AI emotional catharsis platform "found" enters the mental health market and seeks angel round financing
A product named found.fun, positioned as a purely private AI emotional outlet, was officially launched recently. It is developed by Hangzhou Yunzhu Zhiqi Technology. It features pure listening without judgment or preaching. Through the "Energy Cards" and "Energy Footprints" functions, it helps young people visualize their emotions and achieve self-awareness, filling the gap in the current emotional companionship market.
Project Origin and Market Opportunities
The founding team was touched by the lack of an outlet to pour out their emotions during their low - mood periods: they were afraid of disturbing friends and didn't want to post on Moments, and general AI's tendency to "solve problems" actually added to the burden. Considering the similar dilemmas faced by many young people around them, the team decided to create a purely private AI emotional outlet.
From the perspective of market demand, the emotional companionship market has clearly boomed. According to data from iiMedia Research, the scale of China's emotional economy market will reach 2.7 trillion yuan in 2025 and is expected to exceed 4 trillion yuan in 2029. The AI emotional companionship market is expected to grow from 3.866 billion yuan in 2025 to 59.506 billion yuan in 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of up to 148.74%. A survey by China Youth Daily shows that 68.3% of Generation Z have confided their feelings to AI, and 23.7% of them prefer to talk to AI rather than their relatives and friends. At the policy level, the period from 2025 to 2027 is designated as the "Year of Mental Health Services", and the dividends of digital emotional services are obvious.
Product Iteration and Technical Approach
Early on, the team tried to create a "general emotional assistant" by piling up functions such as advice and evaluations. However, internal - test users feedback that "they don't need to be taught, they just need to be heard". The team resolutely cut off non - core functions and focused on pure private companionship and emotional visualization. Technically, they abandoned the complex multi - modal solution and started with text emotional keywords and rule mapping to quickly launch and verify the product. As a small team with only two core members, the founder completed full - stack development with the help of AI programming tools, and the co - founder was in charge of marketing and business. The clear division of labor and high - efficiency operation supported the rapid implementation of the product. The core functions were officially launched in May 2026, and it is currently in the early verification stage, having received positive feedback from early users.
Differentiated Barriers
Technically: It uses a lightweight Node.js + MySQL/Redis architecture, integrates the DeepSeek compatible model, and is natively developed for iOS using SwiftUI with voice - to - text support. End - to - end encryption and optional local storage ensure privacy.
On the product side: It pioneered the emotional visualization closed - loop. After each confiding session, an energy card containing emotional keywords and energy values is generated. All cards are automatically accumulated into an energy footprint in the form of a timeline, allowing users to trace their emotional patterns over a week, a month, or even longer. Compared with other products on the market, found.fun is positioned as a purely private companion (not a general AI for problem - solving). In terms of functions, the low - threshold cards and traceable footprints form a retention barrier where "the longer you use it, the greater the value". The technical path is lightweight and fully closed - loop, enabling a small team to iterate quickly.
Commercialization Path
More than 90% of young people recognize the value of emotions, and nearly 60% are willing to pay for it. The plan is divided into stages: currently, all core functions (private conversations, energy cards, 7 - day footprints, and bilingual support in Chinese and English) are free to polish the user experience and build trust. After 3 - 6 months, value - added subscriptions for the C - end will be launched (energy card membership, conversation role membership), along with value - added benefits such as unlimited traceability, weekly and monthly reports, and multi - device synchronization. All payments are voluntary. After 6 months, B - end enterprise services (anonymous emotional dashboards, group reports, and customized support) will be developed to create a second growth curve. Currently, the team is in the product - polishing and early - user verification stage.
User Feedback and Future Plans
Internal - test users said: "I finally dared to say what I've been holding back for a long time, and the energy cards are very healing." "It's so rare to have a completely safe space to pour out my feelings without worrying about disturbing others or being judged."
Future roadmap: In the short term (1 - 3 months), optimize the algorithm and improve the iOS version, and acquire 100 - 500 seed users through content operation. In the medium term (3 - 6 months), launch value - added subscriptions for the C - end and start sharing and fission. In the long term (after 6 months), start a pilot for B - end services and explore multi - modal emotion recognition. The founder summarized that the core of emotional companionship is not to solve problems but to provide users with a safe outlet to be "heard" and "seen". The team will focus on product refinement and not rush to monetize, so that every young person in need can find their own emotional haven.