Gen Z founders rethink social media with private virtual homes

This article is a part of Startup Spotlight, a series that features young, up-and-coming startups.

You-Ming Yeh (left) and Yu-Jhen Yen. Photo credit: Peeps

Gen Z students You-Ming Yeh and Yu-Jhen Yen met at National Taiwan University. They previously built consumer social products together. Seeking a more intimate alternative to performative platforms, they launched Peeps.

😟 Problem

Gen Z users are increasingly rejecting performative, broadcast-first social media formats. Young people are also spending a larger portion of their lives physically apart from close friends. Current social applications prioritize scrolling over shared interactive experiences.

💡 Solution

Peeps offers a gamified social app that helps friends and couples stay connected. The platform integrates multiple interactive elements, including:

• Users complete daily photo quests together.
• Couples and friends can decorate a virtual home and raise digital pets.
• The app includes multiplayer games to turn everyday interactions into shared digital experiences.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

🤝 Team

• You-Ming Yeh. Co-founder and CEO. He previously built consumer social products while studying at National Taiwan University.
• Yu-Jhen Yen. Co-founder and CMO. Also studied at National Taiwan University and helped develop consumer applications for Gen Z users.

🚀 Traction

• The app reached more than 200,000 users in Taiwan with zero paid marketing.
• Peeps hit the top spot on Taiwan’s App Store and maintains approximately 25,000 daily active users.
• Day-30 retention reached 28%, and monthly recurring revenue grew 51.6% month over month.

🏆 Competition

Existing apps like Locket and Widgetable focus on single-purpose interactions like photo sharing. Peeps differentiates by combining daily photo quests and multiplayer games within a persistent shared home. This creates recurring collaborative experiences.

💰 Financials

The startup operates on a freemium model. Users can subscribe to Peeps PRIME for US$4.99 per month or US$39.99 per year. The platform also offers one-time virtual currency purchases.

The company raised US$100,000 in March 2026. Backers include 886 Studios, founded by veterans behind Twitch and Guitar Hero. The team is currently raising US$1 million.

🚩 Risks

• Peeps’ Taiwan breakout does not prove the same zero-paid-marketing loop will travel. Its product depends on private friend networks, where activity is less visible and harder to seed than broadcast social posts. Research on cultural differences in Snapchat friendship behavior shows that closed-network dynamics vary by market.