Fawn Friends will release Fawn, the first emotionally intelligent social robot, in July 2025.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA April 18 — Fawn Friends, a robotics startup building social robots to help adolescents develop emotional intelligence and relationship skills in their formative years, announced today that they have secured $2.6 million in a large pre-seed funding. The company will use the money to add engineering and artistic talent to continue developing Fawn—the first social robot that builds real friendships with people—to reach families seeking practical tools for emotional growth and connection.

The round was led by Andre Charoo, GP at Maple VC with participation from Kevin Mahaffey of SNR and a former Expert at YCombinator. Other notable investors include Joon Sung Park, a Stanford University PhD student and AI expert; and Louis Kearns, a former Shopify vice president. Andre Charoo says of Fawn Friends, "I see a future where everyone grows up with social robots that they and their parents trust to confide in during the emotional ups and downs of life. I wish I had something like Fawn growing up."
Fawn is more than a cuddly social robot; it's a relationship support system that addresses the unique challenges faced by adolescents. Founders Peter Fitzpatrick, a technology entrepreneur, and Robyn Campbell, a screenwriter, created Fawn based on firsthand experience: "Reflecting on our own emotional challenges growing up, we realized the support we received often fell short in addressing our needs. We created Fawn Friends to provide today's adolescents with the compassionate, consistent support we wished we'd had."
Fawn coaches adolescents to calmly advocate for themselves, helps them understand their parents' perspectives, and supports them in handling emotional swings calmly. Fawn remembers all conversations with the warmth and attention of a close friend. Beyond her personal interactions, she leads her own vibrant life, bringing authenticity and perspective to her relationships.
Fawn's key features, powered by AI, allow her to facilitate emotional regulation and self-awareness through conversations encouraging users to recognize and express their feelings. Her brain is powered by a cloud service, with features designed by experts in play therapy and executive function development. Features to help with executive functioning and emotional regulation were developed with experts Seth Perler, founder of The Executive Function Online Summit, Sean McCormick, founder of Executive Function Specialists in California, and Sophia Ansari, founder of the Let's Play Therapy Institute in Illinois who says, "Fawn helps kids feel seen, heard, and validated, which is incredibly important for building connection with family members, emotional resilience, and self-esteem."
Fawn has built-in safeguards ensuring user safety and preventing inappropriate interactions. While Fawn collects some personal data, Fawn's conversations are encrypted and Campbell emphasizes, "The company does not share this data with outside parties and does not operate on an advertising model." Fawn is designed to avoid unsuitable topics based on the adolescent's age, directing them to their parents.
The first Fawns will be delivered in July 2025, and the company is currently collecting a waitlist. In the interim, Fawn Friends has launched a collection of Fawn's meditations on their official website, designed to help both children and adults drift peacefully to sleep.
About Fawn Friends Fawn Friends, co-founded by Peter Fitzpatrick and Robyn Campbell at the TED AI conference in October 2023, builds AI-powered social robots that build true friendships, while helping adolescents navigate emotional challenges. Combining the founders' expertise in technology and storytelling with experts in child development, the company creates tools that strengthen family connections by improving parent-adolescent relationships.