An Australian start-up selling access and answers from real people in the age of ChatGPT has raised $1m to expand into an e-commerce marketplace

The Australian - Joseph Lam - Reporter - March 5th and 6th 2024

Micro consultations, AI cybersecurity both million dollar ideas

An Australian start-up selling access and answers from real people in the age of ChatGPT has raised $1m to expand into an e-commerce marketplace.

The micro-consulting platform, founded during the pandemic, capitalises on human intelligence, taking a cut from 15 to 30 minute sessions with GPs, nutritionists, dietitians and personal trainers.

Investors have taken a keen interest in Diranne Lee-Renwick’s Anni, as it arrives during a time when online courses are booming.

While some courses come with accreditation from major tech companies, others belong to the likes of lifestyle coaches, key opinion leaders (KOLs) and fitness gurus with large social media followings who sell introductory boxing courses and branded merchandise.

Mr Lee-Renwick bills Anni as an Advice-as-a-Service (AaaS) business, a play on the tech term Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

“We’re also in this era of misinformation. There’s this kind of premise that people need to follow a social media influencer when in fact now for a small fee, they could actually talk to a real expert, a real human,” he said.

When the idea first sprung to mind it wasn’t as much about providing access to human intelligence — conceptualised two years before ChatGPT’s public release — but as a way for people who typically operated in an office with appointments to work from home.

“It all came about during the pandemic when we started to see a lot of friends and family lose the ability to make money,” Mr Lee-Renwick said.

“A lot of people in that sort of contracting environment lost their physical spaces and office and consequently the ability to earn any money.”

The platform has around 250 experts on it, about 37 per cent of whom are naturopaths or nutritionists. Sexologists make up around four per cent.

The backing came from several family offices which Anni would not disclose.

Anni’s focus now is building its next iteration as a marketplace, Mr Lee-Renwick said.

“A lot of the naturopaths, nutritionists and fitness coaches have products that they want to sell, and how-to guides and meal plans so that will be available soon.”

This appeared online in The Australian on March 6th 2024 and in print here March 5th 2024.

For Media enquires please contact: anni@prgroup.com.au

For all other enquires please contact: hello@anni.app

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