A perennial lawsuit between the college-focused social app Fizz and the rival Side chat on unfair competition practices has taken an interesting turn. In a new filing, Fizz accuses investor Jerry Lu, who is with venture capital firm Maveron, of meeting with Fizz under the guise of exploring a potential investment, but then turned around and shared Fizz’s non-public information with rival Sidechat.
The new allegations raise questions about the role venture capital plays in competitive startup markets, as founders routinely share confidential business information during fundraising, believing investors won’t pass it on to competitors. Some VCs continue to ask for updates from startups they passed on, the founders said.
Both Fizz and Sidechat have the same business: anonymous online forums and apps where students can network and gossip. As a result, competition for students’ attention is fierce. However, not all universities see apps as providing value to their students. The UNC system banned the apps from its North Carolina campuses, citing bullying and misbehavior that takes place on these anonymous social media platforms. In Fizz, for example, students can simply post a person’s name, inviting classmates to publicly voice an opinion about the person.
Fizz originally sued Sidechat in 2023, alleging a number of abuses, including attempts to shut down its traffic on various campuses, spreading false rumors about hackers accessing Fizz’s data, sending false spam reports to Instagram, and paying students to delete Fizz’s app.
The original complaint did not name Lu, as his involvement was not known at the time.
Fizz says in its complaint that it only learned of Lu’s involvement through legal discovery, which revealed his role in obtaining and passing on Fizz’s confidential information to Sidechat’s owner, Flower Ave Inc., which also acquired the Yik Yak app in 2023.
Fizz’s filing also alleges that Lu continued to act as a conduit, funneling information about Fizz’s fundraising efforts and other topics to Sidechat.
A screenshot of a text attached to the archiving shows Lu sharing notes with Flower after meeting Fizz in March 2022, according to the complaint. At that meeting, Fizz founders Teddy Solomon and Ashton Cofer shared non-public information about Fizz’s “business strategy, growth plans, campus launch book, user metrics, ambassador program, fundraising efforts and product roadmap,” the complaint states.
Lu went on to invest in Sidechat’s second round in October 2023, per PitchBook data. However, Fizz claims that Lu had discussions with Sidechat as far back as 2022.
In addition, Fizz alleges that Jack Burlinson, an acquaintance of both the founders and Lu, shared confidential information — including Fizz’s investment bridge and fall investor summary — with Lu, who then gave it directly to Sidechat. (Burlinson contacted TechCrunch separately to state that he “didn’t know Sidechat existed until this article” and that “Jerry Lu had come to me under the false premise that he wanted to invest… Jerry collected this information from me under false pretenses (that he wanted to invest in Fizz).”
Requests for comment sent to Lu and Maveron were not returned. Fizz declined to comment.
Kyle VenCEO of social media platforms Yik Yak and Sidechat, shared the following comment with TechCrunch via email:
“These are allegations, not court findings. We deny any wrongdoing and will address this through the legal process. The alleged events occurred before Sidechat’s current team acquired the business in 2025 and inherited the lawsuit. No one from the current operations team is involved. Right now we are focused on building a great product, not suing other apps.”
Update: This story has been updated to include comments from founder Jack Burlinson, who is listed as a “mutual acquaintance” of the Fizz and Lu founders in the lawsuit between Fizz and Sidechat.
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