Co–Star

Co–Star is an American astrological social networking service founded in 2017,[1] and headquartered in New York City. Users enter the date, time and place they were born to receive an astrological chart and daily horoscopes that they can compare to those of their friends.[2]

Co–Star
Initial releaseOctober 17, 2017 (2017-10-17)
Operating systemiOS, Android
Available inEnglish
TypeAstrology and social networking
LicenseProprietary software
Websitecostarastrology.com
Co–Star Astrology Society
Industry
  • Astrology
  • Social networking
FoundedOctober 17, 2017 (2017-10-17)
Founder
  • Banu Guler
  • Anna Kopp
  • Ben Weitzman
HeadquartersNew York City
Websitecostarastrology.com

History

Founder and CEO Banu Guler came up with the idea for the app after she gifted a friend's child an astrological chart that became a surprise hit at the baby shower.[3] In 2019, Co–Star raised a $5.2 million seed round from Maveron, Aspect, and 14W, following a $750,000 pre-seed from Female Founders Fund in early 2018.[4][5][6] In January 2020, Co–Star for Android was launched to a 120,000-person waitlist—two years after their iOS app was launched.[6] In April 2021, Co–Star announced their $15 million Series A, led by Spark Capital.[7] As of that date, Co–Star has more than 20 million downloads and has been downloaded by a quarter of all young women ages 18–25 in the U.S.

Features

Co–Star employs artificial intelligence to analyze publicly accessible NASA JPL data and find patterns in a user’s transits.[8] Co–Star’s algorithm maps human-written snippets of text to planetary movements to display personalized content for each user.[5] That content has been called “slightly robotic,”[9] “wildly beautiful,”[5] “truly insane,"[10] “brutally honest,”[8] and compared to “a free therapy session.”[11]

In July 2023, Co–Star released an in-app service called The Void that allows users to ask open-ended questions and receive answers informed by Co–Star's astrological database.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Astrology for millennials: how has Co-Star changed the traditional practice?". Diggit Magazine. 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  2. Hess, Amanda (2018-01-01). "How Astrology Took Over the Internet (Published 2018)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  3. Noble, Audrey (September 6, 2019). "What's Co-Star? Meet the Astrology App That's Intriguing Millennials Everywhere". Vogue. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  4. "Co-Star raises $5 million to bring its astrology app to Android". TechCrunch. April 17, 2019. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  5. Bryant, Kenzie. "How Astrology App Co–Star Conquered the Millennial Lock Screen". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  6. Meisenzahl, Mary. "One of the internet's favorite horoscope and astrology apps is now on Android after over 120,000 fans begged for it". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  7. "Astrology app Co-Star raises $15 million in new funding". Axios. April 14, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
  8. EDT, Janice Williams On 8/3/19 at 10:17 AM (2019-08-03). "Co-Star is more than just an astrology app, it's a community". Newsweek. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  9. Jones, Allie (2019-10-04). "Inside Co—Star, the smartest (and meanest) astrology app out there". The Verge. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  10. "How To Destroy Your Friends Emotionally With Astrology Memes". BuzzFeed News. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  11. "Android Users Can Finally Get in on Co-Star's Brutally Honest Horoscopes". Gizmodo. January 17, 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-13.
  12. "Is A.I. the Future of Astrology?". The New York Times. July 4, 2023. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
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