How Two Yale Juniors Just Raised $3.1 Million For Their Social Network

Series founders Nathaneo Johnson and Sean Hargrow
New Haven-based start-up Series is a social network founded by two students at one of the US's most prestigious colleges. But if that makes you think of another well-known social network launched in similar fashion some 20 years ago, co-founders Nathaneo Johnson and Sean Hargrow are keen to put you right. This isn't another Facebook. 'Series tells a new story of how people connect online,' Johnson explains.
Investors like the sound of that. Series in its current form is just a few months old but is today announcing that is has raised $3.1 million of pre-seed funding to turn its founders' vision into reality. That investment came in over the space of just two weeks after a trailer that Johnson posted on another social network, LinkedIn, went viral, attracting interest from venture capital funds and business angel.
Johnson and Hargrow are both juniors at Yale, where both joined the university's society for would-be entrepreneurs. 'One thing we quickly realised from meeting successful entrepreneurs and business founders was that they had engineered their own luck,' Johnson says. 'They didn't just trust that fate would connect them to the people they needed to meet.'
That prompted the duo to think again about the social networks that have come to dominate our lives. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others have attracted huge user numbers but still rely on what Hargrow describes as a 'spray and pray' approach. 'As a user, you're putting your content out there to everyone who follows you and hoping that someone will take notice,' he says. 'The narrative is that online metrics such as likes, followers and reposts equate to real-life value.'
Series takes a different approach. Users joining the network are able to make requests for support from other network users – perhaps they're entrepreneurs writing a business plan, say, and looking for someone to help, or app developers in need of a coder. The request is made to an artificial intelligence-powered agent – Series calls the agent your 'AI friend' – which then scours the network to introduce the user to other members who might be able to help.
'Your AI friend makes warm introductions,' explains Johnson. 'It matches you with people who have effectively invited you into their lives by joining Series.' The most relevant person might not even be a Series user, he adds – your AI friend might introduce you to another member of Series, but they could end up recommending someone outside of the network.
The idea is to make connections between people offering mutual value – rather than building a network where users strive to attract as many followers or positive affirmations of their content as possible. The concept developed out of a podcast series that Johnson and Hargrow developed, featuring interviews with Yale entrepreneurs. They subsequently launched a web-based chatbot to facilitate curated introductions. Series, launched earlier this year, builds on that.
In the first instance, the founders see the network targeting specific communities, consisting of members who are well-placed and disposed to help one another. Series is starting by targeting student entrepreneurs, who will use the platform to reach out to each other and to relevant supporters and advisers. Over time, the founders see potential to target segments such as dating, education and health. 'Our long-term vision is to become the go-to operating system for warm intros across life, not just work,' Johnson adds.
The company's new found financial firepower will help move Series forward, funding new hires at the business as well as a nationwide tour of universities aimed at drumming up more student entrepreneur members across the US. There is also the potential to monetise the business through premium memberships, perhaps for corporate members.
Today's $3.1 million round is led by Parable, the venture firm led by former a16z investor Anne Lee Skates, with participation from Pear VC, DGB.VC, 47th Street, Radicle Impact and Uncommon Projects. Series has also attracted business angel investment, including from Steve Huffman, the CEO of Redditt, and Edward Tian, a founder at GPTZero.

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