The Good Tech Companies - SDG LAB Venture Fund Backs Virtual Intimacy with $20 Million — But Will It Work?

Episode Date: August 3, 2025

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/sdg-lab-venture-fund-backs-virtual-intimacy-with-$20-million-but-will-it-work. Can AI-powered tech fix Europe’s loneliness crisis? SDG Lab’s $20M venture bets on virtual intimacy to reconnect a disconnected world. Check more stories related to futurism at: https://hackernoon.com/c/futurism. You can also check exclusive content about #virtual-intimacy, #ai-dating, #sdg-lab-venture-fund, #the-loneliness-epidemic, #ai-and-human-connection, #emotional-ai, #tech-and-loneliness, #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. 13% of Europeans feel lonely most or all the time, while 35% experience it regularly. Social isolation increases mortality risk by 29% and loneliness by 26%. Loneliness is linked to sleep disturbances, high cortisol levels, and heart disease. The $20 million venture studio SDG Lab is betting big on ‘virtual intimacy’

This audio is presented by Hacker Noon, where anyone can learn anything about any technology. SDG Lab Venture Fund backs virtual intimacy with $20 million, but will it work? by Social Discovery Group. Greater than in an age of hyper-connectivity, Europe faces an unexpected crisis – loneliness. Greater than the EU Loneliness Survey 2022 reveals that 13% of Europeans feel lonely most greater than are all the time, while 35% experience it regularly. Despite the digital greater than revolution, authentic human connection seems to be unraveling, replaced by greater than surface level engagements that lack emotional resonance. This paradox lies at the heart of Social Discovery Group,

SDG, S$20 Million Venture Studio, SDG Lab Venture Studio. The studio is betting big on a controversial but potentially transformative concept. Virtual intimacy. A technological attempt to restore emotional closeness in an increasingly isolated society. Understanding loneliness. More than just being alone. Loneliness is not simply a matter of physical solitude, it's a mental and emotional state where individuals feel unseen, disconnected, and emotionally deprived, even in crowds. It's a perceived disconnection, not merely the absence of company. Health consequences of Loneliness A 2015 meta-analysis by Holt Lundstad found that social isolation

increases mortality risk by 29%. Loneliness increases it by 26%. These numbers are comparable to the health risks of smoking 15 cigarettes a day, as outlined in the 2023 US Surgeon General's guidelines. Moreover, loneliness is linked to sleep disturbances, high cortisol levels, hypertension, heart disease. It's no longer just a social issue, it's a public health crisis. Tech meets emotional need. SDG Lab's $20 million response. Enter SDG Lab, the corporate venture arm of Social Discovery Group, which backs early-stage startups that focus on

AI-powered communication, virtual and extended reality. Social discovery platforms. These startups are designed to build what SDG calls, virtual intimacy, emotional connections that transcend physical interaction through digital mediums. Greater Than Alex Kudos, CEO of SDG Lab Venture Studio, puts it simply, greater than greater than, technology doesn't just help us build relationships, it becomes part of greater than them. This shift challenges traditional notions of closeness. Can digital interactions really replace the emotional depth of face to face contact? The geography of loneliness not all regions are affected equally.

According to EU data, Eastern and Southern Europe, E, G, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, suffer higher loneliness rates. Northern and Western countries, e.g. Austria, the Netherlands, show lower levels. For example, Cyprus mirrors this southern trend. Kudos notes that older populations in Cyprus are particularly affected. SDG's solution? Use technology to build connections tailored to older users. Products like DateMyAge show that virtual platforms can appeal to users beyond GenZ, if designed inclusively. A new era of digital connection studies show that 57% of GenZ believe online relationships are as meaningful as in-person ones.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual worlds offered emotional refuge, all space VR users reported lower loneliness. Events and interactions in VR felt more immersive than real life for some. However, this comes with a caveat, telepresence fatigue. Some users found screens emotionally exhausting, emphasizing the fragility of digital intimacy. Economic and societal costs' loneliness doesn't just hurt individuals, it strains entire economies. Increased loneliness leads to

rising healthcare costs, workforce productivity loss, greater pressure on social services. In regions like Cyprus, where aging populations and shrinking community structures prevail, digital intimacy becomes not just an innovation, but a necessity. Beyond online dating apps, the SDG and SDG Labs portfolios.

