Founded in 2018 by former Apple executives Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, Humane promised to revolutionise how humans interact with technology through its AI Pin, a screenless, wearable AI device.
This vision was of liberating humans from screens while enhancing their capabilities through AI, resonated powerfully with investors tired of incremental smartphone innovations and eager to fund the next paradigm shift.
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​The company's trajectory raises important questions about responsible innovation and capital allocation.

The New York Times reported that Humane AI executives would use ice packs to chill the AI Pin before demonstrating it to investors or partners due to overheating issues

Initial Market Reaction:

• Humane wanted to create a new computing paradigm that would free users from their smartphone addiction while delivering AI capabilities in a more natural, ambient form.
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• Beyond being an investor, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff's influence helped Humane secure prominent media coverage, including in Time magazine

The Funding Trajectory:

• Seed Round (2019): Led by Kindred Ventures, this initial funding allowed Humane to begin operations while maintaining complete secrecy about its product development.
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• Series A (2020): Approximately $30 million raised, with participation from investors including Sam Altman (later OpenAI CEO), Marc Benioff (Salesforce CEO), and Tiger Global.
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• Series B (2021): $100 million secured, with SoftBank joining existing investors.
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• Series C (March 2023): Another $100 million raised at a reported $850 million valuation, with strategic investors including Microsoft, LG Technology Ventures, Volvo Cars Tech Fund, and SK Networks joining the round.
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• By November 2023: Before shipping a single product, Humane had raised approximately $241 million from 32 investors and maintained a headcount of around 200 employees, 40% of whom were former Apple employees.

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"Investors were essentially betting on two factors: the founders' Apple pedigree and the allure of creating a new category in AI hardware." - Sarah Chen, Venture Capital Analyst

Product Reveal and Market Reception:

A $699 screenless wearable device that attached magnetically to clothing, featuring:

• 🤖 A voice-activated AI assistant
• 📲 Cellular connectivity requiring a $24 monthly subscription
• 📽️ A green monochrome projector that displayed information on the user's hand
• 📸 A camera for visual recognition capabilities
• 🥷🏼 Integration with OpenAI's technology

​Reality meets Expectations​

• Popular tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) called it "the worst product I've ever reviewed," a video that garnered 8.5 million views.
• The Verge concluded their review with "I'll take my phone back now, thanks."
• Wired described it as "too bare-bones and not all that useful."

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Against internal projections of 100,000 units sold by the end of 2024, Humane reportedly shipped only 10,000 units by August. More alarmingly, between May and August 2024, more AI Pins were returned than purchased.

The Imminent Failure:

• By May 2024, just a month after shipping its first devices, Bloomberg reported that Humane was actively seeking a buyer.​

• In July 2024, Ken Kocienda (Head of Product Engineering) and Brooke Hartley Moy (Strategic Partnerships Lead) left to start their own AI company.
  

• In February 2025, HP announced it would acquire most of Humane for $116 million, less than half of the $241 million the company had raised. The deal included everything in the company, but surprisingly did not deem AI Pin device business itself, to be fit for acquisition.
  

• Shifts in Focus: In late 2024, the company closed its Compton, California facility to concentrate on strawberry production, indicating strategic pivots that may have confused stakeholders.

Did you you know that despite never achieving significant sales, Humane employed approximately 200 people at its peak?, this was an extraordinarily high headcount for a pre-revenue hardware startup!!

5 Lessons from Humane AI to avoid burning $230 Millions

1. Validate Product-Market Fit: Humane's founders leveraged their Apple connections to raise extraordinary capital, but even elite resumes don't ensure customer adoption.
   ​✅Takeaway: Always validate whether your innovation can be translated into solving actual market needs.
   ​Founders must validate demand before scaling, regardless of their track record.​
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2. Product Innovation: Humane's rushed timeline to meet investor expectations likely compromised product quality.
   ​✅Takeaway: Unlike software, hardware products face physical constraints, supply chain complexities, and higher customer expectations for reliability.​
   ​Hardware startups need longer runways and more rigorous testing before launch​
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3. Culture fosters Innovation: Former employees reported that Humane's leadership preferred positivity over criticism. When one senior software engineer questioned whether the device would be ready for launch, they were reportedly fired for talking negatively about Humane.
   ​✅Takeaway: Living in a self-acclaimed success bubble doesn't bode well for Innovation business, especially when dealing with such a competitive market.
   ​Creating an environment where dissent is silenced almost guarantees product failure​
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4. Strategic Partnerships: Despite partnerships with Microsoft, OpenAI, LG, and Volvo, Humane couldn't translate these relationships into product advantages.
   ​✅Takeaway: Startups should view partnerships as enhancers of market-tested products, not promoters of flawed ones.
   ​Strategic investors can only provide validation but can't fix fundamental product issues​
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5. Market Feedback is the Key: Humane achieved extraordinary fundraising success while creating minimal customer value and this bit them hard.
   ​✅Takeaway: True entrepreneurial success comes from solving real problems for customers who will pay for that solution, everything else is just fluff.
   ​The disconnect between capital raised and value delivered, is what dents Market sentiment