What was the catalyst for launching Tribela?
The idea for Tribela was born after a deeply personal experience that led me to step back and reflect on the role technology plays in our lives. As a media producer and storyteller, I had spent decades exploring how stories shape culture – but this moment hit closer to home. It revealed just how urgently we need to redesign our digital environments, not just patch them. Instead of turning away from social media, I asked a bigger question: What if we could build something new – from the ground up – with care, creativity, and wellbeing at the centre?
I created Tribela to offer something different: a space where people – starting with the next generation – can feel safe, express themselves freely, and build trusted communities.
Tell us about the business – what it is, what it aims to achieve, who you work with, how you reach customers and so on?
Designed with teens in mind, Tribela is a new social media platform that prioritises safety, empowerment, and authentic connections. Based in the UK and backed by Oxford University Innovation, Tribela leverages technologies including machine learning and AI to foster a community-centred environment where people can safely connect, learn, and grow.
Starting with younger users aged 13 and up, Tribela is for students, creators, interest groups, and communities who value safety, authenticity, and shared purpose. We’re intentionally building a community-first platform, designed to feel welcoming and trusted from day one. To reach our early users, we’re partnering with schools, youth organisations, and creators who care about wellbeing and impact. We're also working closely with our early beta users to shape the experience alongside them, because we believe platforms should be built with people, not just for them.
How has the business evolved since its launch? When was this?
Founded in 2023, Tribela is currently in late-stage development. Our private beta will launch in June 2025 with users across the UK and Canada. These include creators and mentors who will help shape the first wave of the Tribela community.
Rather than adapting to the norms of existing platforms, Tribela has been intentionally designed as an alternative, focusing on three key areas that shape the experience:
Safety as a foundation: Tribela is developed with user safety at its core. From verified onboarding and age assurance to advanced AI moderation and trusted account checks, the platform is designed to create a secure environment where people can feel comfortable showing up and engaging fully.
Conscious content experience: We’re taking a thoughtful approach to how content is created and consumed. There’s no autoplay or public like counts – features that often contribute to pressure and fatigue. Instead, Tribela’s customisable recommendation system puts users in control of what they see, encouraging curiosity, creativity, and balance.
Community-centred design: Tribela supports users in forming real, trusted communities. Whether it’s a school group, a peer mentorship circle, or a creative collaboration, users have access to both public and private spaces designed for shared purpose. Voice posts, long-form video, and personal development tools help foster more authentic, expressive engagement.
Tell us about the working culture at Tribela?
Early in my career, while working in television, I was told outright by a male employer that they had almost passed on hiring me because I was a young mother. He said, “Moms leave when their kids are sick. That’s why we hire men – they’re not the ones getting school calls during the day.” That experience stayed with me, and also shaped how I think about leadership. There’s still a widespread misconception that making time for family or honouring real life somehow undermines business goals; but in my view, acknowledging people’s full lives makes companies stronger, not weaker.
At Tribela, my goal has always been to create a space where life and work don’t have to be in conflict. I’m thinking intentionally about how to structure a company where flexibility, wellbeing, and purpose are built in from the ground up. It's still evolving, but my vision is clear: a team culture that values people as whole humans – and in doing so, builds something far more sustainable and impactful.
How are you funded?
Tribela has raised £230k in angel investment so far, with a goal of reaching a total of £1m in investment this year.
We’ve also spent a great deal of time designing a monetisation model that aligns with our values: transparent, age-appropriate, and rooted in long-term sustainability. At every stage, our goal is to ensure that revenue supports, not compromises, the safety, trust, and experience of our community. We’re launching with aligned partners who share our vision for safe, values-driven digital spaces. These sponsorships support Tribela’s early growth while keeping the experience free for users.
What has been your biggest challenge so far and how have you overcome this?
When I first started building Tribela, I assumed the tech industry genuinely cared about online safety. At a well-known tech conference, I passionately argued that we’ve transformed safety in the physical world, and now it’s time we do the same online. Let’s just say, it wasn’t the right audience. One assigned mentor bluntly told me, “No one cares about safety. Forget it.”
But the public narrative around online safety is changing. I believe this moment calls for more than moderation – it calls for a complete rethinking of how we build digital spaces. At Tribela, we're not bound by legacy systems or scale-at-all-costs thinking. We're building with today’s realities in mind – and tomorrow’s responsibilities at heart.
How does Tribela answer an unmet need?
Not a week goes by without a breaking news story about the various harms inherent in the use of social media, especially for the world’s teens. Tribela is exploring how digital spaces can better support wellbeing, creativity, and trust.
The platform was created in response to growing concerns around the emotional and social impact of current online environments, particularly the challenges around safety, attention, and meaningful connection. Rather than seeing these issues as flaws to fix, we see them as opportunities to rethink how we connect. It’s about offering an intentional alternative: one where users have more agency over what they see, how they engage, and who they share with.
What’s in store for the future?
We’re currently developing tools to measure and report on our impact across multiple dimensions of sustainability – including social, ethical, and environmental metrics. One example is our upcoming ‘Green Profile Mode’, which will give users the option to have their data automatically purged every 90 days. It’s a small but intentional step toward reducing digital storage demands and lowering our carbon footprint.
We’re also busy building our engagement model for Tribela creators, which will provide a framework that aligns with our values of authenticity, transparency and a clear earnings model.
What one piece of advice would you give other founders or future founders?
While building Tribela, I’ve encountered a slew of received wisdom about what it takes to build a successful social media platform: move fast, remove friction, maximise engagement. But none of those "rules" prioritise user safety, trust, or long-term wellbeing. Instead, I chose to put safety and user control at the centre of our MVP – something that’s often treated as an afterthought. It flew in the face of conventional startup advice, but real disruption doesn’t come from doing things faster. It comes from doing things differently.
So my advice is this: start from your values, not from the way things have always been done. Every company that’s truly reshaped its industry succeeded because it questioned the default assumptions. It isn’t just about product innovation, but rethinking behaviour, systems, and impact. You’re not just building a product, you’re shaping culture: that gives you the opportunity to ask different questions and design better answers.
And finally, a more personal question! What’s your daily routine and the rules you’re living by at the moment?
I’m an early riser, 5 am is my daily wake up time. I start each morning in stillness, grounded in nature. I always have two things with me: my Five Minute Journal and my Bible. I journal first, then open to a random passage to reflect on for the day. It’s my space to set intentions, anchor in gratitude, and begin the day with clarity. After the school run with my son, I go for a walk or get in a workout, and I’m usually at my desk by 9am.
As for the rules I live by: trust and patience. I’m an avid gardener, and gardening has taught me everything about the beauty of patience. Seeds take time. Growth is slow, often invisible at first. That philosophy runs deep in how I live and how I build.
Natalie Boll is the Founder & CEO, Tribela.
