Character.AI
Character.AI is a chatbot platform that lets users create and interact with AI characters. The company has 315 employees and raised $150M in a Series A round in March 2023.
The growth story
Character.AI grew from 1 to 315 employees between 2021 and 2026, raising $150M along the way, most recently a Series A in March 2023.
About
Character.AI provides a platform for users to build and engage with custom AI chatbots. Its tools target creators and communities seeking interactive AI experiences.
The company raised $150M in its Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz and others. With 315 employees, it has scaled rapidly since its 2021 founding.
Founders and leadership
Engineering makes up the largest function at 40% of the company. Leadership includes founders with backgrounds in AI and machine learning.
The Character.AI org chart
Karandeep Anand (CEO) leads 29 mapped leaders with 14 direct reports. Click +N to expand a team; names link to the person’s public profile.
Departments, and which ones grew
Headcount by function: Finance 80 (+129% YoY), Engineering 69 (+11% YoY), Administrative 41 (+14% YoY), Business Development 22 (+38% YoY), Arts and Design 11 (+10% YoY), Information Technology 9 (+50% YoY).
Talent flow
Character.AI recruits heavily from Google and Meta, which account for 16% and 14% of hires respectively. Alumni frequently move to AI labs like Google DeepMind and OpenAI.
Most common previous employers of Character.AI staff: Google (16), Meta (14), Accenture (10), Microsoft (9), Amazon (8), TikTok (7). Former Character.AI employees most often moved to Google DeepMind (27), OpenAI (18), Meta (13), Anthropic (8), Microsoft AI (4), Reflection (4).
Alumni worth knowing
The Character.AI mafia
Character.AI alumni have founded 7 companies, including Adaptive Innovations (87 staff) and Inferact (33 staff).
7Ryan Tolsma, was Research until 2024Ben Garrett, was Engineering Manager of Core Engagement until 2025Quentin Romero Lauro, was Software Engineer until 2025Adam Rowings, was Head of Product, Data, and Marketing until 2024Aaron Samson, was Senior Product Marketing Manager until 2024
Christopher Fletcher, was Subject Model Expert - History until 2024Web traffic
Traffic mix: 71% direct, 15% search, 8% social, 0% paid.
What this company is made of
Most common skills at Character.AI: Python (Programming Language) (60), SQL (39), Java (38), Microsoft Office (37), Leadership (36), Microsoft Excel (34), C++ (33), JavaScript (32).
Where the team actually sits
Character.AI people are concentrated in California, United States (45), San Francisco Bay Area (32), New York, United States (5), Washington, United States (5).
Search footprint
Character.AI attracts about 93,080 organic search visits a month, traffic worth roughly $107K a month if bought through ads. It gained 25,130 ranking keywords and lost 24,756 in the last period.
What employees say
- Compensation
- 3.60 / 5
- Career opportunities
- 3.30 / 5
- Senior management
- 3.50 / 5
- Work-life balance
- 3.50 / 5
Frequently asked
Character.AI has 315 employees as of September 2026.
Character.AI has raised $150M in total, most recently a Series A round in March 2023.
Karandeep Anand (CEO) sits at the top of Character.AI's reporting structure, with 14 direct reports.
The most common previous employers of current Character.AI staff are Google (16 people), Meta (14 people), Accenture (10 people).
Former Character.AI employees most often move to Google DeepMind (27), OpenAI (18), Meta (13).
At least 7 companies have a founder who previously worked at Character.AI, including Adaptive Innovations, Inferact, Popcorn.
Character.AI attracts about 93,080 organic search visits a month, worth roughly $107K a month in equivalent ad spend.
The most common skills among Character.AI staff are Python (Programming Language), SQL, Java, Microsoft Office, Leadership.
Character.AI staff are concentrated in California, United States (45), San Francisco Bay Area (32), New York, United States (5).
Character.AI has about 80 people in Finance, up 129% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Character.AI has about 69 people in Engineering, up 11% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Computed from 120 current and 213 former Character.AI profiles, as of September 2026. Source: Crustdata.
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