Please welcome Cocoon, a shared digital space helping far-flung families stay close
Meet Cocoon, the latest addition to Lerer Hippeau’s portfolio.
HQ: San Francisco
Cofounders: Sachin Monga and Alex Cornell
The problem: We’re more connected and socialized than ever, but we’ve never felt so alone. Per one report, nearly half (46%) of U.S. adults report feeling “sometimes” or “always” alone. With countless social networks at our fingertips, it’s easy to connect, but harder to sustain and deepen ties. This predicament is especially true for young adults, one third of whom have moved away from their strongest relationships: nuclear families. As this increasingly transient population navigates a world away from what they know, it can become more difficult to preserve close connections over distance and time. Maintaining meaningful dialog within closely-held relationships can work to combat their loneliness and improve happiness and overall well-being. And now there’s an easier way.
Cocoon’s solution: Cocoon is an app with an ambitious goal to create a new type of shared digital space that solves this uniquely human problem. By focusing on the concept of a shared private “space” rather than an open social platform, Cocoon aims to facilitate more meaningful conversations with the people you’re closest to — not just offer a new way to share. In a Cocoon, users can communicate automatic updates like location and weather, share moods, photos, texts, as well as wave and send notifications to let someone know you’re thinking about them. Together, they can engage in live chats, threaded discussions, video calls, and more. In this way, Cocoon helps families go deeper than the typical, superficial check-in to make the distances between family members — real or virtual — feel smaller.
Origin story: Serial founders Sachin Monga and Alex Cornell most recently worked at Facebook in product roles for services including social video and Facebook Live before starting up Cocoon in early 2019. Sachin launched the very first Cocoon with his parents in Toronto and his siblings spread out across the country. In the time since, he says his own Cocoon has become his family’s “connective tissue.” With Cocoon launching to the public today, the team hopes they can help other families feel like active participants in each other’s lives.
Why we’re betting on it: Sachin and Alex are mission-driven founders and true creative talents with a track record of building successful mobile and social products. The team is addressing tangible societal problems, is reaching a growing and underserved market, and is offering a novel solution for more meaningful communication. The problem has never been so great and the team at Cocoon is applying deep experience building consumer-centric products. Past attempts to build tools targeting this problem have not landed and failed to resonate. Cocoon has the right team, the right timing, and the right approach to address this wide-open market opportunity.
Our take: We’re seeing a lot of momentum around new technologies that address the loneliness epidemic from a number of angles. Yet before Cocoon, there wasn’t a solution that more thoughtfully addressed how we communicate with our closest contacts, our “chosen” families. Given the amount of time spent online in broad-based and increasingly superficial social networks, individuals are increasingly seeking out consequential relationships, while looking for solutions to combat their sense of isolation. Cocoon is building a valuable alternative to the noise and pressure of mainstream networks by creating a shared, intimate space focused on breaking down the physical and psychological barriers to the most important relationships in our lives.
Further reading: “Former Facebook employees are creating Cocoon, a social media network for your family” via Quartz
Learn about careers at Cocoon.
