Filing: West Co, founded by Biz Stone and Evan Sharp, raised $29M; it launched the invite-only social app Tangle, “designed for intentional living”, in November
Biz Stone and Evan Sharp raise new funds for ‘Tangle’ as they assess the ‘devastation’ caused by online excess Bluesky: @tonytassell Bluesky: Tony Tassell / @tonytassell : This is fascinating.,Two Silicon Valley veterans behind Twitter and Pinterest - Biz Stone and Evan Sharp - have launched a new app that is designed to be an antidote to the “terrible devastation” they say has been caused by social media - rpt by @tim.fo www.ft.com/content/6a33...
Context & Ripple Effects
Tangle enters a social-app reset already marked by products seeking a less chaotic alternative: T2 explicitly pursued a “2007 Twitter” feel, while Bluesky initially resembled a simpler, more positive version of Twitter.
The difference is that Tangle is framed around intentional living rather than a replacement for a familiar public-feed experience. Its $29M filing gives West Co resources to test whether that positioning can support an invite-only network.
First-order effects
- West Co gains $29M in disclosed financing to support Tangle, the invite-only app launched by founders Biz Stone and Evan Sharp.
- Tangle can continue developing and admitting users under an explicitly intentional-living premise, rather than competing solely on the broad-access model Bluesky adopted when it opened to the public.
Second-order effects
- The raise increases pressure on alternative social products to differentiate through the experience and norms they offer, not merely by recreating Twitter-like posting.
- For users evaluating newer networks, Tangle adds another distinct option alongside Bluesky and earlier Twitter alternatives, making audience attention and community formation more fragmented.
Third-order effects
- If intentional-use products win durable communities, the social market could segment further by participation norms and purpose rather than consolidate around a single general-purpose feed.
- That outcome remains uncertain: an invite-only format may protect a product’s early culture, but it also limits the scale and network effects that broad public alternatives pursue.
The trend: This is one data point in the shift from generic social-feed replacements toward networks differentiated by curated access, community norms, and a stated healthier-use proposition.