The Good Tech Companies - SDG 2025 Year in Review: A Bold Leap Into the Future of Social Discovery

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/sdg-2025-year-in-review-a-bold-leap-into-the-future-of-social-discovery. We built, learned, traveled, collaborated, and celebrated — with many more milestones to come! Check more stories related to startups at: https://hackernoon.com/c/startups. You can also check exclusive content about #techcrunchdisrupt, #year-in-review, #sdg-lab-venture-fund, #sdg-lab, #employer-brand, #great-place-to-work, #recognize-employee-achievement, #good-company, and more. This story was written by: @socialdiscoverygroup. Learn more about this writer by checking @socialdiscoverygroup's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com. We built, learned, traveled, collaborated, and celebrated — with many more milestones to come!

This audio is presented by Hacker Noon, where anyone can learn anything about any technology. 2025 Sudanese pounds year in review. A bold leap into the future of social discovery. By social discovery group, corporate life is rarely a flawless, clean girl aesthetic. It's more like a high-speed roller coaster, full of winds that make us proud and challenges that make us stronger. In 2025, we grew, we invested, we experimented, and we built. Some things soared, others taught us lessons. But as social media tradition goes, we're here to wrap up our year with gratitude to everyone who shaped it. Social Discovery Group launches SDG Lab, $20 million venture fund to invest in social discovery startups. At the start of 2025, we introduced SDG Lab Venture

Studio, our corporate venture studio dedicated to transforming virtual intimacy into a global norm. Led by Alex Kudos, SDG Lab becomes a hands-on partner for founders building next generation. social discovery solutions. With a $20 million annual investment fund, SDG Lab empowers early-stage startups working in AI-driven communication technologies VR, AR social experiences, digital intimacy and connection platforms. What sets SDG Lab apart as its all-inclusive support model. Startups gain access to expert legal assistance full back office infrastructure cutting-edge tech support global marketing and product insights in 2025 Sudanese Pound's Lab reviewed 800 plus products, met with 560 plus founding teams, conducted 20 plus internal investment

committees, signed six venture studio deals in 2026, we're opening more seats for founders who want to build with this. You rightwards hollow arrow bring ambition, vision, and founder fire. We rightwards hollow arrow bring capital, infra, expert operators, and distribution from day one. If you're ready to turn a crazy idea into a category defining product let's talk details, Sparkle Social Discovery Group. Com, SDG Lab Venture Studio or Contact. Lab at SID Group. I, Kaseki, certified by Great Place to Work Japan.

In 2025, one of our investment products, Kaseki, Japan's number one global romance matching service, proudly earned underscore underscore, great place to work certification underscore underscore, a milestone powered directly by employee feedback. Key insights from the GPTW Japan survey. 80% of employees believe SDG is a great place to work 87% feel highly engaged and empowered 100% agree that everyone is treated fairly. Regardless of background or identity, this recognition highlights our dedication to creating a culture rooted in trust, fairness, and appreciation. Thank you sparkling heart to the entire SDG Japan community for shaping an environment where people thrive.

SDG ranks in top five for best remote jobs by flex jobs. In a world where many companies are pulling people back into offices, we're doubling down on what works, remote first, people first. In a flex job survey featured by CNBC, SDG made the top five global companies for work from anywhere jobs, a standout accomplishment in a field where just 5% of remote jobs are fully location independent. Our remote first culture thrives because we offer 100% remote work. No mandatory office, ever global teams across Cyprus, Malta, Poland, Thailand, the U.S., Australia, and beyond autonomy and trust, not time-tracking annual meetups, summits, and team events workspace comfort perks for optimal productivity we continue to prove that global

flexibility and business performance can co-exist and flourish. Visit SDG Career Page to discover new opportunities, first ever top gangstars awards ceremony in Doha. 2025 marked the first ceremonial celebration of our annual top gangstars, honoring team members who delivered extraordinary results. Fire hears what the program achieved. 543 performance cases submitted 132 quarterly winners, 36 global annual winners, 22 offline meetups across the globe. Even though SDG is proudly remote first, offline connection remains priceless. In 2025, we hosted 22 meetups across Belgrade, Cyprus, Doha, the Emirates Georgia Turkey teams collaborated, strategized, explored museums, attended masterclasses and ventured through deserts and mountains.

These in-person experiences strengthen ed bonds that digital tools alone can't replicate. SDG as silver partner at Reflect Festival 2025. In May, underscore underscore SDG took a stage underscore underscore underscore in Cyprus as a silver partner at Reflect Festival, featuring five stages 250 plus speakers 10,000 plus attendees key contributions included Alex Kudos, CEO of SDG Lab with his speech, AI and virtual intimacy, trends reshaping online connections, a deep dive into how AI can combat loneliness and reshape digital relationships. Workshop by Valentina Zakirova, Forbes 30 under 30, bootstrapping versus Venture Studios. What Works in 2025?

Valentina unpacked the realities of startup growth, capital models, and founder strategies. Watch the festival highlight real PCHT-TPS colon slash-slash-W-W-H-J-M-W-H-J-M-O-E-E-E-Q-UG-G-5U-H-JMO, New SDG values and symbols released. Inspired by the words of George Bernard Shaw, progress is impossible without change. We reintroduced our corporate values with renewed clarity and new symbolic mascots, chosen by the team. Meet them all. new SDG office opened in Serbia. September brought major news. Our SDG Serbia team moved into a brand new co-working in Belgrade. We celebrated Party Popper the opening with a vibrant gathering full of energy and inspiration. The new workspace reflects our commitment to comfort, productivity, and collaboration,

think coffee, cozy corners, and creative space without limitations. Sparkles, SDG at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025. Our team wrapped up an action-packed experience at TechCrunch Disrupt, a merced in the global startup scene. We exchanged ideas, met founders aligned with Sidglab's mission, and deepened our insights into emerging technologies and shifting trends in the digital connection space. SDG Jedi Order delivered 11 articles and four conference talks. Our SDG Jedi Order, a unique expert recognition program, continues to motivate colleagues to share their knowledge with the world. Their contributions were rewarded with exclusive merch, bonuses, and Jedi the Med prizes, and celebrated across

SDGs' internal and external networks. Thanks for joining the ride. 2025 was a year of growth, ambition, experimentation, and global connection. Web-built, learned, traveled, collaborated, and celebrated, with many more milestones to come, stay tuned. Bigger things are on the horizon. Fire thank you for listening to this Hackernoon story, read by artificial intelligence. Visit hackernoon.com to read, write, learn and publish.