Investors like Vanessa Larco (Premise), Adina Tecklu (Khosla), and Ramtin Naimi (Abstract Ventures) are backing buzzy new social startups.Courtesy of Premise; Courtesy of Khosla Ventures; Courtesy of Abstract VenturesAI is changing social media as we know it. It's also minting new social startups.Business Insider is highlighting 22 venture capital firms hunting for social breakouts.They're backing dating apps, AI-era social networks, and online platforms to help us connect IRL.Something has to change, right?Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok have dominated the social media landscape for years. As AI infiltrates every platform — and many corners of our lives — new social media founders, apps, and internet behaviors are emerging.From vibe coding to cultural shifts shaping how people want to connect, it's a perfect storm for founders to experiment with social media.AI has "essentially brought down the cost of making anything," Amy Wu Martin, a partner at Menlo Ventures, told Business Insider.Menlo is an investor in Anthropic, whose product Claude Code has radically changed the product-building pipeline for startups."If you want to build a consumer AI company, you may not need a lot of engineers, but you still need cash for Anthropic credits," said Vanessa Larco, who cofounded Premise, a new VC firm backing AI-native startups.While it's easier than ever to make an app out of thin air, it's difficult to raise venture capital for a consumer-facing social media upstart.PitchBook data on social startup investments shows that after a peak in 2021 (239 deals totaling $2.2 billion), the number of deals has declined each year. In 2025, PitchBook counted 97 deals totaling $330 million.Still, there's a cohort of investors with hungry eyes searching for what will stick.Business Insider is highlighting investors at 22 VC firms that are actively funding or scouting out innovative social startups. Our third annual list is sourced from nominations by startup founders and venture peers, as well as our own reporting.These investors, across the board, are excited by what AI has unlocked for the category, and many are bullish on consumer investments even as the broader VC space shies away from it. Our list includes big-shot firms that backed many of the mobile-era giants, as well as AI-era funds founded by VCs who wanted to take things into their own hands.They're backing startups building agentic solutions for our personal relationships, companies focused on getting us off our phones and into real life, and vibe-coding startups turning software into content.As Nicole Quinn — a former investor at Lightspeed Venture Partners who left in 2025 to cofound Connect Ventures — put it, funding this next wave of internet startups will largely be investing in the "future of joy."Meet the investors at 22 VC firms on the hunt for startups changing how we connect online:A16z has an accelerator that backs many early-stage internet startupsKimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunchInvestors: Andrew Chen, general partner; Olivia Moore, partner; Justine Moore, partnerAndreessen Horowitz backed many of the biggest hits of the mobile era, including Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit, and Roblox. It's also backed a slew of social companies from the 2020s, like BeReal, Clubhouse, Partiful, and Substack.The firm has been actively backing consumer applications of AI, with investors including the twin-investor duo Olivia and Justine Moore.A16z also runs a competitive accelerator, Speedrun, which invests up to $1 million in early-stage consumer startups. The accelerator is spearheaded by general partner Andrew Chen.Recent investments:Town: An AI agent service for managing inboxes and meetingsSekai: A platform that creates interactive mini-apps from text promptsSitch: An AI-powered dating appWabi: A platform for creating mini-apps without any codingAbstract Ventures is backing some of the buzziest social startupsAbstract Ventures' Ramtin Naimi and Alex Davidov.Courtesy of Abstract VenturesInvestors: Ramtin Naimi, founder and general partner; Alex Davidov, general partnerFrom events app Partiful to the social-map startup Corner, Abstract's investors have their fingers on the pulse of new internet companies.Founded by Naimi in 2016 when he was 25, the San Francisco-based firm typically invests in seed and early-stage companies. The firm has $1.8 billion in assets under management, per its website. Outside the consumer umbrella, the firm has also made bets in crypto, AI, and enterprise.Before joining Abstract in 2018, Davidov was a fintech investor at Core Innovation Capital.Recent investments:Status: an AI mobile gaming startupCorner: an app for tracking and sharing restaurants and other local spotsBuildForever: the company behind the AI email tool ExtraAmo: the French company behind the social-map app BumpBabylon is eyeing fresh startups with a clear impact on cultureHugo Amsellem cofounded Babylon VC.Courtesy of Hugo AmsellemInvestor: Hugo Amsellem, cofounder and
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