As social media has shifted from a platform for connecting with friends into a massive entertainment ecosystem, a startup named Yope is quietly working on what it sees as the next evolution of online interaction: a social network free from algorithms, advertisements, and public content. The company’s app, now supported by a $12.3 million seed funding round led by Northzone, is challenging industry giants like Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram by creating a platform centered on what it calls “micro communities”—small, private groups where friends and family can share photos, videos, messages, and soon, play games together. The concept of algorithm-free, private social media isn’t new, but few apps have successfully scaled without relying on creator-driven content to maintain user interest. Yope aims to change that by fostering connections between real-world friends, positioning itself as both a communication tool and a space for sharing life updates. On Yope, accounts are private by default, there is no algorithmic feed, and the platform doesn’t rely on advertising. Instead, it focuses on developing a premium, subscription-based experience for its most active users.

Bahram Ismailau, Yope’s London-based co-founder and CEO, explained that the team identified the potential for a new kind of social network after conducting over 100,000 interviews—supported by AI tools—to better understand how young people globally were using existing platforms. They discovered that roughly 30% of users maintain what are often called “photo dump” or “spam” accounts, where they share more candid images with a smaller circle of real-life friends. Meanwhile, many people don’t post anything publicly, relying instead on messaging to stay in touch. Yet teens still want to share content; they just desire more privacy. “We found this big opportunity to create a new space for young people to be social. We called it Yope, and it’s an AI-native social platform for young people and the next generation,” Ismailau said.

He clarified that the team doesn’t advocate using AI to generate content but views it as a tool to enhance connections. This includes leveraging AI to create mini-games that users can play with friends—a feature expected to launch in about a month. The platform also intends to use AI to facilitate real-world meetups, such as purchasing event tickets or finding a restaurant or bar to watch a football game. On Yope, users build their profiles by sharing photos, which can be turned into cut-out stickers. Rather than being organized into albums, these photos appear in a collage-like, somewhat chaotic arrangement across each user’s “wall.” Soon, Yope users will be able to further personalize their space by adding their interests, favorite music, and mini-games, as well as customizing colors and wallpapers of their choice.

This approach recalls MySpace, where users once carved out their own corner of the web and customized it to reflect their personalities. The app also borrows heavily from existing social platforms, offering standard features like in-app messaging, recaps of top moments, and lock screen widgets that showcase friends’ photos. During onboarding, the app guides users through setting up various features and granting permissions to access photos and find friends, encouraging them to add connections and start private chats. This combination of features appears to be working—Yope now has nearly 15 million registered users, who collectively share between 10 million and 20 million pieces of content daily, including photos, videos, or stickers. These metrics suggest regular engagement. Ismailu claims that more than 50% of Yope’s users open the app at least five days per week, effectively making them power users. And it’s not just young people adding their friends; Ismailu notes that around 20% of active users have invited an older family member to join the app.

This level of engagement caught investors’ attention, according to Ismailu, with Northzone approaching the company rather than the other way around. Northzone, which has backed consumer apps like Spotify and Klarna, led the $12.3 million round, with participation from Inovo, Redseed, and Geek Ventures. This brings Yope’s total funding to $20 million. The current version of the app has been in development for about two years.

“Yope is a fresh, empowering and safe take on social media where the users are in full control of their experience in contrast to the predatory practices of Meta, TikTok or X,” said Pär-Jörgen Pärson, Partner at Northzone, in a statement. “We are very excited to partner with Bahram, Paul [Rudkouski, co-founder] and their team to build the service far beyond the current millions of users and half a billion moments shared.”

The funding will be used to further develop the product, expand the team—which now numbers around 35 people—and establish an office in the United States. Yope is available as a free download on iOS and Android.