October 22, 2024
Even before its release, Daze, a Gen Z-focused, AI-driven creative messaging service, is creating a stir. The app's most successful video has been viewed 8 million times on TikTok alone, and a total of 48 million views on Instagram and TikTok. Demand is so high that more than 156,000 people have already signed up to its waiting list.
It’s engaging product demo videos that highlight the app’s distinctive features and appeal to a younger audience that spark that excitement rather than influencer recommendations or sponsored ads. Daze, a startup founded by Willem Simons of New York, transforms messaging into a dynamic and adaptable experience. Users can add custom pictures, images, stickers, GIFs, sketches, and backgrounds to create multi-colored messages that float on the screen in place of the typical blue or green bubbles.
Daze wants to further improve its AI skills and integrate it into some of its creative tools. Simons explains in his interview with TechCrunch that, in addition to competing with well-known services like iMessage and WhatsApp, the app is designed to be a feature-rich messaging platform that adds a fun and imaginative touch to the user experience. Utility and flexibility are afforded by the ease with which users can send messages and move them throughout the chat.
Willem Simons, the founder, has already experimented with inventive messages. He previously co-developed Muze, an app with a similar free messaging approach. But Daze, his solo project, deviates from his original concept of a social calendar. Daze, which was developed with React Native to enable simultaneous release on iOS and Android, will launch on November 4 after beta testing with 1,400 invite-only users.
With a 60-day retention rate above 50% for users who sent messages, initial tests look promising. Unsurprisingly, young users aged 13 to 22 are the app's main target audience. Investors including a16z, Kindred Ventures, Alpaca Ventures, Betaworks and others contributed $5.7 million to the company, which employs seven full-time and one part-time employees.
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