companies

Rosebud

AI journaling app that asks follow-up questions on your entries, tracks emotional patterns over time, and generates weekly insight summaries.

Rosebud was founded in 2023 by Chrys Bader, a Y Combinator alum who previously co-founded the anonymous social app Secret, and Sean Dadashi, a UC Berkeley cognitive science graduate. The two met through a men's group and built Rosebud out of their own experience with therapy and journaling, aiming to make reflective writing feel guided rather than like staring at a blank page. The app lets users write or speak journal entries, then uses AI to ask clarifying follow-up questions, identify recurring emotional or behavioral themes across entries, and compile weekly summaries highlighting patterns the user might not notice on their own. It draws on established therapeutic frameworks like CBT and Internal Family Systems for its prompts rather than generic journaling questions. Based in Santa Monica, California, Rosebud raised a $6 million seed round in 2025 led by Bessemer Venture Partners with participation from Seven Seven Six and Initialized Capital, among others, and says users have collectively written several hundred million words on the platform since launch.

Founded

2023

Headquarters

Santa Monica, United States

Sector

consumer