Social startup Yope, founded by Belarusian entrepreneurs in 2021, has raised $12.3 million in a funding round led by Northzone, with participation from Inovo, Redseed and Geek Ventures. The investment brings the company's total funding to $20 million.
Instead of competing with TikTok or Instagram through public feeds and recommendation algorithms, Yope is building a social network around private groups of friends and family. The app has no public content, no advertising and no algorithmic feed. Its core idea is to make sharing feel personal again rather than optimized for creators and influencers.
The founders say the product was shaped after more than 100,000 AI-assisted user interviews, which revealed that many young people want to share everyday moments with close friends, but not with a public audience. Yope also uses AI to improve social interactions – creating personalized recaps, building multiplayer games and helping friends organize real-world meetups – instead of generating content.
The approach is gaining traction. Yope says it now has nearly 15 million registered users, with 10–20 million photos, videos and stickers shared every week. More than half of users open the app at least five days a week, and around one in five has invited an older family member to join the platform.
The new funding will help Yope expand the product, grow its team and open a U.S. office.