# Photon held a funeral for mobile apps. Now it has $4.5M to help replace them with agents

> **Publication**: aitalky (Independent AI Journalism)
> **Canonical Citation URL**: https://aitalky.vercel.app/news/photon-held-a-funeral-for-mobile-apps-now-it-has-4-5m-to-help-replace-them-with
> **Original Source**: [TechCrunch AI](https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/01/photon-held-a-funeral-for-mobile-apps-now-it-has-4-5m-to-help-replace-them-with-agents/)
> **Author**: Sarah Perez (undefined)
> **Published Date**: Thursday, October 1, 2026
> **Category**: INDUSTRY
> **Tags**: AI, TechCrunch AI, industry

## Executive Summary
The startup helps developers build AI agents that work over iMessage, SMS/RCS, email, and other messaging platforms. It's a bet that consumers will increasingly use agents instead of downloading apps



## Full Coverage
The AI startup Photon is so sure that agents will eventually come to replace mobile apps that it held a funeral for the latter — yes, a real funeral in a church, with speeches and everything. Photon, which helps developers build agents that work over iMessage and WhatsApp, now has $4.5 million in seed funding to develop its products. The raise comes after the company signed up over 40,000 developers and grew its revenue 10x in just four months, it says

Photon co-founder and CEO Daniel Tian said the " app funeral ," held in San Francisco on September 17, was also a developer day for the startup, featuring panels from Vercel, Stripe, and OpenAI. It also included an actual coffin for app icons

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