Snack opens the door to Gen Z investors as part of a $2 million round

Snack, the Vancouver-based video-first dating app founded by Kim Kaplan launched a Gen Z Syndicate on AngelList. The Syndicate will allow the Snack community of users, creators and influencers to take part in an upcoming $2 million SAFE (simple agreement for future equity). This round will offer ‘snack-sized’ investments to accredited investors, starting at $1,000.

Why is Snack doing this?

“Gen Z is an incredibly disruptive generation of innovators,” says Kaplan. “They aren’t just TikTokers influencing our style and vocabulary, they’re passionate creators that will soon dominate the startup world, and most importantly for Snack, the dating world. If we want to build a successful brand for Gen Z, there’s no better way to do that than to have Gen Z team members, consultants and investors heavily involved from the start. That was one of the main reasons I decided to open the SAFE.”

What’s the backstory?

As a dating app targeted squarely at Gen Z, Snack is launching this dedicated investment platform to enable the app to be powered by the community that uses it.

• This work started back in September 2020 around the time Snack was being founded, when Kaplan reached out to Gen Z Mafia, a group of young technologists with a mission to make venture capital and startups inclusive.

• The group’s leaders, Emma Salinas and Nikolas Huebecker, consulted with Kaplan, notably helping her come up with Snack’s logo and brand name.

Huebecker is one of Snack’s new investors. “Video-first dating allows a unique sense of expression that you can't portray with a few well-crafted words and filtered pictures,” he says. “For a mobile-first generation, this new form of authenticity will grow to be necessary. Snack allows users to express their real selves just like they do on TikTok, Snapchat, and other platforms we love.”

Who else is involved?

Investors in the SAFE include Monique Woodard (Cake Ventures), Backbone Angels, SHAKTI, Christian Wiklund, Tiny Capital’s Andrew Wilkinson and others. This new funding will allow Snack to speed up the growth of the business through marketing and hiring.

Snack publicly launched in February with $3.5 million from Kindred Ventures, Coelius Capital, Golden Ventures, Garage Capital, Panache Ventures and N49P.