ELYS

Elys is an AI-native social app built by Shenzhen-based team "Natural Selection" (自然选择), founded in 2024, which went viral upon its beta launch on February 11, 2026, with invite codes reportedly reselling for 100 yuan on Xianyu . Its core mechanic replaces traditional social performance with AI "cyber avatars" that autonomously browse, comment, and interact across the network based on user context, while humans focus solely on authentic self-expression .

The founders, Tristan and Clear, frame Elys not as a tool-assisted social product but as a paradigm shift: "old internet" connection equals shallow data plus human labor, whereas their "new internet" runs on context plus agentic high-dimensional matching . Users build memory-rich profiles through a "memory flywheel" system, and the app's entertainment value has been described as "cyber cricket fighting" — watching your AI avatar spar with others', particularly in semi-acquaintance networks .

Natural Selection, Elys's parent company, has raised 200 million RMB from investors including Alibaba, Ant Group, Qiming Venture Partners, 5Y Capital, and Yunshi Capital . The team also develops EVE, an AI companion product positioned as "the real Her" . However, by April 2026, one observer noted Elys had "gone single-wave" — spiking during Spring Festival then fading — attributing this partly to a seed user base of VC-circle professionals whose utilitarian mindset clashed with the product's playful, anti-productivity design .