Buddy is a new social utility app.

Buddy raises $1.1M for social utility app

Buddy, a social utility app designed to get you off your phone and socializing in real life, announced a $1.1 million pre-seed funding round from game veterans Tim Willits and Vince Zampella.

The Los Angeles startup also has signed up Dennis Fong, the first pro gamer and CEO of GGWP, as an adviser.

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Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.