Z Venture Capital (ZVC) has invested in the seed round of New Chat Inc., the New York-based company behind Setlog, a visual communication app.

Alongside this announcement, we also sat down for an interview with Devin, CEO of New Chat. Be sure to check it out.


Setlog’s premise is simple: record a two-second video once an hour. After launching in Korea, the app spread rapidly through word of mouth, without relying on paid advertising. It has since taken off among Gen Z in Japan.

As follower counts and algorithmic reach became measures of success, posting on social media grew increasingly performative. In response, younger users are moving more of their everyday communication away from public feeds and into private spaces with people they trust.

Setlog is built for that shift. Users create groups with friends and post a roughly two-second video when an hourly notification arrives. Everyone’s clips line up hour by hour, so friends can follow one another’s day as it unfolds. It lets friends feel part of each other’s day without having to put everything into words.

Setlog: https://newchat.kr

As AI-generated content floods social feeds, younger users are placing greater value on candid moments captured by real people as they happen. We believe the appeal lies in having a space where people can share their lives as they are and see others do the same.

As our social circles grow, we naturally become more conscious of how we come across. Setlog’s design helps keep that pressure in check: users choose a small group to share with, two-second clips leave little room for polish, and everyone’s footage becomes part of a shared collection of memories. Being yourself is built into the daily routine.

Following its launch in Korea, Setlog gained attention as users began posting vlogs made with the app on social media. Japan is now its largest market. For young people tired of existing social media, there is comfort in having a place to stay connected with close friends. The app also takes care of the editing, automatically assembling each day’s clips in chronological order.

Users have made Setlog part of their daily lives, and its engagement and retention stand out among the social apps we have evaluated.

Setlog’s founder and CEO, Devin Doty, is a design engineer who spent many years building products at Snapchat. What stood out most during our diligence conversations was his integrity. He struck us as someone who takes the work in front of him seriously and sees it through. That same care is evident in the product. Setlog keeps user data collection to a minimum. It also does not use contact syncing to grow its network, as many social apps do.

As investors, we found this a difficult trade-off to assess. The team seemed to be giving up familiar ways to drive growth and opportunities to collect and use data. But the conviction behind that choice resonated with us: from the start, they have been committed to building a place where users feel safe and at ease. That commitment is reflected in the app’s simple, intuitive features and carefully considered design. We were also impressed that, with the help of AI, a team of just four can run a product at this scale and respond so quickly to user feedback.

Next, Setlog is looking to expand into more markets, including the United States. Consumer social in the U.S. is crowded, and trends change quickly. Even so, we see younger users growing tired of existing apps and looking for new places to connect that fit naturally into their daily lives. Success will require more than repeating what worked in Japan. The team will need to rethink the experience for American users while staying true to the same philosophy. The U.S. is also Devin’s home market, where he has spent years building products, and we look forward to seeing him take on that challenge.

ZVC is a corporate venture capital firm with investment teams in Korea, Japan, and the United States. These are the markets where Setlog launched, built its largest user base, and plans to expand next. We believe our presence across all three can help the team navigate that expansion.

We are also part of the LY Corporation group, whose services include LINE, an integral part of everyday communication in Japan. We look forward to working closely with Devin to help Setlog reach more people.

Building a consumer product that people love for years is hard. So is keeping it a place where people can be themselves as it grows. We are excited to partner with a team that approaches both challenges with such integrity.