Yope
SeedDon't perform. Just yope.
A private, algorithm-free social network where close friends and family share photos, videos, and voice notes straight to each other's lock screens.
About
Yope is a London-based social network built around private "Friendspaces" where close friends and family drop photos, videos, and voice notes that land straight on each other's lock screens — no algorithmic feed, no likes, and no ads. Founded in 2021 by CEO Bahram Ismailau (previously co-founded AI startup Peech) and CTO Paul Rudkouski (ex-Rakuten), university classmates from Minsk, the company pivoted twice — starting as a multi-cam app called Salo — and ran over 100,000 user interviews before relaunching as Yope in late 2024. The bet is paying off: nearly 15 million people have registered, with 10–20 million pieces of content shared weekly, more than 500 million photos and videos shared to date, and over half of users opening the app five or more days a week. In July 2026, Yope raised a $12.3M seed round led by Northzone — an early Spotify backer — with participation from Inovo, Redseed, and Geek Ventures, bringing total funding to roughly $20M.
DailyDropout Take
Gen Z is still taking more photos than any generation before it — they just stopped posting them publicly, and Yope is betting the group chat, not the feed, is where social media goes next. Ismailau and Rudkouski burned through two failed pivots before finding product-market fit, and the resulting habit numbers (50%+ opening the app five-plus days a week) are the kind of retention most "authentic social" apps never reach. The open question is durability: BeReal put up similar early numbers before cratering and selling for a fraction of its peak hype, and Yope still has to prove it can monetize without ads or algorithmic engagement tricks while Meta and Instagram circle the same behavior.
Discovery signal: Raised a $12.3M seed led by Northzone (an early Spotify backer) on the back of ~15M registered users and 50%+ five-day weekly retention, without ever running an algorithmic feed or ads.
What Makes Them Unique
A persistent private space — customizable profile walls, collage memories, AI-generated recaps, and lock-screen widgets — rather than a single-gimmick authentic-sharing app like BeReal or Locket.
~15M
Registered Users
10-20M pieces
Content Shared Weekly
500M+
Photos & Videos Shared
50%+ of users
5+ Days/Week Active
Target Markets
Founders
Bahram Ismailau
Co-Founder & CEO
Previously co-founded AI startup Peech; university classmate of Paul Rudkouski from Minsk.
Paul Rudkouski
Co-Founder & CTO
Former Rakuten engineer; co-founded Yope (originally Salo) with Bahram Ismailau.
Funding History
Lead: Northzone
Investors
Firms
Gallery