Startups
Business Insiderabout 6 hours ago
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A startup building a map to help you make plans with friends has doubled its funding

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Corner, a social mapping app for Gen Z, has doubled its total funding to $7.5 million as it competes in the crowded social-mapping space.

A startup building a map to help you make plans with friends has doubled its funding

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The Big Picture
Corner, a New York-based social mapping startup targeting Gen Z users, has raised additional funding to bring its total to $7.5 million, nearly doubling from $3.75 million in 2025. The app allows users to save locations, leave reviews, share photos, and curate lists, with over 250,000 users across 425 cities primarily in New York and Europe. Corner competes with rivals like Beli and larger platforms such as Google Maps and Apple Maps, but has built a following through its digital magazine and social media presence. The startup recently rolled out an AI-powered search feature for personalized recommendations and is preparing for a Series A round.
Why It Matters
Corner's funding surge signals that social mapping apps are gaining traction as Gen Z seeks authentic, friend-driven recommendations over algorithm-heavy platforms. By doubling its capital to $7.5 million, Corner is positioning itself to compete with giants like Google Maps and Yelp, betting that user-curated maps and AI personalization can reshape how young people discover local spots. This reflects a broader shift toward niche social tools that prioritize real-world connections and privacy, challenging the dominance of big tech in local discovery.

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Corner's team is building a social mapping app for Gen Z.
Corner
Corner's team is building a social mapping app for Gen Z.

Sydney Bradley/BI

  • Corner, a social mapping startup that helps people find local spots, has doubled its funding.
  • The New York-based startup has raised $7.5 million, the company confirmed.
  • It's one of many new social media startups trying to break through.

Finding a really good restaurant or bar takes effort.

Corner, a startup looking to make that process easier, has raised more capital to stake its claim in the map game.

Corner, which was founded in 2022, is a social-mapping app targeting Gen Z users who want to meet up in real life. In the app, users can leave reviews, share photos, and curate lists. Locations are added to Corner's map only when a user saves it.

The platform has more than 250,000 users — primarily in New York and Europe — across 425 cities, the company said.

The startup has nearly doubled its total funding since 2025.

In September, Corner told Business Insider that it had raised $3.75 million across two rounds from VC funds including Abstract Ventures, Tapestry, and 1517. The startup also has angel investors, like Partiful's cofounder Shreya Murthy.

The New York-based startup has raised new funding since, with total funding reaching $7.5 million, Corner confirmed. The startup is gearing up to raise a Series A round.

Corner isn't the only app trying to make waves in the social-mapping and restaurant-saving categories.

Beli, a rival app for saving and sharing restaurants, had raised $12 million in venture capital as of June 2025, the company previously told Business Insider. Apps like Amo's Bump, a social app for tracking your friends, are also gaining steam. Meanwhile, Corner has to compete with larger players like Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Yelp.

Corner has carved out a following on social media as it grows its platform and business. Its digital magazine has over 91,000 followers on Instagram. Eliza Wu and Jake Xia, Corner's cofounders, have also become faces of the brand on social.

Corner product
Corner product
Corner is a social map for saving and sharing local spots.

Corner; Apple App Store

A map with personalized recommendations

Last year, Corner rolled out an overhauled search feature that leverages AI to suggest recommendations based on Corner reviews and content.

"Our proprietary dataset powers true personalization instead of virality-based recommendations," said Corner CEO Wu.

Corner's been experimenting with new features, too.

Recently, I've noticed Corner will let me know when a reservation opens up at a restaurant I've saved. The app also now lets you add bookings and events, provides a round-up of places that people — including your friends — are raving about, and offers age- and location-based suggestions on where to go out.

"Of everything else that I've seen, and I've seen this idea tried a dozen times in the last 10 years, this was the best execution I'd seen," Abstract Ventures' Ramtin Naimi, a Corner investor, told Business Insider in September.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Startups Social Media AI Gen Z Mapping

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