companies

Friend Global, Inc.

Avi Schiffmann's San Francisco startup behind the $129 Friend pendant, an always-on AI companion necklace positioned around combating loneliness.

Friend was founded in 2023 by Avi Schiffmann, a Harvard dropout previously known for building a widely used COVID-19 tracking website as a teenager. The company, based in San Francisco, builds a single hardware product: a white, puck-shaped pendant worn on a lanyard that listens to a wearer's surroundings and responds over text through a companion app rather than by speaking aloud. Schiffmann has framed Friend explicitly as a companion for loneliness rather than a productivity tool, a positioning that drew heavy backlash after roughly $1 million in New York City subway advertising in 2025, much of which was defaced by riders. The pendant is backed by seed funding from investors including Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas and Solana co-founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal, and Schiffmann has said the device has sold in the low thousands of units at $129 each since shipping began. The device remains on sale through 2026 with an active, if polarizing, following, and Schiffmann has discussed expanding Friend's marketing push into Europe, including Paris.

Founded

2023

Headquarters

San Francisco, United States

Sector

hardware