Accelerator

O3 Is Rebuilding the Social Layer Gen Z Lost - Online and IRL

Gen Z is the most connected - and loneliest - generation in history. Social media has become performance. Physical third places have disappeared. Online or offline, there’s nowhere left to simply be.

By
Bell Allen
Bell Allen
August 28, 2025

Gen Z is the most connected - and loneliest -  generation in history. Social media has become performance. Physical third places have disappeared. Online or offline, there’s nowhere left to simply be.


O3
is the startup changing that.


Founded by Luca Yang, O3, one of the 16 companies in the Startmate Summer’25 Accelerator cohort, is a new kind of social network - one that starts with space. In the app, users don’t see content. They see people. A spatial canvas where everyone is live, present, and talking - just like real life.


Alongside them are “Oysters,” socially intelligent AI agents that help people connect by noticing who’s nearby, who’s alone, and who they should meet. Quietly. Seamlessly. At scale.


And some of those people are in the same room. O3 builds and operates physical coworking cafés where users scan in, earn rewards, and bring the network to life. The physical and digital melt into one. And, unlike other tech companies, O3 is deeply trusted by its cult-like customers.


In under a year, O3 has crossed $2M annual revenue, grown to over 1,000 subscribed paying members, and attracted 100,000+ followers and in-person visitors across its spaces and digital presence. Customers are engineers, surgeons, musicians, students and founders. Growth is entirely word-of-mouth. There is no paid marketing.


O3
isn’t building social media. It’s building infrastructure for a new social layer - one where presence beats performance, and connection feels real again.


📹 Learn more about
O3’s mission to reconnect the disconnected:


💰O3 aren’t just looking for funding. 


They are on the hunt for 1 dedicated angel investor.


One person who truly believes in their mission. If that’s you, connect with Luca.

Bell Allen
Junior Content Creator
Meet the author

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