Why this VC thinks 2026 will be ‘the year of the consumer’

Vanessa Larco, partner at Premise, predicts that 2026 will be the "year of the consumer" for tech investment, contrasting with the current enterprise focus. She argues that while enterprises struggle with AI adoption due to uncertainty, consumers already know what they want from AI products, leading to quicker adoption and clearer product-market fit signals for startups. Larco is interested in investing in consumer startups that fill gaps OpenAI won't address, such as those managing real-world assets or human interactions, as she believes OpenAI will focus on general-purpose AI and potentially take a cut of traffic like an operating system. Furthermore, she notes that the rise of realistic AI-generated content on social media may force consumers to seek out verified, truthful content elsewhere, potentially benefiting platforms like Reddit. Finally, Larco sees a major shift toward voice-first AI assistants, like those integrated into Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, as technology advances, allowing designers to choose the best form factor—voice or screen—for specific use cases.

(Source：TechCrunch)