Meet the Yale Juniors Who Built the Breakout Series App

At 21, most students are preparing for finals. These two were closing an anti-Facebook platform round to rewire digital networking.

Nathaneo Johnson and Sean Hargrow raised $3 million in just 14 days to launch Series app, an AI-powered networking platform positioned as a radical alternative to traditional social media. They didn’t do it with celebrity endorsements or viral hype. They did it with clarity and a belief that the connection online is long overdue for reinvention.

“We’re 6’5″, Black and technical, a direct foil to the Harvard story,” Johnson says while referencing Facebook’s origin. “And that difference is the reason Series tells a new story of how people connect online.”

More Than a Feed

The Series app isn’t trying to be the next big social network. In fact, it’s intentionally positioning itself as an anti-Facebook platform to avoid the term “social media” altogether.

Traditional platforms thrive on engagement loops—likes, shares, comments, and curated personas. The Series app does the opposite. There’s no feed, no broadcasting. Instead, users train personal AI agents—what the founders call “AI friends”—through everyday text conversations. Those agents then initiate private introductions across the app network.

It’s about re-engineering connections.

“Social media is great for broadcasting, but it doesn’t necessarily help you meet the right people at the right time,” Johnson explains.

The Series app will build what Johnson describes as “the next iteration of human connection.” 

“Traditional platforms are rooted in networks and presentation. You’re posting pictures on Instagram, you’re posting videos on TikTok, and you’re posting job posts on LinkedIn… and that’s where you essentially have this micro-influencer syndrome,” says Johnson.

On the Series app, you don’t need to polish your image or perform for an algorithm. Your AI friend learns who you are, what your goals, vibe, and intent are, and introduces you to someone who matters. 

No swipe. No search bar. Simply connect through genuine contexts.

Building Luck Into the System

The idea wasn’t born in a vacuum. Johnson and Hargrow spent months interviewing founders on their podcast, The Founder Series, dissecting the DNA of startup success.

One theme kept repeating itself: luck.

“Luck is what led to their first funder, their first customer, their first investor,” Johnson says in an Entrepreneur magazine interview. “So we thought, this is somewhat serendipitous, but it ends up being the difference-maker. How could we engineer that luck?”

That question became the foundation of Series app. Instead of waiting for chance meetings or networking luck, users on the app train their AI agents to simulate that serendipity, creating the right introductions at the right time.

It’s not just tech. It’s intentional, AI-powered proximity.

The $3M Series App Sprint

The initial fundraising began with cold emails and warm intros. But momentum kicked in quickly, especially after a pivotal dinner in the Bay Area with investor Anne Lee Skates.

“That dinner changed everything,” Hargrow recalls. “I’ll always remember it as a million-dollar dinner, quite literally.”

Over the next two weeks, Johnson and Hargrow met with more firms. By the end of the sprint, they had secured $3 million in backing for the Series app, despite the increasingly tough early-stage climate.

The duo credits both their pitch and their platform. But they also credit something else: access.

“Being at Yale gives us an unprecedented level of access to networks we wouldn’t have had otherwise,” says Hargrow.

Representation Matters

Johnson, from Irvine, and Hargrow, from Queens, didn’t come from generational tech wealth or insider circles. What they did have was a shared hunger to build—and a drive to make sure the next generation could see themselves in the founders’ seats.

“When I was younger, I didn’t see a lot of people whom I could look up to because they didn’t look like me or build what I was building,” Johnson says. “I can see my childhood self looking up to me now.”

The Series app is as much about identity as it is about innovation. A platform built not just to connect people, but to challenge who’s getting connected, and how.

What Comes Next

The Series app is currently onboarding early users, mostly through referrals. They’re focused on product refinement, expanding the AI’s capabilities, and proving that a genuine digital connection isn’t just a nice idea, it’s a business model.

The vision is bold, but the need is real. As Gen Z seeks more authenticity and less performance in their online lives, the app could be tapping into a deeper shift.

“We’re not trying to replace human relationships,” Johnson says. “We’re trying to help you find them in the first place.”

And with $3 million in the bank, a growing waitlist, and a market hungry for change, the mission to build an anti-Facebook platform is just getting started.