Solsten

About the offering

Solsten is building the "human context layer" for AI—a psychological intelligence platform that helps AI systems, digital products, and marketing understand the "why" behind human behavior through one of the largest first-party psychological datasets globally.The ProblemThe company argues that today's AI delivers generic, copy-paste content because it's trained on shallow, scraped data. LLMs predict language, not people, optimizing for what works for most rather than what resonates for each individual. Consumer research supports this gap: 69% say it's important that AI-powered interactions don't feel robotic, 75% prefer speaking to a real human for support, and 81% are more likely to buy when brands offer personalized experiences. Without real psychological data, teams guess what motivates audiences, resulting in wasted spend, disengaged users, and brands that all sound the same.The SolutionSolsten's adaptive psychological assessment measures over 150 traits from real people based on validated psychometric models, including personality, communication styles, motivation, competitiveness, values, culture, wellbeing, affinities, and emotions. This creates the foundation for audiences built on real psychological profiles—not scraped behavior—forming what the company calls "real digital twins."Core ProductsElaris (in soft launch) is an always-on audience expert—a psychological AI that helps brands create content, campaigns, and strategies that resonate deeply. The closed beta converted 85% of waitlisted users (vs. typical 70% benchmark) with 45% sign-up-to-first-action rate (vs. 40% benchmark). Currently priced at $200/month for early access. Human Context API/MCP (expected March 2026) plugs into any company's systems, giving their AI the ability to understand people through audience data transformed into dynamic human profiles.The DatasetOver 7 years, Solsten built what they describe as one of the largest first-party psychological datasets globally with insights on 200,000+ audiences. The dataset is drawn from 1.5M direct assessments and proprietary AI analysis of how 100M+ people play games, which the company believes represents approximately 3.4B global gaming consumers. The strategic insight: people reveal who they truly are through play, making games a living laboratory for understanding human cognition at scale. This dataset is protected by 16 patents across the US, Europe, and Japan.Why Gaming FirstCo-founder Joe Schaeppi, both a psychotherapist and gaming executive, recognized that games are the only environment where people naturally exhibit deep psychological patterns and willingly complete 60+ question psychometric assessments due to their passion for play. Like Nvidia started in gaming where GPUs were used most heavily, Solsten went where psychological data collection was richest.Business ModelSolsten operates a B2B-first revenue model with approximately $50,000 average contract value (ACV). Revenue comes from Solsten API/MCP (infrastructure layer for AI systems), Elaris (B2B self-serve license at $200/month with team plans), and partner white-labeled integrations. The company has generated more than $10M in lifetime revenue.Customer Impact (Reported)Some customers have reported up to 3x increase in conversion rates, up to 25% reduction in customer acquisition costs, and 15% higher user engagement efficiency.TractionThe company serves enterprise clients including Sony, Electronic Arts, Zynga, LEGO, Peloton, Meta, Epic Games, Dentsu, Paramount, and DraftKings. Peloton uses Solsten's intelligence layer to power Lane Break, their #1 product—adapting motivation based on whether users are dominant, competitive, or altruistic. The company is targeting approximately $2.3M ARR by year-end 2025 and profitability in late 2026, with a target of $5.2M ARR by end of 2026. Pilot discussions are underway with companies including Saga, Grammarly (adaptive agent personality), Disney, and Animal Jam (hyper-personalized recommendations).Market OpportunityThe company estimates a $186B total addressable market across four categories: $94B for synthetic audiences for instant consumer insight and testing, $47B for emotionally intelligent marketing and ad targeting, $23B for AI agents that adapt to individuals, and $22B for hyper-personalized experiences. Note: This TAM figure is the company's internal estimate combining multiple adjacent AI market categories and is not a single independently published market size.TeamCEO and Co-Founder Joseph Jack Schaeppi is a psychotherapist, former Head of UX at Big Fish Games, and UX Director at McCann, with an MS in Clinical Psychology. His background in cognitive-behavioral science and interactive design shaped Solsten's mission. COO, Board Director, and Co-Founder Bastian Bergmann is a strategic advisor, business innovation expert, founder and CEO of WATTx, former BCG consultant, and Harvard Business Review author of "Press Play: Why Every Company Needs a Gaming Strategy." Chief of Staff and Principal Accounting Officer Sebastian Brent Weyer is a former Co-Founder and CEO of Statice, which he scaled from inception to exit to PwC Germany. The company has a 20-person team with people from CERN, Google, Cambridge, and other major institutions.Funding HistorySolsten has raised over $35M in venture capital from leading investors including Konvoy, RedBird Capital, Galaxy Interactive, Inventure, GFRF Fund, and Alumni Ventures.RecognitionThe company was named one of Fast Company's Best Workplaces for Innovators (2023) and won the Mobile Games Award for Best AI Tool (2023).Current FundraiseSolsten is raising capital via Regulation Crowdfunding on StartEngine through a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) with a $40M valuation cap and 25% discount. The conversion trigger is $1,000,000 in qualified equity financing. The minimum investment is $300, and the deadline is March 10, 2026. The campaign has raised $24,195.22 to date. The company is based in St. Paul, MN.

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