Forget the feed: Status AI raises $17M to turn social media into interactive entertainment

Consumer investor Natalie Dillon of Maveron has argued the winners of the new era of social media will be “the platforms that combine intimacy, utility, and creativity in one ecosystem,” in that they won’t “look like traditional social networks; they’ll feel like multiplayer environments where people can build, buy, and belong all at once.” 

Nur said the fresh capital will be used to help scale the platform. Already, she said, Status has seen more than 13 million worlds created, with more than 5 million character profiles — metrics that suggest strong early engagement in what Nur calls a new category: immersive social entertainment.

“Our early users were predominantly young women,” she said. “And this has consistently been the audience that decides which platforms become culture.” 

This article was updated to add Union Square Ventures as an investor.