Social Discovery Group operates over 60 global brands, including, Dating.com, Date My Age, Dill Mill, for South Asians, Kaseki, for Japanese audiences. This diversification reflects the global loneliness crisis as people migrate and lose touch with their cultural roots. SDG's platforms aim to rebuild those connections in new contexts. With SDG lab investments, the approach shifts from quantity to quality, focuses on 5 to 10 projects per year, Offers operational and strategic support. Invests in startups building AI relationships, virtual influencers, and platforms for older demographics. For entrepreneurs navigating the complex funding landscape, Alex Kudos, CEO of SDG Lab, offers

crucial insights in the founder Backquote s Guide about choosing between traditional venture capital and venture studio models. Understanding the funding paths becomes essential when building the next generation of connection technologies. Key concerns. Can tech really cure loneliness? Before we accept virtual intimacy as the cure for our loneliness, or shall I say, disconnection crisis, we need to confront some uncomfortable truths. To research paints a complicated picture, one that challenges a somewhat simplistic, surface narrative around technology engineering its way out of acrosis. The accessibility trap the most vulnerable older, poorer, and less educated users are also least likely to access digital tools.

A 2024 study found that nursing home residents without tech access were more isolated than ever, underlining the danger of digital exclusion. Quality over quantity tech helps maintain existing relationships better than it builds new ones. A 2022 meta-review found only moderate evidence that technology reduces loneliness, particularly for forming close new bonds. The presence paradox even the best designed platforms may fail to offer a true sense of emotional co-presence. According to the European Commission's 2024 brief, greater than, technology is seen as both enhancing and suppressing connections. This reflects the paradox of virtual presence, the appearance of intimacy without the psychological reality. More about the critical questions down right arrow https://thefuturemedia.eu

The loneliness economy how social discovery groups 20 embed is logging us into a new kind of intimacy, embeddable equals true, SDG Labs response. Technology as an extension, not a replacement. SDG Lab confronts virtual intimacy criticisms directly, viewing ethical concerns as opportunities rather than roadblocks. Alex Kudos, CEO of SDG Lab Venture Studio, believes that exclusion is more about poor design than user capability. For example, 90% of date my age-housers regularly engage in video dating, disproving the stereotype that older people aren't tech savvy.

Greater than, our goal is not to generate maximum engagement, but to promote genuine greater than connection, he explains. That includes resisting the urge to gamify relationships or promote constant stimulation. Perhaps most telling is Kudos's reframing of the, bandage vs cure, debate. The real issue, he argues, may be that traditional relationships are already failing to meet modern emotional needs. Greater than, despite the idea that romantic partnerships are the foundation of emotional greater than well-being, many of us are struggling even within those close connections, greater

than Alex says. Greater than virtual intimacy, in his view, isn't a replacement but an expansion. One that greater than amplifies access to connection across geography, identity, and life stage. These questions aren't meant to dismiss labs vision. The company may very well be the revolution that our society needs, even if we don't fully understand it yet. For Kudos and his team, AI companionship isn't less than human. This type of connection allows people to be more vulnerable, authentic, and introspective in a safe space. And in our current climate, don't we all deserve the safety to be ourselves, fully? Conclusion. Rethinking what it means to be together SO, can virtual intimacy solve the

loneliness epidemic? Maybe. Research shows promise but also flags risks. The real challenge I's ensuring these tools don't redefine connection in a way that erodes emotional depth. As Kudos sees it, virtual intimacy isn't about escaping reality. It's about creating new spaces for vulnerability, connection, and self-expression. In a world where loneliness is both a personal pain and a public crisis, perhaps the most radical act is simply helping people feel seen, wherever they are.

SDG Lab is actively seeking new ventures. SDG Lab Venture Studio is actively seeking for founders and companies working on the future of human connection. If you're working on AI, video tech, or social innovation, contact us. Thank you for listening to this Hacker Noon story, read by Artificial Intelligence. Visit hackernoon.com to read, write, learn and publish.