A Singapore-based startup called Acti is reimagining the smartphone keyboard as a platform for AI agents, allowing users to get AI assistance without leaving the apps they're already using. The company launched its agentic keyboard for iOS and Android on Tuesday, powered by Google's Gemini models, with the ability to take actions on behalf of users across email, messaging, social media, and other applications.

Why Is the Keyboard the Right Place for AI Agents?

The core insight behind Acti is that today's AI agents force users into a fragmented workflow. If you're chatting with a friend and want a restaurant recommendation, you have to switch to a search engine or AI app, get the information, and then return to your conversation. Acti eliminates that friction by embedding AI capabilities directly into the keyboard interface.

"Today's AI agents are fundamentally limited because user context stays fragmented across separate apps. Acti sits across all of them, which is why we can build a context layer that genuinely belongs to the user instead of the platform," said Young Wang, founder and CEO of Acti.

Young Wang, Founder and CEO at Acti

This approach reflects a broader shift in how consumers will adopt AI. Rather than asking users to open dedicated chatbots or AI applications, Acti demonstrates how AI can be embedded into the interfaces people already interact with dozens of times per day. For example, if someone mentions a stock in a conversation, Acti can share the live price right there in the chat without requiring the user to switch apps.

How Does Acti's Skill System Work?

One of Acti's key features is called Skills, which function like custom shortcuts that automate multistep tasks. Users can program a single key on their keyboard to trigger actions automatically, such as translating a message or instantly sharing a meeting link. The system is designed to be accessible to non-technical users; instead of requiring coding knowledge, users can describe what they want in plain language, and Acti builds the Skill for them.

The company reports that early access testers built over 1,000 Skills in less than two weeks, demonstrating strong user engagement with the feature. These Skills can be kept private for personal use or shared publicly in a Skills marketplace, where users can discover Skills built by others, including tools for accessing real-time World Cup data or Polymarket links.

Steps to Building and Using Acti Skills

• Describe Your Task: Tell Acti in plain language what action you want to automate, such as translating messages or generating meeting links.
• Acti Builds the Skill: The platform automatically creates the Skill without requiring any coding knowledge from the user.
• Assign a Keyboard Shortcut: Assign a single key or key combination to trigger your Skill, making it instantly accessible from any app.
• Share or Keep Private: Choose to keep your Skill private for personal use or publish it to the Skills marketplace for other users to discover and use.

The Skills marketplace could also become a monetization opportunity for Acti in the future, creating a potential revenue stream beyond its subscription model.

What Privacy Protections Does Acti Offer?

Acti is built around a local-first model, meaning users' personal context stays on their device by default for privacy protection. The company states that the app does not access or store private messages, conversations, or personal context unless the user explicitly invokes a feature that requires external processing. This design choice addresses growing concerns about data privacy in AI applications.

The keyboard is powered by Google's Gemini models, which Wang selected for their balance of intelligence, speed, reliability, multilingual performance, and cost-efficiency. Gemini's capabilities make it well-suited for the multistep reasoning required by Acti's Skills feature.

How Is Acti Funded and What's the Business Model?

Acti just closed a $5.3 million seed funding round led by BITKRAFT Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology investments. The company's business model is still taking shape, but it plans to generate revenue through subscriptions that offer users access to more advanced AI models, higher daily usage limits, and other premium features.

"We backed Acti because this team has a real shot at owning the next phase of human-computer interaction," said Jonathan Huang, partner at BITKRAFT Ventures.

Jonathan Huang, Partner at BITKRAFT Ventures

Wang's background gives him credibility in this space. He spent a decade at Baidu, where he grew Facemoji Keyboard to over 300 million daily active users. His co-founder Mike Sun was the founding technical lead behind Yike Album, Baidu's cloud-photo platform, which scaled to over 10 million daily active users. The team also includes Junbo Yang as Chief Strategy Officer, who previously led dozens of consumer investments at HashKey Capital.

The launch of Acti represents a significant shift in how agentic AI might be deployed in consumer applications. Rather than building standalone AI agents that users must consciously invoke, embedding agents into the interfaces people already use daily could accelerate adoption and make AI assistance feel more natural and integrated into everyday workflows.