The Pulse
Tab Emerges From Stealth at $300M Valuation
Tab says users can delegate bookings, calls, purchases and document work by texting an assistant through messaging services. TechCrunch reported the startup’s $300 million valuation, while the company did not disclose its funding amount.
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
Tab emerged from stealth on Tuesday, October 6, with a $300 million valuation, TechCrunch reported. The startup’s pitch centers on a familiar interface: a text message. Users can ask for everyday tasks, from ordering groceries to finding a birthday present, through iMessage or WhatsApp. The company did not disclose how much it raised.
Tab turns a text into a task
Founders Brennan Erbz, Stafford Schlitt and Ammar Amdani began working on Tab earlier this year. Instead of only answering questions, the assistant is designed to carry out requests. Tab’s website describes sending it a flight to find and book, a hotel reservation to change, or a PDF to turn into a spreadsheet. Users can send documents, photos, screenshots and videos, and the site says Tab can work with those materials and return results in the same message thread.
The service operates through Messages, according to Tab, and can use a computer and browser to open websites, create files and work with accounts a user connects. The company says Tab can keep track of where a task left off and send updates while it works. For calls, Tab says it can contact places such as hotels, doctors’ offices, restaurants and vendors, wait on hold and report back in Messages.
“You text it like you’d text someone you trust and it takes the weight off,”
Ammar Amdani, Tab co-founder, speaking to TechCrunch
Amdani told TechCrunch that Tab has its own phone number, computer and wallet, and is meant to act on requests rather than just explain how to complete them. The company’s examples include making bookings, placing orders and handling calls.
Spending requires approval
Tab says that when a task costs money, it shows users what it plans to buy, the total and the recipient before payment. The company says it will not pay until the user approves, then returns a receipt to the message thread and tracks what happens next. Its site describes the product as being in private beta.
The company also presents privacy and control as part of the service. In comments to TechCrunch, Amdani said, “Your data is never used to train AI. Your card lives in a vault Tab itself never sees. Nothing that can be undone happens without your ‘yes.’ Capability is table stakes. Trust is the product.” Those statements describe Tab’s claims about its product; the company’s website separately says payment requires user approval.
The valuation is not the funding amount
TechCrunch reported that investors in the round include SV Angel, Valar Ventures and American Spirit. Amdani told the publication that the company is growing mostly through word of mouth and plans to launch another product soon. Tab has not disclosed the exact funding details, so its reported $300 million valuation should not be read as the amount of money it raised.
Delegation raises the bar for trust
Tab is among consumer assistants TechCrunch has described alongside Instinct and Meta’s Muse. Its approach relies on messaging services people already use, while asking them to delegate work involving personal accounts, calls and purchases. The company’s website describes capabilities beyond those chores, including turning a PDF into a spreadsheet and working with images, audio and video.
That makes permission part of the product’s basic workflow: Tab says it can prepare an order or payment, but users must approve the spend before it goes through. For now, the company’s site directs prospective users to join a waitlist for the private beta. Its funding amount and the terms of its round remain undisclosed.