The path to becoming an app developer shares a common pain point with the path to making aliyah: it seems like, to do it right, you’re probably going to have to learn an entirely new language. While new immigrants don’t have much way around that issue (besides living in Tel Aviv), Israeli start-up SPIRITT has developed a workaround for wannabe app devs.
SPIRITT’s AI-based Software as a Service (SaaS) transforms verbal description into an app. The company’s platform gives developers the ability to create complex applications without the need for any technical skills, just by describing what the app should look like to a computer.
SPIRITT has closed its latest funding round at $5.5 million, led by Yizhar Shai the former science and technology minister and currently a venture partner in the Disruptive AI venture capital fund, which specializes in AI-focused startups. The round was also joined by Silicon Valley Bank.
“We believe that SPIRITT can quickly grow and become a global company that serves millions of customers worldwide,” said Shai. “We were greatly impressed by the qualities and the entrepreneurial mindset of Tamir and Or, the company’s founders, and by them being able to create a complex platform based on artificial intelligence which enabled the generation of revenues before any money was raised.”
“We believe that SPIRITT can quickly grow and become a global company that serves millions of customers worldwide”
Izhar Shay
The information required for app development is gathered by conducting a virtual conversation with a chat-bot, as if you were discussing your desired application with a living, breathing, meat-based software developer. After that, the app runs through a series of checks (first an algorithm and then a human) to make sure that it can be feasibly developed and scaled. At that point, SPIRITT’s AI developer brings the idea to fruition, at no cost or obligation from the customer.
If the customer is satisfied with the result and begins using the application, payment to SPIRITT is tendered, in the form of a monthly subscription which includes access to cloud storage, payment systems, mobile and desktop app versions and the ability to customize the app and make as many changes as desired. The cost is dynamically adjusted and grows in correlation to the usage of the app by its customers.
SPRITT's story
SPRITT was founded in June 2020 by two 24-year-old serial entrepreneurs, Tamir Magen (CEO) and Or Kliger (president and CTO), and were later joined by Lidor Cohen (VP Research), a former Google architect.
The idea of SPIRITT, and the vision of making the start-up world accessible to everyone, began when the two founders were working on a previous project and were exposed to the immense difficulty associated with funding a technological project.
“Today, there is a conflict of interest between entrepreneurs and software studios,” explained Magen. “The software studio has to charge a considerable sum for every request, no matter how small, to cover the large expenses incurred by business operations and employee wages. Meanwhile, the situation for the entrepreneur is reversed: they need to make constant modifications to their apps while not having the required funds when starting out.”
“It was clear to us that, ideally, entrepreneurs should be charged proportionally to the usage of their app in a pricing model fitted to its development stage and the number of users they cater to. So, we decided to develop a solution that will make that a reality,” he said.
The Jerusalem Post has submitted a free app development request via SPIRITT’s website for a Tinder-like application, but for devoted lovers of spiders. One can only imagine that the AI pencil pushers at SPIRITT are hard at work bringing 8legr to life.