Ohai.ai
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Artificial intelligence, Consumer technology |
| Founded | January 2024 |
| Founder | Sheila Lirio Marcelo |
| Headquarters | United States (fully remote) |
| Products | AI-powered virtual assistant |
| Services | Family scheduling, calendar management, task delegation |
| Website | ohai |
Ohai.ai (stylized as Ohai, pronounced "Oh, hi") is an American artificial intelligence company that develops a virtual assistant platform designed to help families manage household scheduling and coordination tasks. The company was founded in January 2024 by Sheila Lirio Marcelo, the founder and former CEO of Care.com.[1]
History
Founding and launch
Sheila Lirio Marcelo began conceptualizing an AI-powered family assistant tool as early as 2015, but found that the technology was not sufficiently advanced at the time.[2] After selling Care.com to IAC for $500 million in 2020, Marcelo became a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates and founded an educational technology startup called Proof of Learn.[3]
While developing a course teaching developers how to use generative AI for task completion at Proof of Learn, Marcelo recognized the potential application for families and began developing Ohai.ai.[3] The company emerged from stealth in January 2024 with $6 million in seed funding co-led by Eniac Ventures and LifeX Ventures.[1]
Funding
In August 2025, Ohai.ai announced a strategic investment round led by Muse Capital. The round included backing from Wisdom Ventures, as well as celebrity investors including actresses Olivia Munn and Mindy Kaling, and soccer player Abby Wambach.[4] Earlier seed round participants included NEA, Eniac Ventures, Bright Ventures, LifeX Ventures, and G9 Ventures.[4]
Product
The company's virtual assistant, named "O", is designed to help users manage family logistics and scheduling.[5] The platform operates primarily through text messages and email, allowing users to interact conversationally with the assistant.[6]
Features
The free tier provides daily schedule summaries and alerts for calendar openings and conflicts among connected family members.[1] The premium subscription, priced between $10 and $30 per month depending on features and number of accounts,[7] includes additional capabilities such as scanning texts, photos, emails, and documents to automatically add events to calendars; delegating tasks like pickups and drop-offs; and making appointments by phone.[1]
The platform integrates with Google Calendar and includes features for uploading school calendars and other documents that are then parsed and added to the user's schedule.[7] Ohai.ai has also developed a partnership with Instacart for grocery-related tasks.[7]
Technology
Ohai.ai uses large language models as a basis for the assistant's conversations.[5] The company trained its technology by scraping calendars from the web and uses anonymized user data to continue improving the model.[5] For some features, the AI system shadows human assistants completing tasks while simultaneously attempting the tasks itself.[5]
As of 2024, Ohai.ai employs human assistants who handle more complex tasks, such as booking appointments that require a credit card on file.[3] A portion of the company's team is based in the Philippines, including former BPO workers.[2]
Reception
The New York Times reviewed Ohai.ai alongside similar services and noted that while the app offered to add workouts to the reviewer's schedule, it was less effective at reducing overall task burden and suggested the reviewer "throw money" at problems.[8] The review observed that tasks the services aimed to handle were often personal and rewarding, and that automating neighborhood connections and community-building was not possible through such apps.[8]
A reviewer for Good Housekeeping who tested the app as a mother of five children praised the document upload feature for reducing physical clutter, though noted some limitations including difficulty finding specific school calendars.[7]
References
- ^ a b c d King, Hope (January 22, 2024). "Exclusive: Say hi to Ohai.ai from Care.com founder". Axios. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
- ^ a b Carpio, Audrey (October 26, 2025). "Sheila Marcelo Introduces an AI Tool to Ease the Unseen Work of Family Life". Vogue Philippines. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
- ^ a b c "This company designed an AI assistant to help families manage their calendars and childcare". Fast Company. February 8, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
- ^ a b "With Ohai.ai, Sheila Lirio Marcelo Is Building Solutions for the Care Economy". Newsweek. September 23, 2025. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
- ^ a b c d "Care.com's founder has a new AI startup that aims to make the "chief household officers'" life easier". Fortune. February 2, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
- ^ Kane, Rachel (June 25, 2024). "How to Use AI to Keep Up With Important Dates". CNET. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
- ^ a b c d Frost, Alexandra (September 23, 2025). "I Have Five Kids Under 10—Here's What Happened When I Tried an AI Family Assistant". Good Housekeeping.
- ^ a b Hess, Amanda (April 24, 2024). "How a Virtual Assistant Taught Me to Appreciate Busywork". The New York Times.