College app Fizz sues VC Jerry Lu for leaking confidential info to rival Sidechat
Original: Filing: College app Fizz accuses VC of sharing confidential startup information with rival Sidechat
Why This Matters
The case highlights systemic founder-investor trust risks in competitive markets, where confidential pitch information may be shared with rivals.
College social app Fizz has filed new allegations against Maveron VC Jerry Lu, accusing him of meeting with Fizz founders under the pretense of investment exploration in March 2022, then sharing non-public business data with rival Sidechat. The claims emerged through legal discovery in an ongoing lawsuit filed in 2023.
Fizz, a college-focused anonymous social app, has added new allegations to its 2023 lawsuit against rival Sidechat (operated by Flower Ave Inc.), now naming Maveron venture capitalist Jerry Lu as a defendant. According to the filing in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Lu met with Fizz founders Teddy Solomon and Ashton Cofer in March 2022, ostensibly to explore a potential investment. During that meeting, the founders shared confidential details including 'business strategy, growth plans, campus-launch playbook, user metrics, ambassador program, fundraising efforts, and product roadmap.' Fizz alleges that Lu subsequently shared meeting notes and ongoing fundraising intelligence directly with Sidechat's parent company. Lu went on to formally invest in Sidechat's second seed round in October 2023, per Pitchbook data, but Fizz claims his contact with Sidechat began as early as 2022. Fizz says it only discovered Lu's involvement through the legal discovery process. The original 2023 suit accused Sidechat of a range of competitive abuses, including disrupting campus launches, spreading false rumors about data breaches, and paying students to delete the Fizz app. Both Fizz and Sidechat operate anonymous forums for college students, placing them in direct competition for user attention.