Two college kids raise a $5.1 million pre-seed to build an AI social network in iMessage

Source: TechCrunch

Overview

Series, a social‑networking app, announced a $5.1 million pre‑seed round backed by investors including Venmo co‑founder Iqram Magdon‑Ismail, Pear VC, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, and GPTZero founder Edward Tian. The company was founded early last year by Yale seniors Nathaneo Johnson and Sean Hargrow.

Product

Series positions itself as a next‑generation social‑networking platform that operates entirely through iMessage. Users text a phone number (Series AI) on iMessage, introduce themselves, and specify who they’d like to connect with. Series AI then replies with a carousel of up to 10 “shares” – images showing other users’ photos and their requests. By pressing and holding a carousel photo, a user can start a private conversation within the Series AI chat without revealing personal phone numbers.

Founders

• Nathaneo Johnson – CEO, studying computer science and economics at Yale.
• Sean Hargrow – Co‑founder, studied neuroscience at Yale.

Johnson and Hargrow met while producing a podcast for the Yale Entrepreneurial Society during their freshman year. Their early interviews with founders highlighted the power of “warm connections,” inspiring them to build an AI‑driven facilitator for such introductions. After several iterations, they settled on the current concept and began fundraising in March 2025, growing the team to eight members.

Funding

The $5.1 million pre‑seed will be used to:

• Hire additional engineers
• Expand product capabilities

The round’s notable backers underscore confidence in the AI‑first approach and the founders’ ability to execute.

Growth & Metrics

• Initially targeted college students; now expanding beyond campuses while still focusing on Gen Z and professionals.
• Used by students across more than 750 campuses.
• Retention: 82 % of activated users remain active through Day 30, surpassing early Facebook benchmarks.
• Primary use cases: business networking, with secondary usage for dating and friendship building.

Series competes in a space that includes Boardy AI, another AI‑driven networking tool.

Future Plans

• Remain headquartered on the East Coast, operating from an office in Chelsea, New York, with founders commuting from New Haven, Connecticut.
• Continue building the network within Ivy League schools and other East‑Coast institutions, leveraging the “Silicon Alley” ecosystem.

Both founders remain enrolled at Yale, balancing academic responsibilities with company leadership.

References

• Johnson’s viral LinkedIn launch video: Introducing Series – the first AI social network
• Article on college founders: College dropout has become the most coveted startup founder credential