Vinod Khosla bets on ex-DeepMind engineer's agent startup Wajo, citing trust
What's the deal? Vinod Khosla is backing WajoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a personal-agent startup from former GoogleDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and DeepMindDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → engineer Shivani Poddar, arguing it will win the market on trust. The company's agent, called Fo, works across iMessage and WhatsApp and handles errands like scheduling, gifting, and life admin. Fo can also call businesses or people on a user's behalf to book or cancel services.
Why trust? "I think the most important thing in an agent, because it's acting for you, is trust," Khosla told TechCrunchDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, adding that Wajo is "architected to focus on trust and safety first." He contrasted it with rivals: "Who wants to give all their data to FacebookDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →? I don't."
What's the endgame? Fo can create a virtual credit card to pay without disclosing a user's details, and it has its own email to converse with people and businesses. When sites block AI agents, it can prompt the user to act or create a verification group. It can also hire a human to complete a task when needed.
What led here? Poddar previously held engineering roles at Meta, Google, and DeepMind, and worked on the first Facebook assistant. "The whole journey of bringing Gemini to the world and building safety for it made me realize the technological depth that you need to do this," she said, adding that Google "sometimes can be left behind in product."
Wajo has also secured backing from Jeff DeanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Gokul RajaramDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → but did not disclose how much it raised. The startup declined to share user numbers but said Fo is used in 107 countries and has grown 10x since launching in late September.
What could go wrong? Calling features remain uneven. In early tests, Fo successfully called an airline to check for upgrades, but a call to a user's partner went poorly, with unclear disclosures. As rivals roll out calling abilities, scrutiny over how AI identifies itself on calls is likely to grow.
On trust by design. Poddar said unlearning remains unsolved: "If they get access to your personal data on day zero, they will always have it." Wajo has applied for a patent on its virtual card system and plans a "trusted contact" list, letting users tell the agent not to call again.
The signal: The personal-agent space has turned competitive fast, with Meta's Muse, OpenAI's Dot, and Instinct all vying for users. Wajo's pitch — that data privacy and safety are a differentiator against ad-driven incumbents — stakes out a position in a crowded field where the technology is converging and the trust gap is still open.
Read more: TechCrunch
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
