Photon serves developers and the products built on top of its technology. The company’s customer list spans insurance, social introductions, dating, business banking, finance assistance, and email, showing the range of products using its infrastructure.
Doxx.net Pushes Agentic Networking Forward
Photon is not the only startup turning attention toward agent-driven systems. Doxx.net, an agentic networking startup founded by Barrett Lyon, has raised a $38 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz.
Doxx.net’s private agentic defined networking platform is launching into open beta. The funding and beta launch place the company at another important point in the development of networking systems built around agents.
Together, Photon and Doxx.net point to two connected directions for AI development. Photon is building the platform layer for products that may replace traditional app experiences, while Doxx.net is opening a networking platform designed around agentic systems.
The contrast between Photon’s app funeral and Doxx.net’s open beta captures the moment: one company is declaring that the old app model may be reaching its end, while another is opening access to a new networking model. Photon has already signed up over 40,000 developers, and its technology reaches millions of end users.
The funeral was a statement. The funding, customers, integrations, and developer activity show the work that follows.
Based on
