Fizz Accuses Investor of Sharing Confidential Startup Information With Rival Sidechat
The legal fight between college social app Fizz and rival platform Sidechat has taken a new turn, with Fizz now accusing venture investor Jerry Lu of passing sensitive company information to its competitor.
Fizz claims Lu, associated with venture capital firm Maveron, met with the company while appearing to evaluate a possible investment opportunity. According to the new court filing, Fizz says it shared private details about its business during that meeting, only to later discover that some of that information was allegedly given to Sidechat.
The case highlights a sensitive issue in the startup world: founders often disclose confidential information to potential investors during fundraising. These discussions can include growth plans, user data, product roadmaps, market strategy, and fundraising details. Startups typically rely on trust that investors will not share that information with competing companies.
Fizz and Sidechat both operate in the same highly competitive space: anonymous social apps aimed at college students. These platforms allow students to post, comment, and discuss campus life with a layer of anonymity. While they can help students connect, they have also faced criticism over bullying, gossip, and harmful behavior.
Some universities have pushed back against anonymous campus apps. The University of North Carolina system, for example, banned apps of this type from its campuses, citing concerns about harassment and misconduct on anonymous platforms.
Fizz first sued Sidechat in 2023, alleging unfair competition and a series of tactics meant to harm its campus launches. The original complaint accused Sidechat of interfering with Fizz’s rollout at universities, spreading false claims about Fizz’s data security, submitting false spam complaints to Instagram, and paying students to delete the Fizz app.
At the time, Jerry Lu was not named in the lawsuit. Fizz now says it discovered his alleged involvement through the legal discovery process.
According to the latest filing, Fizz alleges Lu obtained non-public information and transmitted it to Sidechat’s owner, Flower Ave Inc., the company that also acquired Yik Yak in 2023. Fizz further claims Lu continued to serve as a channel for sharing details about Fizz’s fundraising and business activity with Sidechat.
The filing cites a March 2022 meeting between Lu and Fizz founders Teddy Solomon and Ashton Cofer. Fizz says the founders shared confidential information during that discussion, including its business strategy, growth plans, campus launch playbook, user metrics, ambassador program, fundraising efforts, and product roadmap.
Fizz also alleges that Lu later shared notes from that meeting with Sidechat’s ownership. According to available investment data, Lu invested in Sidechat’s second seed round in October 2023, though Fizz claims discussions between Lu and Sidechat began as early as 2022.
The complaint also names another individual, Jack Burlinson, described as an acquaintance of both the Fizz founders and Lu. Fizz alleges Burlinson shared confidential Fizz materials with Lu, including an investor deck and a fall investor summary, and that Lu then passed those materials to Sidechat.
Requests for comment from Lu and Maveron were not answered, while Fizz declined to comment on the filing.
Kyle Venn, CEO of Yik Yak and Sidechat, denied wrongdoing in a statement. He said the claims are allegations rather than court findings and that the company will address them through the legal process. He also stated that the alleged events took place before the current Sidechat team acquired the business in 2025 and inherited the lawsuit, adding that the current operating team was not involved.
The dispute underscores the fierce competition among anonymous college social apps, where growth depends on quickly winning over students campus by campus. It also raises broader questions for startup founders and investors about confidentiality, fundraising ethics, and how sensitive information should be handled when rival companies are competing for the same audience.
