The years-long lawsuit between college-focused social app Fizz and its rival Sidechat over unfair competitive practices has taken an interesting turn. In the new filing, Fizz accuses investor Jerry Lu of venture capital firm Maveron of meeting with Fizz under the guise of seeking a potential investment, but then turning around and sharing Fizz’s non-public information with rival Sidechat.
The new claims raise questions about the role venture capitalists play in the competitive startup market. That’s because founders regularly share confidential business information during fundraising and trust that investors won’t pass it on to competitors. Some VCs continue to ask for updates from the startups they inherit, the founders said.
Both Fizz and Sidechat are in the same business. An anonymous online forum and app for college students to network and gossip. As a result, competition for students’ attention has become fierce. But not all universities believe apps provide value to students. The UNC System has banned the app from campuses across North Carolina, citing harassment and bad behavior that occurs on these anonymous social platforms. For example, at Fizz, students can post an individual’s name to encourage their peers to say whatever they want about that person.
Fizz originally sued Sidechat in 2023, alleging a variety of abuses, including attempting to thwart its launch on various college campuses, spreading false rumors about hackers accessing Fizz’s data, sending false spam reports to Instagram, and paying students to delete the Fizz app.
The original complaint did not include Lu’s name. Because his involvement was not known at the time.
Fizz said in its complaint that it learned of Lu’s involvement only through the legal discovery process, which revealed his role in obtaining Fizz’s confidential information and transmitting it to Flower Ave Inc., owner of Sidechat. The company also acquired the Yik Yak app in 2023.
Fizz’s filing also alleges that Lu continued to act as a conduit for information about Fizz’s fundraising activities and other matters to Sidechat.
A screenshot of text attached to the report shows Lu sharing notes with Flower after meeting with Fizz in March 2022, the complaint alleges. During that meeting, Fizz founders Teddy Solomon and Ashton Cofer shared non-public information about Fizz’s “business strategy, growth plan, campus launch playbook, user metrics, ambassador program, fundraising efforts and product roadmap,” the complaint states.
Lu invested in Sidechat’s second seed round in October 2023, according to PitchBook data. However, Fizz claims that Lu has been in discussions with Sidechat since as early as 2022.
Fizz also claims that founder and Lu’s acquaintance Jack Burlinson shared confidential information, including Fizz’s investor materials and fall summary for investors, with Lu and then forwarded them directly to Sidechat.
Requests for comment sent to Lu and Maveron were not returned. Pease declined to comment.
Kyle Venn, CEO of social media platforms Yik Yak and Sidechat, shared the following comments with TechCrunch via email:
“This is an allegation, not a court ruling. We deny any wrongdoing and will resolve this through the legal process. The alleged incidents occurred before the current SideChat team acquired the business and took over the lawsuit in 2025. No one from our current operations team was involved. We are currently focused on building a great product and not suing other apps.”
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