After more than a year of working remotely, Devin Agemin And his friends couldn’t find a productivity tool to help them stay focused.
So they decided to build one themselves over the weekend.
“We dumped it on TikTok, and then it went viral a few times,” said the 25-year-old entrepreneur from Seattle and a resident of Hawaii.
The tool they offered is called LifeAt SpacesIt has been viewed and shared millions of times on different social media platforms. Viewers were immediately drawn to the concept: consolidating and organizing a range of productivity tools into a single platform, allowing users to create their own digital office from a browser or desktop app.
Ajimine said the goal is to get rid of cluttered desktops. This premise has struck a chord: the app has been downloaded over a million times.
LifeAt graduated from startup acceleration pioneer Y Combinator last summer, helping turn a weekend venture into a full-fledged company.
The startup has attracted the attention of some high-profile investors, including risk arm From the original Meta on Facebook. Co-founder Myspace Upper Whitcomb She is also an endorser of, in addition to YC and Pioneer Square Labs, the investment arm of Line parent company Z Holdings, Pack Ventures, Goodwater, SV Tech, and Pioneer Fund.
As an early-stage consumer startup led by young entrepreneurs, LifeAt is a rarity in a Seattle tech ecosystem dominated by enterprise software or longtime leaders Amazon and Microsoft.
“When we first reached 1 million users, it was very transformative,” Ajimeen said. She’s like, ‘Well, people are really interested in what we’re doing. Now, can we build a platform that can be scalable into a multi-billion dollar company?
Prior to founding LifeAt, Ajimine worked as a Product Manager at T-Mobile. He teamed up with a former University of Portland computer science classmate Boya Rad27, who worked as an engineer at Vimeo, and Marisa Chintakul, 25, who was previously a product designer at TikTok. Founding engineer Ashika MulagadaHe’s 23 years old, and he’s a former software engineer at Capital One.
All four members were recently featured on Forbes ’30 Under 30 existing.
LifeAt users choose from a range of “spaces” to set as their default background, ranging from a coffee shop to a simulated zoom call With Zac Efron. Users can add a soundtrack, post a to-do list, share a calendar, and set a file Pomodoro Time – All in one place. They can also invite friends over to their digital desks, and set up video calls to hang out with.
The startup collaborates with digital creators to design virtual spaces. One of his most famous collaborators is luffy girla popular YouTube channel that creates relaxing and study beats.
Julie Sandler, managing director at PSL, said the product has seen “exponential adoption” from users around the world who use it every day to stay disciplined in their work. She added that many of her team are “somewhat obsessed” with the app.
“I have LifeAt up on my second screen all the time,” she said.
The shift to remote work has led to a rush of new startups that aim to bring the comforts and functionality of an office or university campus into homes. What’s called Virtual co-working spaces It thrived, serving as a digital WeWork of sorts for students and workers who craved an environment of social interaction and accountability from the presence of others.
Examples include Focus Fellowwhich pairs random strangers on a Seattle-based startup and study sessions platform spotthat build virtual offices for companies.
Ajimine said LifeAt stands out from competitors because people can benefit from the platform without relying on other users. YouTube is a major competitor.
While the playground for LifeAt Digital Spaces may seem familiarHowever, Ajimine insists that it is not a metaverse tool. “It’s almost like a bridge to that 3D environment,” he said of the similarities. “But you can still use it for the things you’re used to — like your computer.”
Last month, the company reported more than 35 million minutes of user interaction. It also attracted nearly 83,000 members to its Discord chatroom.
One of the biggest challenges so far, Ajimine said, is converting LifeAt users into paid subscribers. While the app is free to get started, the company does have a “premium” version, which costs $9 for a monthly subscription or $72 for a year.
Some of the paid features include unlimited notes and video calls. The startup declined to say how many of its users charge a subscription fee.
LifeAt is focused on consumers for now, Ajimen said, but the goal is to develop and target businesses as well.