London-based startup Yope has raised $12.3 million in a seed round led by Northzone to build a private social network aimed at young people, deliberately avoiding the algorithmic feeds, advertising and public content that define giants like Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram. The app is built around "micro communities" — small groups of real-life friends and family who share photos, videos and messages privately — and matters because it targets a growing gap between how young people actually want to socialise and the creator-driven, ad-funded model that now dominates mainstream platforms.

Yope's founders say the concept grew out of more than 100,000 AI-assisted interviews with young users, which found around 30% already relying on private "photo dump" accounts to share candidly with close friends rather than posting publicly. Accounts on Yope are private by default, with no algorithmic feed and no advertising; instead the company plans a premium subscription model. Profile "walls" display photos in a collage-style layout reminiscent of Myspace, and the app is developing AI-powered mini-games and tools to help friends meet up in person, alongside standard features like messaging and lock-screen widgets.