Labs Companies, a Santa Monica-based human-enhancement technology firm founded by Maya Elz Davis and Duránd F. Davis Jr., has announced the close of a $22.5 million Series Seed funding round. The round, which values the company at $10 billion post-money, was completed four months ago but is being revealed now alongside a follow-on debt financing round to provide a full picture of the company’s capital strategy.
This funding marks a major milestone in Labs’ development of its “1 Company, 7 Labs” framework—a multidisciplinary system designed to pioneer new categories of superintelligence and human-enhancement technologies. Each of the seven labs focuses on a distinct frontier, including artificial intelligence, immersive computing, blockchain infrastructure, cryptographic finance, experimental sciences, consumer experiences, and wearable hardware.
At the center of this system is Yuhmmy App 2.0, Labs’ flagship consumer product. Yuhmmy is described as the world’s first “Social-Taste Super App,” a platform where users engage in playful, sensory-driven conversations around food and drink. The app features audiovisual “Tasterooms” and ultra-short “Taste Reactions” that allow people to connect over meals—whether breakfast, lunch, brunch, dessert, or dinner.
Yuhmmy App 2.0 is built on technologies developed across multiple Labs divisions. It originated in LavLabs, the consumer experience lab, and is powered by proprietary Social-Taste AI Models and Agents from Labs Intelligence. It also incorporates immersive spatial computing from Labs Realities, enabling augmented and virtual reality experiences through what Labs calls the “Yuhmmyverse.” This fusion of AI and consumer interaction has led to the creation of new digital categories such as “Tasteintelligence” and “Tasteimmersion.”
The app’s launch strategy is designed to mimic the rhythm of traditional mealtimes. Starting this fall, Yuhmmy will be available to students at USC and UCLA during specific dining windows—Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner on weekdays, and Brunch, Dinner, and Dessert on Sundays. Outside of these windows, the app will close, creating anticipation and reinforcing the communal nature of shared meals.
Early adopters at these universities will help shape the culture of Yuhmmy, which will later expand to students nationwide, as well as brands, creators, media, and investors. The broader goal is to turn Yuhmmy into a digital ritual that blends online and offline dining experiences.
Yuhmmy App 2.0 will also introduce a range of new features, including Tastechat, Cravecash peer-to-peer payments, Taste Sports, Taste Drops, and a “Taste Now, Pay Later” option. These tools will support what Labs calls the emerging “Commercial-Taste Industry,” a new sector built around digital expressions of taste and craving.
How the funding will be used: The funding will be used to accelerate development across all seven Labs divisions and support the fall rollout of Yuhmmy App 2.0. Labs’ long-term mission is to build technologies that extend human perception, cognition, and creativity, with Yuhmmy serving as the first public demonstration of that vision.
KEY QUOTES:
“We’re building a new category called social-taste. We’re also building an entirely new kind of industry—one that runs on what we call commercial-taste.”
Duránd F. Davis Jr., Founder, Executive Chairman & CEO of Labs
“Every lab was built around the belief that technology should serve as an extension of the human senses, human perception and human cognition. This funding brings us closer to reimagining how people crave, create, and connect with taste.”
Maya E. Davis, Co-founder, Vice Chairwoman, President & Chief Ecosystem Strategy Officer (CESO)
