New Social App Corner Wants to Take on Google Maps With AI and Events

Eliza Wu and Jake Xia are constructing a brand new map for Gen Z.

Their startup, Nook, has constructed a social mapping app that seeks to rival restaurant assessment stalwarts like Yelp and Tripadvisor. Nook’s map would not offer you instructions — like Google or Apple Maps —  however reasonably provides a brand new technique to discover locations like eating places, golf equipment, retailers, and different small companies that different app customers have vetted.

Based in 2022, Nook’s map solely has locations that customers have added themselves. That was a core product resolution that Nook CEO Wu stated went towards some recommendation the 2 cofounders obtained, like “simply scrape the web.” They wished to have the app’s Gen Z customers construct the map from the bottom up. Three years later, the map has over 275,000 distinctive locations saved.

Nook finds itself at a crossroads of a number of developments swirling in social tech proper now.

For one, it is constructing a social platform particularly for Gen Z, a demographic almost each platform is after. It additionally joins a rising pool of restaurant discovery apps like Beli and Locations (a by-product of unique dating app Raya), in addition to the varied social apps geared extra towards in-real-life (IRL) experiences than on-line scrolling.

A technique Nook is differentiating itself is that the place descriptions on the app are pushed by its Gen Z customers.

“If Google describes this place as a ‘$$ cocktail bar with tapas,’ Gen Z may describe it as a ‘performative male wine bar to interrupt somebody’s coronary heart,'” Wu informed Enterprise Insider.

On Nook, there are not any star scores — they do not “offer you that emotional connection,” CTO Xia stated — and customers are inspired to categorize their critiques into lists which might be someplace between an Infatuation record of the perfect spots in a metropolis and a Pinterest temper board. Contained in the app, there is a feed of different customers’ current critiques of locations starting from cafés to classic retailers to a great spot to look at the sundown.

The app now has about 55,000 customers throughout 450 cities, with hubs in New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Seoul.

A traditional tech story, Nook’s founders first met in 2021 via Twitter. Wu had not too long ago left her job in personal fairness, and Xia later dropped out of faculty as soon as Nook acquired its first time period sheets from enterprise capitalists. The staff left San Francisco and moved to New York City in October. There, Wu and Xia share an condo in a sixth-floor walkup, which additionally capabilities as the corporate’s workplace.

Nook completely informed Enterprise Insider that it has raised a complete of $3.75 million throughout two rounds from VC funds like Summary Ventures, Tapestry, and 1517, in addition to angel traders like Partiful cofounder Shreya Murthy.

“Everyone has pals that they like who they suppose have good style in eating places, or pals which have good style in accommodations, or cool locations to go go to,” stated Ramtin Naimi, founding father of Summary Ventures, who led Nook’s seed spherical. “Of all the pieces else that I’ve seen, and I’ve seen this concept tried a dozen occasions within the final 10 years, this was the perfect execution I would seen.”

What a Gen Z map appears like

Nook seems like a mix of Google Maps, Yelp, Pinterest, and Instagram. Whereas the app opens to a map (which was constructed utilizing Mapbox), it additionally has profiles the place you may see images, critiques, and lists every consumer has posted.

The design is supposed to attraction to Gen Z, who usually depend on social media to seek out new locations. An Eater and Vox Media survey this 12 months discovered that 77% of Gen Z respondents stated they found new eating places on social media.

One in every of Nook’s options permits customers to send Instagram and TikTok posts to the app, which extracts the restaurant info and provides it to the consumer’s map.

This month, Nook is overhauling its app with a brand new AI search characteristic that enables for semantic queries like “spots to cowork from” or “attractive wine bar.” Constructed on Anthropic’s Claude model (in addition to just a few others), the search pulls from Nook customers’ posts and metadata obtainable on the web from sources like Google, social media, and reservations system Resy. The search outcomes solely present locations submitted by Nook customers, nonetheless.

“Our AI on the backend is sort of a little agent that figures out what you are searching for,” Xia stated. “It appears at your total historical past of locations that you have ever saved, after which maps that to what may be the perfect suggestions for you,” based mostly in your question.

Nook can also be launching a digital journal this month that can curate lists of critiques from the app. The startup has already expanded into occasions, with one down and a second deliberate in October.

Whereas the startup is not monetizing the app but, it is contemplating a premium model of the app that will assist customers plan journeys, Wu stated. It is also weighing the choice of working with small companies as a communications device to potential prospects.

Nevertheless, they do not need to go the Google Maps route and have sponsored locations seem throughout the app.

With its newest product rollouts and a brand new AI engineering rent — the corporate now has eight workers — Nook is concentrated on development.

Nonetheless, like all new social app touchdown on Gen Z’s telephones, Nook might want to compete for his or her display screen time.

“It doesn’t matter what type of feed we make, it is simply by no means going to be as fascinating as Instagram or TikTok,” Wu stated.

However as Xia places it, the purpose of Nook “is to not get you socializing” on its app and as an alternative get you to “make a plan to go someplace with the precise individuals that you simply need to be social with.”