- First Voyage raised $2.5 million in seed funding to scale its AI companion app, Momo Self Care, backed by a16z speedrun and SignalFire
- Momo combines AI personalization, gamification, and animation to help users build healthier daily habits, with over 2 million tasks already created
- Founder Besart Çopa positions the app as a positive alternative to emerging AI companionship trends, focused on real-world wellbeing rather than distraction
Just a year after co-founding his first startup, entrepreneur Besart Çopa is now building First Voyage, a consumer technology company focused on personal development through AI-powered experiences. Currently based in Washington, DC, Çopa left his native Albania at the age of 15 and later graduated from Georgetown University.
Over the past several years, Çopa’s work has focused on the intersection of technology and Gen Z behavior. That focus became a major driver behind First Voyage and its flagship product, Momo Self Care, an AI companion app designed to help users build healthier habits through personalization, gamification, and carefully crafted visual design.
“The vision of First Voyage, and our app Momo Self Care, is simple: combine the best of AI personalization, gamification, and pixel-perfect animations to build a category-defining product that helps everyday users live healthier and happier lives,” said Çopa, who serves as CEO of First Voyage. “We do this through creating mythological creatures that help users track habits, sleep, focus, screen time, and much more.”
Momo functions as a digital companion that encourages accountability through daily interactions. Users can set reminders for tasks such as meditation, productivity routines, or mindfulness practices, earning virtual rewards for completing them. This gamified approach has already gained traction, with users creating more than 2 million tasks, most of them related to productivity, spirituality, and self-care.
Early signals suggest strong product-market fit. Just months after launch, the app has recorded high retention and engagement metrics, along with positive App Store reviews. Çopa sees this as validation of a different approach to AI companionship.
“In a world of AI waifus and AI slop, First Voyage and Momo are an antidote. We’re using AI’s personalization not to further distract people online, but to create delightful experiences that help users enrich their real lives and their real relationships with real people, one small magical quest at a time,” he said.
The funding will support the launch of an Android version of the app, expanding beyond its current iOS user base, and further refinement of its AI and animation systems. With the AI-driven wellness market continuing to grow, First Voyage aims to turn Momo into a defining consumer brand at the cross section of AI, design, and self-improvement.
