As social media has evolved from a place to connect with friends to large-scale entertainment platforms, a startup called Yes is quietly building what it believes will be the future of the internet: social networking with no algorithms, no ads, and no public content.
Yope’s app is now backed by a $12.3 million round led by Northern zoneis taking on tech giants like Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram by creating a social media platform focused on what it refers to as “microcommunities” — or small groups where friends and family interact privately, sharing photos, videos, messages and soon playing games.
The idea of creating private social media without algorithms isn’t new, but few apps have been able to scale without adding creator content to keep users engaged. Yope hopes to change that by encouraging connections between real-world friends, making it both a communication tool and a place to share photos or life updates.
On Yesaccounts are private by default and there is no algorithmic flow. It is also not ad-supported, but focuses on developing a premium subscription-based experience for power users.
Bahram Ismailauco-founder and CEO of Yope in London, says the team saw the potential for a new kind of social network after conducting over 100,000 interviews — with the help of AI tools — to better understand how young people around the world used social networks. They found that about 30% used what are often called photo dump or “spam” accounts, where users share more candid photos with a smaller group of real friends.
Meanwhile, many people don’t share anything publicly, relying instead on texting to keep up with their friends.
“[Young people] they have no place to express themselves if they are not ready to become influencers,” Ismailau emphasized in an interview with TechCrunch. However, teenagers still want to do it, they just want more privacy.
“We found this great opportunity to create a new space for young people to be social. We called it Yope and it’s a native social platform for young people and the next generation.”
He clarified that the team does not believe in using artificial intelligence to create content. Instead, he sees AI as a tool that can help create better connections. This includes using artificial intelligence to create mini-games that you can play with your friends, a feature expected to be released in about a month. It also aims to leverage artificial intelligence to help users meet in real life, perhaps buying tickets to an event or finding a restaurant or bar where they can watch a soccer match.
On Yope, users create their own profiles by sharing photos, which can be turned into stickers. Instead of being organized into albums, photos appear in a collage-like, almost chaotic arrangement on each user’s “wall”. Soon, Yope users will be able to further customize their space by adding their interests, favorite music and mini-games, as well as customizing the look and feel with colors and wallpapers of their choice.
The idea is reminiscent of Myspace, where users once carved out their own niche on the web and customized it to reflect their personalities.
The app also borrows heavily from existing social platforms, now offering standard features such as in-app messaging, highlight recaps (Yopes are generated by AI), and lock screen widgets that display your friends’ photos. Upon onboarding, the app walks users through setting up its various features and grants the permissions they need to access their photos and find their friends, encouraging them to add connections and start private conversations.
The combination of features seems to be working — Yope now has nearly 15 million registered users, who collectively share between 10 and 20 million pieces of content per week, including individual photos, videos or stickers. These measurements suggest regular use. Ismailau claims that more than 50% of Yope users open the app at least five days a week, effectively making them power users.
And it’s not just young people who add their friends. Ismailau says about 20% of active users have invited an older family member to join the app.
The use caught the attention of investors, Ismailau says, as Northzone approached the company rather than the other way around. Northzone, which has backed other consumer apps like Spotify and Klarna, led the $12.3 million round, with participation from Inovo, Redseed and Geek Ventures. The round brings the company’s total funding to $20 million. (Yeope is the result of two previous spin-offs — TechCrunch covered an earlier version of the company. The current version has been in development for about two years.)
“Yope is a fresh, empowering and safe approach to social media where users are in full control of their experience unlike the predatory practices of Meta, TikTok or X,” Northzone partner Pär-Jörgen Pärson said in a statement. “We are very excited to be working with Bahram, Paul [Rudkouski, co-founder] and their team to build the service far beyond today’s millions of users and half a billion shared moments.”
The funding will be used to further develop the product, grow the team — now around 35 people — and establish an office in the United States.
Yope is a free download iOS and Android.
Correction: Users exchange 10 to 20 million pieces of content weekly, not daily. the founder said wrong. We have updated the post accordingly.
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