Entrepreneurs who defined the first generation of native mobile apps have been pulled by the excitement around web3 and the metaverse to begin questioning what's next.

Dennis Crowley is a co-founding partner of a new startup called LivingCities, along with Matt Miesnieks, who sold his most recent startup 6D.ai to Niantic for an undisclosed sum, and John Gaeta. The trio say they have gotten $4 million in funding for their project. Matthew Ball and Anorak are also backers.

The way that we executed the software that changed the way that people use physical space was the big opportunity in the early days. The idea that software can change the way people interact with the world is still meaningful and unsolved, despite the fact that technology has changed.

Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley steps back from the company

The founding team doesn't have a lot to say about what they're building, except that it's a social layer for consumers. The team hopes to build the platform without succumbing to the speculation that many associate with cryptanalysis.

Miesnieks says the team is interested in building out a network that exists only on the web and mobile web, potentially sidestepping app stores and their associated fees, but that he is not looking to build out another augmented reality startup or compete with mapping players.

Miesnieks says that if you're going to build something for consumers, you need to use technology that's widely available today.

After more than a decade at the company, Crowley stepped down from his full-time role at the company. He and his co-founders asked themselves questions about what role new technology can play in bringing people closer together, and that's how his new company started.

What are the things we want to see in the world? What experiences are only recently possible because of how people use their phones? It has always seemed like there was an opportunity to bring the digital and real world together in an interesting way.

Niantic squares up against Apple and Facebook with acquisition of AR startup 6D.ai

Subscribe to TechCrunch’s crypto newsletter “Chain Reaction” for news, funding updates and hot takes on the wild world of web3 — and take a listen to our companion podcast!