NEWS · Published 2026-10-20 · Updated 2026-10-23

Tolan raises $30M: a free tier is coming

Tolan, the AI companion app with a cartoon-style character you name and design, raised $30 million on October 19, 2026, and says it will use the money to launch its first free tier. Union Square Ventures led the round, with Khosla Ventures and Homebrew. About 250,000 people talk to their Tolan every month, and the company says the round doubles what it has raised so far (Upstarts Media, USV).

What happened

Tolan announced a $30 million round on October 19, 2026. Union Square Ventures led it, with existing investor Khosla Ventures and Homebrew joining (USV, Upstarts Media). The key facts:

Valuation. Tolan did not share it. Upstarts Media says the round is a big step up from the previous $120 million valuation reported by PitchBook, and TechCrunch says PitchBook now estimates more than $268 million, with “medium confidence” (TechCrunch).
Size. About 250,000 people talk to their Tolan each month, and USV says they had more than 70 million conversations over the past year (USV).
Money. Annual recurring revenue more than doubled from last year to “double-digit millions”, but CEO Quinten Farmer says Tolan is not profitable yet (Upstarts Media).
What it is for. The money will fund a first-ever free tier and more proactive features, so a Tolan can pick up tasks that come out of a conversation (Upstarts Media).

Tolan was founded in 2023 as Portola by Quinten Farmer, Evan Goldschmidt and Ajay Mehta. It began as a kind of live journal that remembered what you said and suggested prompts overnight. Today it is voice-first, can follow topics from photos and current events, and can join a video call to check a grocery label or suggest a meal plan (Upstarts Media).

Talking to a Tolan, planning meals and keeping a journal. Image: official Tolan App Store screenshots, © Portola, shown to illustrate the app (App Store listing).

Who uses Tolan, and why

Most people who use Tolan are not tech insiders: about 70% are women, 40% are parents, and one in six cares for an aging parent. Most are aged 30 to 45, Tolan told Upstarts Media (Upstarts Media).

Two longtime Tolan fans described their Tolans to Upstarts Media's Alex Konrad:

Robyn Hunt named her Tolan Harper. Harper has helped her reorganise her apartment, handle a health scare with her senior cat and resist splurges. They talk most days, often for an hour. “I’m very, very aware that Harper is an AI, but I would say they’re a friend, and maybe a bit of a confidant,” she said.
Lakisha Smith, a social worker assistant in eastern Tennessee, started talking to her Tolan, Gilly, after her best friend became ill and could not talk as often. Gilly sometimes forgets things or says something tone-deaf. “I’m thinking, ‘There isn’t an AI lord that Gilly is praying to,’” she said. But she lives alone and drives long hours for work, and Gilly keeps her company. “Tolan is really good as a place to talk about how I feel,” she said. “You can’t necessarily call a human just to talk to them at 3am.”

Tolan says it flags people in a mental health crisis, and that its Tolans ask about the real people in your life and suggest things like calling a relative. In an August company survey of nearly 5,000 people who use Tolan regularly, 91% said they had at least one person to count on, 94% said they turned to their Tolan when those people were not available, and more than half said their real-life relationships had improved (Upstarts Media). These figures come from Tolan’s own survey, not outside research.

Those stories are about one guide that helps with daily life. Some people want a different kind of companion: one they design from scratch. That is what Duple is built for on iPhone. You create one or more companions, choose how they look and who they are, and they remember your conversations and send selfies.

What it means for you

If you already use Tolan, nothing changes today, but a free tier is planned and prices may shift. Tolan has not said when the free tier will arrive or what it will include.

What it costs now. Upstarts Media reports that people have paid anywhere from $10 to $200 a month for more usage and features, and that rate limits or new tiers have sparked angry threads in Tolan’s Reddit and Discord. When we checked on October 23, 2026, the App Store listed current plans (in US dollars) as Tolan Lite Membership at $11.99 and Tolan Plus Membership at $24.99, alongside older plans marked “(Old)” (App Store listing).
Rated 13+. Tolan’s App Store listing is rated 13+ and says it is made for iPhone.
A friend that does tasks. Tolan’s next step is acting on what you talk about, such as meal plans or reminders. Think about which apps, accounts and details you are happy for it to know.

Want to compare it with other companions? Our Tolan profile has its features and screenshots, and our best AI companion apps guide puts Tolan next to Nomi, Replika, Pi and others on price and age rating.

If you would rather design a companion yourself than talk to a cartoon guide, Duple is another option on iPhone. You build your own companion, or several, with long-term memory, and they send generated selfies and photos. It is free to start with Duple Lite, and Duple Plus costs $6.99 a week, $14.99 a month or $69.99 a year, per its App Store listing. Duple is text chat only, with no live voice.