Snap Alumni Initiate Ghost Angels Fund

A group of 20 alumni from Snap has come together to create a fund called Ghost Angels, aimed at fostering the next generation of social media innovations. Although the fund has not disclosed its total capital raised thus far, it has confirmed investments in at least five companies and plans to allocate the rest of its funds to at least 15 additional startups within the upcoming year.

Max Rivera, who previously managed global partnerships at Snap, founded the fund in 2025 to formalize the expanding network of Snap alumni involved in angel investing. While Rivera is at the helm of the fund, approximately 20 other founding members and investors are also engaged, including current Snap employees and alumni like Alexandra Levitt, who oversaw Snap’s corporate accelerator, and Will Wu, a founding member of Snap’s product and design team.

“We were intentional about our diversity,” Rivera, now working at Microsoft’s AI lab, expressed to TechCrunch, highlighting Ghost Angels’ goal to bring together both seasoned executives and those earlier in their careers. “This mix of perspectives and experiences is key to how we assess opportunities and support founders.”

A lot has evolved since Rivera’s journey at Snap began nearly ten years ago. Today’s startups often consist of smaller teams, with founders moving swiftly and iterating their offerings in public.

“We’re observing a range of monetization models that extend beyond traditional advertising, including subscriptions, tokens, usage-based approaches, and even outcome-based strategies,” he pointed out. “Founders are taking charge, making founder-led go-to-market strategies an essential aspect.”

The fund primarily focuses on pre-seed and seed investments in AI startups innovating in the social media and consumer sectors. Rivera has identified an important trend where the concepts of “social” and “media” are increasingly becoming distinct. He explained that what we view as social media today often revolves around advertising, with algorithms heavily influencing content and recommendations.

“Many people feel a sense of disillusionment with that compared to the initial vision of connecting individuals,” Rivera noted. TechCrunch previously reported that the upcoming wave of social media is transitioning from larger platforms to more specialized communities.

“In terms of social, we’re backing founders who employ AI in creative ways to finally deliver on that original promise,” Rivera added. “On the media side, we’re supporting AI-driven formats and generative creative tools across multiple media types such as music, gaming, sports, and fashion, significantly lowering the barriers to creation and distribution.”