A social media app that feels like the old Instagram days raised $21 million

Retro is a social media app for sharing content with friends and family.

Screenshot/Retro/BI Retro, designed by ex-Instagram employees, is a social app for sharing content with close friends.

The startup behind it has raised $21 million, recent financial filings reveal.

It's one of many new social media apps taking on Big Tech platforms.

There's a social media app I like using more than Instagram or TikTok — and it's attracted serious investor interest.

The app, called Retro, is an Instagram alternative for sharing photos and videos with close friends or family.

The startup behind the app, Lone Palm Labs, has raised at least $21 million in venture capital funding, according to recent financial filings viewed by Business Insider.

On the startup's website, the company lists investors such as Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital , Scribble Ventures, Imaginary Ventures, and Uncommon Projects , as well as angels including Figma CEO Dylan Field.

Retro did not respond to requests for comment.

Retro was founded by former Instagram employees who wanted to build a "super simple product that's really just for you and your friends," Nathan Sharp, Lone Palm's CEO, previously told Business Insider.

Sharp, who worked on both Instagram and Facebook, teamed up with Ryan Olson, a longtime Instagram engineer, in 2022 to found Lone Palm Labs.

Split between New York and San Francisco, Lone Palm Labs is a team of seven employees, according to the company's website.

The company launched another app in 2025, called Splat, which can make a coloring page for kids from photos using AI.

While venture capital is pouring money into AI, data centers, and SaaS companies, some consumer tech startups building social media apps have had to fight tooth and nail to get a slice of the pie.