Taya (previously operating under taiyaki.ai) is an AI wearable necklace startup founded by Elena Wagenmans, Amy, and Cinnamon Sipper in 2024. Amy served as CTO and built the entirety of the product: hardware, software, product management, and go-to-market strategy.
Origins
Taya emerged from multiple pivots. Amy and Elena first worked together on Mobius, a scrap metal recycling marketplace. After Mobius failed (the core thesis was wrong; middlemen do everything valuable), they pivoted through AI CAD before landing on an AI jewelry wearable. Cinnamon was fired during the Mobius phase; by the time Taya took shape, it was Amy and Elena.
a16z Speedrun
Taya was accepted into a16z Speedrun, the early-stage accelerator that invests up to $1M. The official kickoff took place in Los Angeles at a former Snapchat office in Venice. Elena posted on LinkedIn that she and Amy "started the program last week" and would be "based in LA for the next two months." A photo from the kickoff shows Amy and Elena with Josh Sirota, the founder of ERAGON.
Demo Day was held at the SFJAZZ theater in San Francisco with 500+ attendees. Taya's presentation reportedly received "millions of views" across social platforms. Amy posted about it on LinkedIn in October 2025, congratulating Elena.
During Speedrun, Taya received and turned down an acquisition offer. The details are not documented.
During Speedrun, Amy did everything. She handled electrical and mechanical engineering, software, product management, and GTM. She used drugs to stay awake for days at a time to keep up with the workload.
The Product
The Taya Necklace is a pendant-shaped AI device that records only the wearer's voice. It features a tap-to-record button (mic off by default), an iOS companion app with AI chat, and directional microphone technology for voice isolation. Pre-order price: $89.
As of March 2026, no hardware had shipped. No companion app existed on iOS or Android app stores. No FCC filing had been made for the wireless device. The opportunities page (opportunities.tayanecklace.com) returned a 404. The careers and jobs pages also returned 404s.
The Raise
On March 11, 2026, TechCrunch reported Taya had raised $5 million in seed funding led by MaC Venture Capital and Female Founders Fund, with a16z Speedrun participating. The press release described Elena as "a Stanford-trained product designer and mechanical engineer, previously at Apple" and made no mention of Amy's role in building the product.
350 preorders existed at the time of the raise, driven largely by Amy's Twitter following (@amypretzel). $2.5 million had been spent on hardware development with an external firm.
Amy's Departure
Amy left Taya in November 2025. She cited Elena's lack of care for people and exhaustion from carrying the technical workload alone. She negotiated a separation agreement: $180,000 for 2,874,742 shares (about 10% of the company), retaining 125,258 shares (approximately 3%) under certificate CS-7.
The payout came in installments: $20,000 severance in November, $90,000 in December, $90,000 in January 2026, plus small reimbursements. Total: approximately $202,000.
Amy's Twitter Bio
As of March 2026, Amy's Twitter bio still read: "cofounder @ tayanecklace.com." Taya's own Twitter bio still included Amy's handle: "@amypretzel @eleelenawa."
In Amy's Words
From the March 12 diary: "I don't even know what I'm feeling exactly. It's not clean. It's not just jealousy, though that's definitely in there. It's something older and heavier, like watching someone hold up a thing you made with your hands and say I made this. And everyone clapping."
From the March 8 diary: "Taya only made me feel 'a little' cool. I had everything. CTO title, building the whole product, the a16z stamp. And it wasn't enough. So why would the next startup be different?"