Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp are back in the social game — this time with a promise to undo some of the damage.
Their new startup, West Co, has quietly raised $29 million in funding, with Spark Capital leading the seed round, according to regulatory filings and comments reported by the Financial Times.
The company’s first product is Tangle, an invite-only social app that soft-launched in November.
Instead of chasing likes, followers or virality, Tangle starts with a simple prompt: “What’s your intention for today?”
Users then share their daily goals with friends, with the app aiming to help them:
- plan their days with more intention
- capture what actually happens
- spot the “deeper threads” that shape their lives over time
Sharp, who is CEO of West Co, framed the company as a response to what he sees as the psychological fallout of the last decade and a half of social media. He said West Co emerged from asking: “What could I build that might help address just some of the terrible devastation of the human mind and heart that we’ve wrought the last 15 years?”
It’s an ambitious claim for yet another social app — especially from founders who helped build two of the defining platforms of the last era. But the pitch is clear: design a network around reflection and intention, not endless scrolling.
Still, even West Co acknowledges the idea is far from finished. Stone told the Financial Times that Tangle could change significantly before a wider public launch.
For now, key details remain open: when Tangle will exit invite-only mode, how West Co will make money and whether consumers actually want a calmer, more structured social experience.
What is clear is that some of social media’s original architects now say they want to repair the system they helped create — and they’re betting $29 million that a single prompt about your day is a good place to start.
