Beyond the AI Gold Rush: Why Startups Are Building 'Together Tech' Instead

The Countermovement in Startup Funding

While generative AI companies continue securing record-breaking venture capital rounds—including Alphabet’s $80 billion AI investment announced recently—a distinct cohort of founders is moving in the opposite direction. According to TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, this shift reflects genuine market demand for experiences that prioritize human connection over algorithmic optimization, rather than functioning as mere backlash against AI’s dominance.

The distinction matters: these startups are not positioning themselves as “AI-free alternatives” but as affirmative expressions of what communities want to build together.

Board and the Rise of In-Person Social Platforms

Brynn Putnam, founder of fitness platform Mirror, has raised capital for Board, a startup centered on bringing people together through in-person games and social experiences. According to TechCrunch, Board represents a bet that demand exists for platforms optimized around physical gatherings rather than engagement metrics tied to screen time.

This directly contrasts with the social media model that has dominated consumer tech for two decades—where growth is measured in daily active users and session length. Board’s thesis inverts that priority: the product succeeds when users leave their devices and interact face-to-face.

DIY Hardware as Cultural Signal

Alongside Board, handmade cyberdeck computers have gained viral traction among makers and enthusiasts. These whimsical, tactile devices are explicitly designed to encourage users to engage with hardware physically rather than optimize for portability or compute efficiency. According to TechCrunch’s coverage, cyberdecks embody the same philosophy: technology as a means to tangible, embodied experience.

Why This Matters

The venture capital ecosystem’s response to these startups signals a potential rebalancing in how founders and investors evaluate consumer opportunity. If Board, cyberdeck, and similar projects attract institutional backing at scale, it would suggest that limited attention and capital are beginning to flow beyond the AI-centric narrative that has consumed most headlines since 2023.

However, the podcast hosts—including Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane—note an unresolved tension: whether venture funding for “together tech” can scale meaningfully when most institutional capital continues flowing to AI infrastructure and large language model providers. The question for the next 18 months is whether this is a durable market shift or a niche enthusiasm that remains capital-constrained relative to the AI boom.