Pitch Deck: The series collects $ 3 million to help the Gen Z network using AI

Could AI shake professional networking?

Nathaneo Johnson and Sean Hargrow, both students from the University of Yale, think so.

The Two College Juniors founded a series, a social network of AI which corresponds to people on text messages, in 2024 as a new way for students of the Z generation to find professional connections. The startup has just guaranteed $ 3.1 million in pre-series funding.

The founders said one of the biggest problems they have seen in professional networking were that social media platforms – like Linkedin, X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram – had become inflated with vanity measures such as the accounts and the Likes of the followers.

“I see it in our generation, the Fomo, the I am not good enough, I will not contact this person, it is better than me,” Hargrow told Business Insider. “Forget your tastes, forget your subscribers, let’s focus on who you are and what you can bring to the table and what you need, and what someone else can bring to your table if it makes sense.”

The series allows users to chat with an “IA friend” on iMessage or SMS on the type of connection they are looking for, such as a co -founder, an investor or a mentor. The agent AI will seek the network of the series to find a correspondence. For example, I was assigned a friend of the AI ​​”Stevie”, who told me on the text that it would begin to look for the best connections “and to strike one of his other AI friends,” Oliver “.

If the two – humans – users opt in the match, the series will connect them directly to the text in a group cat, simulating a warm introduction.

The startup is part of a broader trend in the disruption of consumer technology, which has an interest in revitalized investors for companies applying an AI to areas such as social networks and even meetings.

“There is this new area that opens due to technology,” said Johnson. “Now it is who can capture this fastest space.”

Since the launch of its first chatbot in the summer of 2024, the series has extended to more than 500 universities. Although you can create an account without a student email (like me), the use of a student email allows users to access features as group cats. As the series develops, the founders declared in his pitch deck sharing with the investors which he planned to extend beyond students entrepreneurs and professional networking.

The startup also develops early monetization with premium features for business users, which will include different paid levels that unlock additional AI agents and more personalization.

The Pre-Grève round of $ 3.1 million in the series was led by Anne Lee Skates, former partner of Andreessen Horowitz. He understood the participation of Pear VC, the CEO of Reddit Steve Huffman and the Draper Goren Blockchain of Tim Draper, among others.

Read the 11 pitch deck series used to remove its 3.1 million dollars pre-series:

Note: The company has expurued certain slides and details in the game.