Consumer VCs are backing vibe coding, AI dating, IRL meetup and agent assistant apps. The five picks map where consumer investing is heading next.
Venture investors are hunting for social media startups that can spark new connections and nurture existing ones.
Shawn Carolan, a partner at Menlo Ventures, said the previous wave of giants like Facebook and Instagram "started based on connection," then "evolved into media companies."
Business Insider's third annual list counted 22 venture firms backing social startups, and the bets cluster in five categories: vibe coding for younger users, AI dating, IRL meetup platforms, agent-style assistants, and AI entertainment apps. Menlo Ventures and Forerunner, both firms with dedicated consumer internet investors, sit among the most active backers. Verdict Capital and Premise were founded by investors out of General Catalyst and Lightspeed Venture Partners who wanted a narrower focus: consumer-facing AI startups.
Niko Bonatsos, cofounder and managing director of Verdict Capital, said AI allows founders to "reimagine entire categories" and build "so much faster."
Vanessa Larco, cofounder of Premise, told Business Insider that kids and teens are "vibe coding apps," meaning they describe a small application in plain language and let an AI model build it. She is one of several investors watching how that habit spreads among younger users.
Startups in the niche include Wabi and Sekai, platforms where people vibe code mini apps, then share and remix them. Both have raised millions from firms including Khosla and A16z. Nicole Quinn, a Connect Ventures investor who backed Sekai, said the draw is creation. "People don't want to just watch anymore. They want to create."
Gaming tools sit in the same category. Lemonade, an AI agent for building Roblox mini-games, raised from Menlo Ventures. ForgeGUI, an AI-powered game design tool for developers, took money from Verdict Capital. Roblox, where Lemonade's mini-games run, carries a 29/100 Alpha Score on AlphaScala's RBLX stock page, a Weak rating in the Communication Services sector.
Menlo's Amy Wu Martin said falling barriers to code push consumers toward a simple realization: "I can make stuff for myself." The shift reaches digital culture, too. Creators who make content about vibe coding, or who vibe code new apps themselves, are emerging. "Apps are going to be the new media," Amber Atherton of Patron said.
A new class of dating apps is challenging Tinder and Bumble. Overtone, an AI dating app from Hinge founder Justin McLeod, raised $18 million in a round that included FirstMark's Rick Heitzmann. Heitzmann said he once dismissed the category. "Probably a year ago, someone would've said 'dating,' I would've been like, 'Ugh, it's a horrible category.'" "But then you meet somebody who's thought about the world completely differently, more originally, and better than you have, and it changes your mind," he said.
The pitch across these apps is that AI removes the awkward parts of dating, through custom matchmaking or wingman-style assistants. Sitch, backed by A16z Speedrun and Premise, is one of them. Its cofounder, Chad DePue, also invests through Uncommon Projects. Forerunner backed Known, an AI dating service built around audio matchmakers. Left Field, which pairs people by shared interests and communities, raised from Seven Seven Six.
A separate cluster of social apps is built to get people off their phones. Marina Girgis of Precursor said people feel "exhausted and maybe a little bit nervous about AI." "They want to put their phones down and connect with people IRL," she said.
Abstract Ventures backed two map-based apps: Corner, for finding and sharing local spots, and Amo, the French studio behind Bump, which lets friends track each other. Posh, a platform for IRL events and ticketing, announced a $37 million Series B led by FirstMark in March. Sweatpals, for fitness and wellness, and Swsh, for sharing content at music festivals and sporting events, fill out the list.
Quinn of Connect Ventures framed the IRL push as a complement to AI productivity. "As we all lean into AI and we're more efficient with the productivity gains of AI, human beings will have more disposable time," she said. "How do they like to spend disposable time? It's doing what they love."
Early bets are landing on AI agents that manage parts of people's social lives, a category investors say has yet to prove itself. Town, an AI personal assistant for inboxes and calendars, announced a $55 million Series A in June. A16z and Forerunner participated. Ollie, aimed at parents, helps families manage household tasks.
The longer-term bet is that assistants given access to personal data enable new kinds of connection. "Someone's going to build this kind of god-like companion that knows everyone and is omnipresent," Shine Capital's Ethan Daly said. Carolan at Menlo said he is fascinated by startups reinventing "the contacts book." Babylon's Hugo Amsellem invested in Eigen, an AI "mutual friend" that announced $15 million in seed funding this year.
Entertainment rounds out the fifth category. Lore, a fandom platform powered by AI search, gives people a new way to "rabbit hole" about their pop culture obsessions "instead of just doing it in Google," Girgis said. Status, an AI mobile gaming startup that lets people role-play as characters, is backed by Abstract Ventures and Creator Ventures.
Suno, a platform for making and sharing AI-generated music, announced a $5.4 billion valuation in June after raising hundreds of millions of dollars. Menlo Ventures led the company's Series C in 2025.
Drafted by a large language model from the source reporting linked above, then screened by automated publishing checks. It is not read by a journalist before publication. Some articles cite our Alpha Score. Verify prices and figures against the original source. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.