Almost every AI tool’s demo shows a user sparring with the assistant to book travel, as it seems to be the most frequent use case. The viral Instinct agent is no different, as it sees more than 50% of transactions on the platform for travel, the company’s founder, Noah Shinn, said in a recent podcast.

In an interview with investor Patrick O’Shaughnessy, Shinn also mentioned that the invite-only platform is approaching a billion dollars in annual transactions. He didn’t specify what the calculation behind this rate is, though.

“People who are not on Instinct use travel agencies (or sites) to book hotels or flights. What’s the benefit of that interface? They properly unify different hotel chains, airlines, and services, and present them in a nice way for users, who have the option to check out immediately,” Shinn said.

“I think there is a better experience with Instinct or other interfaces where users can say ‘Hey, I need to be in New York tonight; it’s urgent’.”

He mentioned that the platform is growing 10% day-by-day, with transaction volume increasing at a similar rate.

The company’s founder has also drawn for some of his comments on the show. He said that most restaurants have first-come-first-serve reservation system, which doesn’t account for someone’s special occasion. He said that an agent can check restaurant sites every five seconds and inform the user about available slots. Shinn also hinted that the company wants to reinvent reservations and give users preferential treatment.

“If you take restaurant reservations from scratch, from the user’s end, they want the reservation for a significant life event that they might have. And on the restaurant end, they just want they want interesting people. They want special occasions. They want to cater to those rather than, maybe, the local [person] who keeps, you know, taking up a table once a night [sic], and there’s no sort of special event there,” Shinn said.

Some observers pointed out that agents can lie about anniversaries and special occasions just to book a table at a restaurant. They also said that some restaurants prefer local patrons as they are regulars and bring more business to the outlet.

Instinct recently raised $1 billion in Series C funding Monday at a $10 billion valuation from Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital, and Coatue. The 14-member startup is competing with Meta’s Muse and Khosla-backed Wajo in the personal agent space.

Smart ring maker Oura has postponed its up to $2.2 billion IPO indefinitely, citing “uncertainty in the IPO market.”

The company, which had filed to offer 55 million shares at a range of $40 to $44 each in the IPO, did not provide additional details. The IPO would have valued Oura at up to $15 billion at the mid-point of that range.

“Our mission is to empower people to live healthier, longer, and an IPO is just one step in our journey. We aim to deliver an extraordinary IPO for our employees and investors and we have the luxury of choosing our moment. In the meantime, we will execute against the opportunities ahead,” the company’s CEO Tom Hale said in a statement.

Indeed, Oura seems to be doing well. The company said that its latest product, the Oura Ring 5, has been received well in the market, and it now has 5.7 million paying members, up from 5 million at the end of June. The company expects overall revenue to increase 90% in its 2026 financial year compared to a year earlier, when it had revenue of $907.9 million.

The postponement of the IPO, however, will delay some of the company’s plans for proceeds that would have been generated from the IPO, as well as those of its shareholders.

Forerunner Ventures, an early investor in Oura, was slated to sell all of its 9.3% stake in the IPO, which would have net it about $1.20 billion (assuming the shares listed at the $42 mid-point). Oura, meanwhile, intended to use most of the IPO proceeds it to pay off tax obligations related to employee share grants that would have vested at the listing.

Any shareholders looking for liquidity will also have to wait now.

Konrad Zieliński lost his voice to cancer years ago while he was a student at the University of Warsaw. People with his condition have traditionally relied on handheld speaking devices that sound flat and robotic, or on surgically implanted voice prostheses, which require ongoing maintenance to prevent complications, Zieliński told TechCrunch.

He went on to complete a PhD focusing on bionic systems for laryngectomees, people who’ve had their voice boxes (larynxes) removed. While working on his thesis, he set out to build a non-invasive device, one requiring no surgery, that would allow people like him to speak with emotion, laugh, shout, and even sing.

In 2023, Zieliński launched Uhura Bionics, a startup selected as one of TechCrunch Disrupt 2026’s Battlefield 200, a group of early-stage companies chosen to showcase their products at the conference next month. The company offers two wearable devices: a more basic model and a high-end version called Whitney, named after the singer Whitney Houston.

Zieliński says he hopes laryngectomees will use Whitney just like people with poor eyesight use glasses.

“I’m satisfied with what I’ve built because you added the emotional layer,” he said in a voice that indeed carries plenty of intonation, though with a slight electronic undertone.

The next step in Uhura’s development is adding higher-pitched voice options for women, as well as personalization features so users don’t all sound alike.

For now, Uhura sells its products as wellness devices, which means users must pay out of pocket: $500 for the basic option and $1,500 for Whitney. But the startup is in the process of getting them classified as Class I medical devices, the lowest-risk category, in Europe and, later, the U.S. That classification would allow for partial reimbursement through health insurance.

Zieliński estimates the market size for devices serving laryngectomees at about $2 billion, but says it could be larger if Uhura expands to serve people with other speech disorders.

Uhura is not alone in offering modern solutions for people who have lost their voices. Competitors include Atos Medical, a medical device company with products in the space, and startups like Laronix.

Still, Zieliński is certain Whitney will resonate with other laryngectomees. He will be demonstrating its capabilities not only at TechCrunch Disrupt, but also at SF Tech Week in October, where he will sing onstage with the help of Whitney.