Instinct raises another $250 million and reaches $2.5 billion in valuation, still in private beta

Index Ventures and Benchmark are co-leading the Series B round of the personal assistant founded by Noah Shinn, 23, whose terms of use had caused controversy.

Instinct has closed a $250 million Series B round co-led by Index Ventures and Benchmark, bringing its combined funding to $350 million and its valuation to $2.5 billion. The company, founded by Noah Shinn, 23, is developing an assistant that is supposed to take charge of the organization of daily life: the user connects his applications and devices, then dialogues with him by messages and calls.

The uses highlighted by the founder range from planning a road trip to buying groceries or concert tickets, cancelling subscriptions and organizing weddings. However, the product remains in private beta, with no active user figures or publicly disclosed revenue.

The lifting comes as the application drags on a controversy over the scope of the authorizations it is requesting and the drafting of its terms of use, considered particularly intrusive by some of its first testers.