We’re Rushing AI Startups Now

 For many of us, the greek life rush process is an era in our lives we’re all too happy forgetting—hours of banal small talk, mediocre alcohol, and the ever–present awareness that you are being evaluated by upperclassmen who don’t particularly want to be there. What could make this process even slightly more bearable? 

Two words: artificial intelligence.

Series.so, a startup founded by Yale seniors which calls itself the “first AI social network,” is launching a college tour across Harvard, Princeton, USC, UC Berkeley, and “100%” Penn. Titled Series Rush, this newest growth stunt follows on the heels of its Love Island–style reality TV show, creatively titled The Series. 

“Series is connecting users with people that can materialize any and every need,” the startup’s press release reads. “Whether a user is building the next unicorn or looking for a partner in NYC, they are introduced to their match via curated group chats by their ‘AI Friend’ which serves as a matchmaker they text to use the platform.”

In the past couple of months, over 700,000 messages have been sent across 650 schools by users attempting to connect with each other. The product currently operates on iMessage, calls, and other messaging platforms, making introductions for users based on mutual value. 

Marketing AI in the age of TikTok is all about chasing virality. True to its Gen–Z roots, Series seems to have identified the viral “Bama Rush” as the United States’ hottest new hyperfixation (now that we’ve all stopped crashing out over Huda).

Series co–founder and Yale senior Nathaneo Johnson hopes that the company’s groups of 30 or so students, recruited as campus ambassadors to each university on its “rush” tour, will function as an “alternative sorority” to attract students to the company. The plan is to parody the social events of each campus by “hosting different formals, different events, [and] different parties across campus.” 

Series has confirmed ambassadors at Harvard, Princeton, USC, and UC Berkeley. They’ll be featured on Series’ version of a frat composite, the framed portraits that you might’ve been tempted to steal from a frat in freshman year. The tour group will be mounting these composites on high–traffic areas of each campus, trying to attract as many eyes as possible. The ambassador cohort that recruits the most users “would be flown out for spring break to Europe. … It would actually be the showing of Season 2 of our viral TV show,” Nathaneo says.

Series hasn’t officially added Penn to its lineup of schools on its “rush” tour. But Nathaneo is confident that Series will be on Locust Walk in the next few weeks. 

“We’d definitely be there. My girlfriend’s also there,” Nathaneo says. 

Series plans to visit five more universities before the end of the year for its “rush” tour. The goal of what the company has called its “latest unconventional viral stunt” is to create intrigue and “a sense of FOMO” around Series, according to a press release. 

“We’re using greek life as an example,” Nathaneo says. “It’s something that people know and my friends and students will resonate with, but it can go for anything. … It’s like, how do you get access to a democratization of opportunity?”

“We’ll probably come to Penn, I think the week after next,” Nathaneo says. There’s no guarantee, however, that we’ll be falling over ourselves to roll out the welcome committee. Rush is like a sweaty, smelly, Natty Light–filled pinata—half the fun is our verbal bashing. If our constant protesting of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and our obsession with Sidechat “srat” rankings are any indication, here at Penn, we’re a bit protective of our social crush. When these new tech–heads come on campus, we’ll have to see if there’s room for one more.