Sekai raises $20M Series A to scale AI-built mini apps

What's the deal? Sekai, a platform that lets people create mini apps by describing ideas in text prompts, has raised US$12.9M Series A led by Khosla Ventures and Connect VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Other investors include a16z SpeedrunDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Mayfield, A*, MVP VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, 359 CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Parable VCDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and 645 VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The company previously raised $6M in seed funding led by Mayfield in 2025.

Users have created more than 15 million mini apps on Sekai, with over 200,000 generated daily. On average, people spend more than an hour per day on the app.

Founded in 2024 by serial entrepreneur Lucky Zhang — who previously sold startups to Apple and ByteDance — Sekai is available on iOS and Android. Users can build apps, play with others' creations, or remix them. Suggested prompts range from outfit pickers based on weather and mood to personality quizzes.

Why now? Sekai initially focused on anime fan-fiction experiences but pivoted to broader app creation after AI coding models improved dramatically last year, Zhang says. The rise of AI coding tools has made software creation far more accessible, and Zhang sees mini apps as a new format — similar to how short-form video reshaped social media.

"The fact that customers are spending over an hour a day on Sekai is the kind of signal that we look for that there's true obsession with a product," says Nicole Quinn, co-founder and managing partner at Connect Ventures.

What could go wrong? The platform's bet hinges on whether AI-generated mini apps can sustain engagement beyond novelty. Sekai still needs to prove it can monetise — it plans to help creators earn money through apps and interactive fan experiences, but that model is untested. And as AI app builders proliferate, differentiation could become harder.

The signal: Sekai's pivot from its origins as a GenAI-powered fanfiction platform to a broad mini-app creation tool mirrors a wider bet among investors that AI-native consumer apps can achieve social-media-level engagement. Connect Ventures — the joint investment firm launched by Creative Artists AgencyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and New Enterprise Associates — co-leading alongside Khosla Ventures suggests conviction that the creator-economy playbook can extend beyond content into software itself. With Mayfield doubling down from the seed round, the investor signal is that Sekai's early engagement metrics outweigh the monetisation questions that still loom over the model.

Read more: axios.com