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<\/a><\/a>\nWhere most AI tools stop at drafting and suggestions, Espa executes: it sends the email, books the meeting, tracks the follow-up, and surfaces what\u2019s been missed.<\/p>
\nThe platform serves founders, small business owners, creators, executives, and families who need the benefits of a full-time executive assistant but not the overhead. Espa captures intent wherever it arises\u2014across email, text, voice, screenshots, or notes\u2014and follows through, so users can direct their attention toward higher-priority work. While in stealth, Espa has grown to more than 500 users.<\/p>
\n\u201cI built and scaled Forethought as a father, a husband, and a founder, and I saw firsthand what\u2019s possible when AI steps up in a meaningful way,\u201d said Deon Nicholas. \u201cIn the enterprise, I was focused on execution\u2014systems that could own outcomes for businesses. That led me to the idea that the same principles deserve to exist for anyone carrying the full weight of work and life. The right support system does more than reduce stress\u2014it changes what you\u2019re capable of. That\u2019s what we built Espa to be, for everyone.\u201d<\/p>
\nEspa is backed by angel investors spanning tech, entertainment, and business, including Henry Shi (Anthropic), Adam D'Angelo (Quora CEO, OpenAI board member), Tekedra Mawakana (Waymo Co-CEO), Scott Wu (Cognition CEO), Anu Bharadwaj (former President of Atlassian), and LL COOL J, as well as institutional investors Axiom Partners, Village Global, Neo, SV Angel, Zapier, and Harlem Capital.<\/p>
\n\u201cWorking with artists around the world means working around the clock. Deals happen at all hours of the day, collaborations span continents, and relationships require constant nurturing,\u201d said Jeremy Erlich, Founder and CEO of Alta Music Group and former Global Head of Music at Spotify. \u201cEspa is the first tool I\u2019ve seen that seamlessly keeps up\u2014capturing what matters, and following through. For creatives and their teams, this is the kind of \u2018always-on,\u2019 effortless support they need.\u201d<\/p>
\nFor the past several years, enterprises drove AI adoption\u2014and few were earlier to that wave than Nicholas and Espa co-founder and CTO Volodymyr Lyubinets<\/a>. As co-founder and chairman, Nicholas led Forethought from seed to its acquisition by Zendesk; Lyubinets joined as engineer #1 and built the technical foundation that powered over one billion monthly interactions along the way. Now they\u2019re turning that expertise to the consumer. Stanford's 2026 AI Index Report estimates generative AI is already delivering $172 billion in annual value to U.S. consumers<\/a>\u2014a behavioral tipping point that signals where the next wave of AI value will be created. With Espa, Nicholas and Lyubinets are positioned at the forefront of that shift.<\/p> \n\u201cI love backing a founder like Deon, who is highly technical and can see a platform shift before it's obvious to everyone else,\u201d said Ali Partovi, CEO of Neo, whose early bets include Cursor, Kalshi, and Wispr Flow. \u201cEspa has the potential to redefine how everyone acts with AI.\u201d<\/p> \nKey features of Espa include:<\/p>\n