These founders built a map app for Gen Z to discover new places like restaurants and shops. They've raised $3.8 million.

"Eliza Wu and Jake Xia are building a new map for Gen Z. Their startup, Corner, has built a social mapping app that seeks to rival restaurant review stalwarts like Yelp and Tripadvisor. Corner's map doesn't give you directions - like Google or Apple Maps - but rather offers a new way to find places like restaurants, clubs, shops, and other small businesses that other app users have vetted."

"Founded in 2022, Corner's map only has places that users have added themselves. That was a core product decision that Corner CEO Wu said went against some advice the two cofounders received, like "just scrape the internet." They wanted to have the app's Gen Z users build the map from the ground up. Three years later, the map has over 275,000 unique places saved."

""If Google describes this place as a '$$ cocktail bar with tapas,' Gen Z might describe it as a 'performative male wine bar to break someone's heart,'" Wu told Business Insider. On Corner, there are no star ratings - they don't "give you that emotional connection," CTO Xia said - and users are encouraged to categorize their reviews into lists that are somewhere between an Infatuation list"

Corner is a social mapping app founded in 2022 that targets Gen Z by crowdsourcing place entries and reviews from users. The app's map only includes places added by users, and it has grown to over 275,000 unique saved places. Corner forgoes star ratings and emphasizes personalized lists and Gen Z descriptive language. The product does not provide directions but focuses on discovery of restaurants, clubs, shops, and small businesses vetted by peers. The company has raised $3.75 million and is expanding with AI search tools, events, and a magazine. Corner competes with Yelp, Tripadvisor, and emerging discovery apps.

Read at Business Insider