Acti Keyboard Integrates AI Agents, Raises $5.3M

Singapore-based startup Acti has launched an innovative AI-powered keyboard for both iOS and Android devices, aiming to embed intelligent agents directly into users' daily communication workflows. This new offering moves beyond simple text prediction, enabling AI to perform actions and retrieve information across various applications without requiring users to switch contexts. The company announced it has successfully closed a $5.3 million seed funding round, led by BITKRAFT Ventures, signaling strong investor confidence in its approach to human-computer interaction.

The core innovation of Acti lies in its ability to act as a unified AI layer that understands user intent across different apps. Unlike traditional AI assistants that operate in isolated environments, Acti's keyboard integrates directly, allowing for seamless execution of tasks. For example, a user could receive a dinner invitation and, with a few taps, have Acti suggest nearby restaurants based on the conversation's context and user preferences. Similarly, if a stock is mentioned, Acti can instantly pull and display its current market price within the chat interface.

This integration addresses a significant friction point in current AI adoption, where users often have to manually copy information, switch applications, and then paste it back to leverage AI assistance. Acti founder and CEO, Young Wang, who previously scaled Baidu's Facemoji Keyboard to over 300 million daily active users, believes this contextual awareness is foundational for the next generation of AI agents. "User context stays fragmented across separate apps," Wang stated, emphasizing that Acti builds a "context layer that genuinely belongs to the user."

Underpinning Acti's capabilities are Google's Gemini models, selected for their robust performance across intelligence, speed, and multilingual support. A key feature, dubbed 'Skills,' allows users to program custom shortcuts for multi-step tasks. These can range from instant message translation to automatically sharing meeting links, all triggered by a single keyboard command. The platform also prioritizes user privacy with a local-first architecture, ensuring personal data remains on the device unless explicitly processed for a requested action.

The startup is exploring a subscription-based revenue model, offering tiered access to advanced AI models, increased usage limits, and premium features. Early adopters have already demonstrated the platform's flexibility, creating over 1,000 custom Skills in under two weeks through simple natural language descriptions. These Skills can be kept private or shared on a public marketplace, fostering a community-driven ecosystem for AI-powered shortcuts. The investment from BITKRAFT Ventures, with partner Jonathan Huang highlighting the team's potential to "own the next phase of human-computer interaction," will fuel further development and market expansion.

The broader implications for the mobile software industry are substantial. By embedding AI directly into the ubiquitous keyboard interface, Acti challenges established app paradigms and could redefine user expectations for mobile productivity and AI integration. The company's strategic focus on user-centric context and privacy positions it to capture a significant share of the evolving AI-driven consumer technology market, a sector projected for substantial growth in the coming years.