Yale students raise $3.1M in 14 days for AI-powered social platform

CONTRIBUTED Series founders Nathaneo Johnson and Sean Hargrow.

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A startup founded by two juniors at Yale University has secured $3.1 million in pre-seed funding to help launch a new AI-powered social platform.

Co-founders Nathaneo Johnson and Sean Hargrow are developing the platform, called "Series," which is aimed at "creating networks based on meaningful relationships.”

"The problem of quantifying value online isn't a recent development - it started with Facebook back in '04," Johnson said. "Not to say these platforms don't build great communities, but they embody the narrative that online metrics equate to real world value."

Series uses "AI Friends" to make introductions across different social networks, autonomously or on demand. It uses AI to make connections "only when there's mutual value on both sides," according to an announcement.

The technology eliminates "biases perpetuated by follower counts and engagement metrics," the announcement states.

Johnson and Hargrow began fundraising after posting a promotional video about the platform on LinkedIn, which went viral.

Soon, the two were on a Zoom call with a San Francisco-based investor. Then they were on a plane to Silicon Valley. They closed the round in just 14 days.

The pre-seed funding round was led by Parable, with participation from angel investor and CEO of Reddit Steve Huffman.

Currently, the platform requires a .edu email to join.

"Once we capture the college entrepreneurial market, we'll expand to finance, dating, education, health and more,” Johnson said.