There’s a social media app I like using more than Instagram or TikTok — and it’s attracted serious investor interest.
The app, called Retro, is an Instagram alternative for sharing photos and videos with close friends or family.
The startup behind the app, Lone Palm Labs, has raised at least $21 million in venture capital funding, according to recent financial filings viewed by Business Insider. On the startup’s website, the company lists investors such as Josh Kushner’s Thrive Capital, Scribble Ventures, Imaginary Ventures, and Uncommon Projects, as well as angels including Figma CEO Dylan Field.
Retro did not respond to requests for comment.
Retro was founded by former Instagram employees who wanted to build a “super simple product that’s really just for you and your friends,” Nathan Sharp, Lone Palm’s CEO, previously told Business Insider.
Sharp, who worked on both Instagram and Facebook, teamed up with Ryan Olson, a longtime Instagram engineer, in 2022 to found Lone Palm Labs. Split between New York and San Francisco, Lone Palm Labs is a team of seven employees, according to the company’s website. The company launched another app in 2025, called Splat, which can make a coloring page for kids from photos using AI.
While venture capital is pouring money into AI, data centers, and SaaS companies, some consumer tech startups building social media apps have had to fight tooth and nail to get a slice of the pie. PitchBook data revealed a steady decline in the number of deals backing social startups since a peak in 2021 — though total deal value for 2026 is already rebounding after a dismal 2025.
That environment makes Lone Palm Labs’ haul especially notable.
Social media for your real-life friends
Since Retro launched in 2023, the social app has added many new features. While it’s primarily a diary for documenting your daily life — I typically share photos and memes from the week — it’s expanded with shared photo albums and a feed of throwbacks that transport you back in time via your camera roll. You can also send posts from the app as literal postcards in the mail.
Unlike Instagram or Facebook, I don’t have hundreds of friends added on the app. I have a lean social graph of 20 friends.
According to data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, Retro has an estimated 1.7 million global monthly active users and 7.8 million global downloads as of Wednesday. Outside the US, the app has seen success in countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Germany, and Spain, according to Appfigures data.
The app currently has no ads and uses a freemium model for monetization. While it’s free to make an account, Retro in 2025 introduced a premium subscription that lets users unlock features such as posting videos and viewing other friends’ content without having to post their own. The subscription costs about $36 a year.
As bigger social media apps lose their social-ness and become more entertainment platforms, apps like Retro are betting that people are willing to pay for connection.
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