Investors are hunting for social media startups that can spark new connections and nurture existing ones.
“Social media companies started based on connection,” Shawn Carolan, a partner at Menlo Ventures, said of the previous wave of giants like Facebook and Instagram.
Carolan said these companies “evolved into media companies” and abandoned that connection.
That leaves an opening in the market.
Venture capitalists at major firms like Menlo, Forerunner, and A16z have several investors dedicated to backing new and innovative internet startups. Other firms, like Verdict Capital and Premise, were founded by partners at firms like General Catalyst, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and NEA, who wanted to set out on their own with investment theses focused on backing consumer-facing startups building for the AI era.
Niko Bonatsos, cofounder and managing director of Verdict Capital, said that AI is allowing startup founders to “reimagine entire categories” and build “so much faster.”
Business Insider recently highlighted 22 VC firms backing social startups in our third annual list. They’ve invested in startups in broader categories such as social media, AI assistants, and dating apps.
So, where exactly are these top investors placing bets?
Here are 5 categories investors are betting on:
1. Vibe coding — but make it social
Kids and teens are “vibe coding apps,” Vanessa Larco, cofounder of Premise, told Business Insider.
She’s one of several investors closely watching how vibe coding is being adopted by younger internet users.
Startups like Wabi and Sekai — which are building platforms where people can vibe code mini apps, then share and remix them — have raised millions of dollars from firms like Khosla, A16z, and Connect Ventures.
“People don’t want to just watch anymore. They want to create,” Connect Ventures’ Nicole Quinn said, who invested in Sekai.
Gaming is another opportunity in this category, with tools like Lemonade (an AI agent for creating Roblox mini-games) and ForgeGUI (an AI-powered game design tool for developers) receiving investments from Menlo Ventures and Verdict Capital, respectively.
As Menlo’s Amy Wu Martin put it: When the barriers to coding go down, consumers have the realization — “I can make stuff for myself.”
It’s shifting digital culture, too. Creators who make content about vibe coding or vibe code new apps themselves are emerging.
“Apps are going to be the new media,” Patron’s Amber Atherton said.
2. New ways to find love
For these VCs, there’s love in the air.
A new class of dating apps is challenging the mainstays like Tinder and Bumble. The AI dating app Overtone comes from an icon of the old guard: Hinge founder Justin McLeod. FirstMark’s Rick Heitzmann contributed to the company’s $18 million raise.
“Probably a year ago, someone would’ve said ‘dating,’ I would’ve been like, ‘Ugh, it’s a horrible category,'” Heitzmann said. “But then you meet somebody who’s thought about the world completely differently, more originally, and better than you have, and it changes your mind.”
Many of these startups promise that AI will help ease the awkwardness of dating, either through custom matchmaking or wingman-style assistants. The AI app Sitch is backed by A16z Speedrun and Premise. Its cofounder, Chad DePue, is an investor for Uncommon Projects.
There’s also Known, an AI dating service with audio matchmakers, backed by Forerunner Ventures.
Other apps promise users a better dating pool or matching strategy, like the Seven Seven Six-backed Left Field, which pairs based on shared interests and communities.
3. Social apps that get you outside instead of online
There is a bounty of new social startups with the sole purpose of getting people off their screens.
“People are kind of feeling exhausted and maybe a little bit nervous about AI,” Precursor’s Marina Girgis said. “They want to put their phones down and connect with people IRL.”
Abstract Ventures, for instance, backed two social apps built around maps: Corner, for finding and sharing local spots, and Amo, a French app studio behind Bump, which lets you track friends.
Meanwhile, Posh, a platform for IRL events and ticketing, announced a $37 million Series B round led by FirstMark Capital in March.
There are more niche apps for activities, too, like Sweatpals for fitness and wellness, and Swsh for sharing content at live events like music festivals or sporting events.
“As we all lean into AI and we’re more efficient with the productivity gains of AI, human beings will have more disposable time,” Quinn said. “How do they like to spend disposable time? It’s doing what they love.”
4. AI companions and personal assistants to help you connect
What if AI agents could actually make our social lives a little bit easier? It’s a big question — and it’s still heavy on the if — but some investors are placing early bets on this space.
Town, an AI personal assistant for managing inboxes and calendars, announced a $55 million Series A in June. Both A16z and Forerunner participated in the round.
While Town is currently focused on professionals, there are assistant startups for families, too, like Ollie, which helps parents manage household tasks.
If people start to use these AI assistants and companions more and give these tools access to troves of personal data, there could be some unique social applications.
“Someone’s going to build this kind of god-like companion that knows everyone and is omnipresent,” Shine Capital’s Ethan Daly said.
Menlo Ventures’ Carolan said he’s fascinated by AI-era startups reinventing “the contacts book” to help people connect.
Babylon’s Hugo Amsellem sees potential in AI acting as an intermediary between people. He invested in Eigen, a startup that announced $15 million in seed funding this year for an AI “mutual friend.”
The space is still quite nascent, however.
5. Entertainment with an AI twist
From music to gaming, entertainment platforms are getting supercharged by AI.
For example, Suno, a platform for making and sharing AI-generated music, has raised hundreds of millions of dollars and announced it was valued at $5.4 billion in June. Menlo Ventures led the company’s Series C in 2025.
There’s also Lore, a fandom platform powered by AI search, which provides people a new way to “rabbit hole” about their latest pop culture obsessions, “instead of just doing it in Google,” said Precursor’s Girgis.
Then there are new social gaming apps like Status, an AI mobile gaming startup that lets people role-play as characters, backed by Abstract Ventures and Creator Ventures.
Building a new social app? Have a tip? Contact Sydney Bradley by email (sbradley@businessinsider.com), encrypted messaging app Signal (@sydneykbradley.123), or encrypted email (sydneykbradley@proton.me).
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