College students raise $5.1M to build AI social network inside iMessage

Two Yale seniors just closed a $5.1 million pre-seed round for their AI-powered social network that works entirely through iMessage. Series, founded by Nathaneo Johnson and Sean Hargrow, announced backing from notable investors including Venmo co-founder Iqram Magdon-Ismail, Pear VC, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, and GPTZero founder Edward Tian.

The timing reflects a broader trend in tech where young founders are building AI-first companies from the ground up, giving them an advantage over older startups trying to retrofit AI into existing products. Johnson and Hargrow represent the next generation of entrepreneurs whose businesses are designed around conversational AI interfaces rather than traditional app experiences.

How Series works through iMessage

Users text a phone number (Series AI) explaining who they are and who they want to connect with. The AI responds with “shares” – carousels of 10 images showing posts from other users looking to connect for similar reasons. Each card shows a person’s photo and their request.

The clever part: users can press and hold a carousel photo to start a private conversation within the Series AI chat without sharing personal phone numbers. This keeps networking conversations contained while protecting privacy.

Johnson sees this as part of a major shift from traditional user interfaces to conversational ones – similar to how people moved from Google search to ChatGPT. “You’re used to scrolling through libraries and clicking on websites versus conversing with AI or something else to quickly identify what you’re looking for,” he explained.

From podcast interviews to warm connections

The founders met during freshman year while working on a podcast at the Yale Entrepreneurial Society. They interviewed founders and CEOs to understand successful business building, which helped them “realize the power of warm connections.”

That insight led them to start their first company around using AI as a “warm connection facilitator.” After multiple iterations over about a year, they landed on the current concept and began fundraising in March 2025.

Their fundraising got a boost from a viral LinkedIn video. Johnson said they came up with the trailer idea at 1 a.m., stayed up all night to shoot it, and posted it at 3 p.m. the same day. Two days later, they met their first investor.

Strong early traction across 750+ campuses

Series has expanded beyond its initial college base while still targeting Gen Z and professionals. The platform shows impressive retention numbers:

• Users across more than 750 campuses
• 82% retention through Day 30
• Higher retention than early Facebook benchmarks

Most people use Series for business networking, though some use it for dating or finding friends. The company competes with other AI networking tools like Boardy AI.

Staying east and staying in school

Series plans to use the funding to hire more engineers and expand product capabilities. The company will remain on the East Coast after the founders graduate, operating from their Chelsea, New York office. Johnson and Hargrow currently make the two-hour commute from New Haven frequently.

“We have built an initial network for Series amongst the Ivy League and more prominently, schools in the East Coast. Also, we have a strong belief in Silicon Alley,” Johnson said, reflecting a trend of young consumer founders choosing New York over Silicon Valley.

Notably, both founders are finishing their degrees. Johnson studies computer science and economics while running an eight-person team. He acknowledges the challenge of balancing exams and essays with company operations but believes he had time for both.

“Your extra time outside of your supposed obligation can be used to catapult what you’re truly meant to do,” he said. “People are often so scared to make use of their extra time.”