heyyyyAI raises $10.5 million from one investor for AI character app
A Thinking Ape co-founders Wilkins Chung and Kenshi Arasaki are back in consumer apps after selling their game studio to Embracer.
By Ryan Merket · Published
Primary source: US Securities and Exchange Commission
Why it matters
The financing gives two founders with a proven record in mobile-game monetization substantial capital to test whether AI characters can become a durable consumer entertainment business.
Wing-Hei Wilkins Chung and Kenshi Arasaki (@arasakik), the entrepreneurs who built Vancouver mobile-game developer A Thinking Ape, have raised $10.5 million for heyyyyAI Inc., their new consumer AI company.
A Form D filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on August 10th reports that heyyyyAI sold the entire offering to one investor. The first sale occurred on August 7th, three days before Chung signed the filing as chief financial officer.
The investor is not identified. The filing classifies the securities as an option, warrant or other right to acquire another security, rather than common equity or debt, and lists a $25,000 minimum investment. It does not provide heyyyyAI's valuation, the ownership purchased by the investor or the rights attached to the securities.
The financing represents a rapid increase in capital for a company incorporated on February 18th, 2026. In a separate Form D filed on July 13th, heyyyyAI reported selling $400,000 of the same broad class of securities to six investors. The first sale for that offering occurred on June 26th.
Together, the two filings show $10.9 million sold across separate offerings since late June. The SEC notices do not establish whether the same investor participated in both transactions.
A second act in consumer entertainment
Chung and Arasaki previously co-founded A Thinking Ape with Eric Diep. The studio began as a California chat platform before moving to Vancouver and shifting into free-to-play mobile games built around persistent online communities.
Embracer Group agreed to acquire A Thinking Ape in November 2020 for approximately $31 million upfront, with as much as $74 million in additional consideration tied to financial milestones over 10 years. Embracer said at the time that A Thinking Ape had 82 employees, more than 30 million created accounts and about $190 million in lifetime game revenue.
That history matters to the heyyyyAI bet. Chung and Arasaki already spent more than a decade designing mobile products around recurring play, social attachment and in-app spending. Heyyyy applies the same consumer mechanics to AI-generated characters that remember conversations and adapt storylines in response to a user's choices.
The product is available on the web, iOS and Android. heyyyyAI's terms describe it as an interactive-fiction game and explicitly state that it is not a dating, matchmaking or relationship-advice service. Its storefront marketing pushes closer to AI companionship: the characters have opinions, can remember details about users and may end a relationship if mistreated, according to the company.
The distinction gives heyyyyAI room to sell emotional engagement while keeping the product framed as entertainment. Users browse fictional characters, exchange messages, unlock story arcs and purchase subscriptions or virtual gems. The US App Store lists plans ranging from $7.99 per week to $144.99 per year, alongside gem packages priced between $4.99 and $24.99.
Early distribution, limited financial visibility
Google Play lists more than 100,000 downloads, about 2,170 reviews and a 4.5-star rating. The US App Store shows roughly 1,200 ratings and a 4.7-star score. Those storefront figures measure installs and ratings, not active users, paying subscribers or retention.
The product has also been shipping frequently. Google Play says its Android app was updated on July 25th, while Apple's version history shows an update on July 27th that added French, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Arabic support.
heyyyyAI's privacy policy identifies OpenRouter and OpenAI as processors for AI character messages. The policy says the service strips personally identifiable information before sending messages to model providers and does not permit those providers to use the data for model training. The product uses fal.ai for image-generation features, including a tool that creates simulated couple selfies.
The Form D does not specify how heyyyyAI will spend the $10.5 million, and the company selected "decline to disclose" for its revenue range. Its operating model carries several capital demands visible from the product itself: third-party model inference, image generation, continuous content development and paid consumer distribution through channels including Meta, Google and TikTok.
The third director listed in the filing, Zhenwang Yao, brings a robotics research background. Simon Fraser University's robotics laboratory lists Yao as holding a master's degree from the university and researching path planning, distributed robotics and sensor networks.
The financing puts an experienced mobile-game founding team behind a crowded category spanning interactive-fiction apps, role-playing games and AI companion products. The single-investor structure concentrates the immediate bet, while leaving the backer's identity and the economic terms outside the public filing.