Pickmybrain Raises $2.1M for AI Digital Brains

Jan de Vries · 2026-04-01

You know how everyone's talking about AI taking jobs? Well, a startup from Estonia called Pickmybrain is flipping that script. They just raised $2.1 million in pre-seed funding to build something pretty fascinating—AI-powered "Digital Brains" for experts and celebrities. Think about it. Professionals and public figures have this wealth of knowledge, but sharing it widely usually means endless Q&A sessions or becoming a full-time content creator. That's exhausting. Pickmybrain offers a different path. ### How Digital Brains Actually Work Here's the simple version. The platform trains AI models on an expert's own structured knowledge—interviews, articles, books, recorded responses. The expert has full control, uploading their own media. This isn't about scraping random internet data. It's about capturing a person's unique insights and perspective. For someone without a big digital footprint, they even provide tools to record thoughts. The AI learns from that. The result is a personalized advisor that can answer questions based on that specific expert's knowledge. Sergei Verbitski, the founder, put it well: > "Just like Patreon helped creators monetise content, we are enabling professionals to monetise their expertise without becoming full-time content producers or mentors." He sees these Digital Brains evolving into true AI assistants that stick around, maintain context, and act like persistent team members.  ### It's More Than a Novelty This taps into a real cultural shift. Remember when Khaby Lame sold his AI twin for a staggering $975 million? That wasn't just a headline. It signaled that digital likenesses and AI personalities are becoming a big deal. Pickmybrain sits right at that intersection. It lets experts turn their domain-specific knowledge into something accessible and scalable. Users get practical answers from a trusted source, not generic AI chatter. They can apply guidance from top professionals directly in their work and life. The funding came from a group of business angels, including Garri Zmudze, a notable longevity and BioTech investor, along with Raison.app and other private backers. ### Building the "Expert Economy" The company's bigger vision is to move from the ad-driven creator economy to what they call the "expert economy." They're offering a transactional, utility-focused way to monetize expertise. No ads. No chasing followers. No constant content grind. It directly challenges the attention-based models dominated by Big Tech. The idea is that professionals can now scale their knowledge the way content creators scale views—but without the pressure of the viral content treadmill. ### Who's Actually Using This? The platform isn't small. It already has over 1,000 professionals from fields like sports, entertainment, and business. Some notable names include: - Peter Vesterbacka, co-founder of Rovio (the Angry Birds company) and founder of Slush - World Cup champion and soccer star Paul Pogba - Bozoma Saint John, former CMO at Netflix and CBO at Uber Founded in 2022, the startup is using this new capital to grow its team, scale into new markets, and enhance the product. The goal is simple: make expert knowledge something you can tap into instantly, like turning on a faucet. It's about access, not just information. And in a world flooded with generic AI, that personal touch might be exactly what we need.