Snap alums unveil Ghost Angels bag

A group of 20 Snap alumni have come together to launch a fund called Ghost Angels to support the next generation of social media. The fund declined to disclose how much it has raised so far, but says it has backed at least five companies and plans to send the remaining funds within the next year to at least 15 companies.

Max Rivera, who led global partnerships at Snap, launched the 2025 fund to fund the already growing Snap alumni-Investing community. Although Rivera runs the fund, there are 20 other founding members and investors, including a few who are still at Snap, along with alumni like Alexandra Levitt, who ran Snap’s accelerator, and Will Wu, who was a founding member of Snap’s product and design team.

“We had a goal of reuniting,” Rivera, who works in Microsoft’s AI lab, told TechCrunch, saying that Ghost Angels wants to bring senior executives back together with those who have previously worked on their projects. “Diversity of thought and experience is the foundation of how we approach and support startups.”

A lot has changed since he started at Snap nearly 10 years ago. Today, the construction industry has very few teams, while “innovators are launching faster and more and more in the community.”

“We’re seeing the testing of different types of monetization beyond subscription ads, tokens (and) using, or results-based,” he said. “Founders are also at the forefront, with founder-led GTM as a key pillar.”

Naturally, the fund focuses on investing in AI seed startups that are developing in social media and consumer. Rivera said that one of the biggest things he saw in the next generation of social media is how “culture” and “media” have become divided. The concept of what consumers know as social media today is a platform that relies heavily on advertising, with driving algorithms and opinions.

“Many people are disappointed by their family member and the initial promise of connecting with the people in your life,” Rivera said. Results TechCrunch report last year that the next generation of media was moving away from traditional platforms and into rural areas.

“On the social side, we’re supporting startups that are using AI in creative ways to deliver on the original promise,” Rivera said. “On the media side, (we support) AI models and production tools for a variety of productions, from music to sports, games, and fashion, which are significantly reducing the barrier to production and distribution.”