diff --git a/app/controllers/api/v1_alpha/collections_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/v1_alpha/collections_controller.rb
index 1ca1cd6923..4e15b65ff5 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/v1_alpha/collections_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/v1_alpha/collections_controller.rb
@@ -28,9 +28,10 @@ class Api::V1Alpha::CollectionsController < Api::BaseController
     cache_if_unauthenticated!
     authorize @account, :index_collections?
 
-    render json: @collections, each_serializer: REST::CollectionSerializer, adapter: :json
+    presenter = CollectionsPresenter.new(collections: @collections)
+    render json: presenter, serializer: REST::CollectionsWithAccountPreviewsSerializer
   rescue Mastodon::NotPermittedError
-    render json: { collections: [] }
+    render json: { collections: [], partial_accounts: [] }
   end
 
   def show
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ class Api::V1Alpha::CollectionsController < Api::BaseController
   def set_collections
     @collections = @account.collections
       .with_tag
+      .preload(top_items: :account)
       .order(created_at: :desc)
       .offset(offset_param)
       .limit(limit_param(DEFAULT_COLLECTIONS_LIMIT))
diff --git a/app/models/collection.rb b/app/models/collection.rb
index 36131bbcf7..547079e11d 100644
--- a/app/models/collection.rb
+++ b/app/models/collection.rb
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ class Collection < ApplicationRecord
 
   has_many :collection_items, dependent: :delete_all
   has_many :accepted_collection_items, -> { accepted }, class_name: 'CollectionItem', inverse_of: :collection # rubocop:disable Rails/HasManyOrHasOneDependent
+  has_many :top_items, -> { top_items }, class_name: 'CollectionItem', inverse_of: :collection # rubocop:disable Rails/HasManyOrHasOneDependent
   has_many :collection_reports, dependent: :delete_all
 
   validates :name, presence: true
diff --git a/app/models/collection_item.rb b/app/models/collection_item.rb
index bbb0343ebe..b7b82a29c4 100644
--- a/app/models/collection_item.rb
+++ b/app/models/collection_item.rb
@@ -47,6 +47,15 @@ class CollectionItem < ApplicationRecord
   scope :local, -> { joins(:collection).merge(Collection.local) }
   scope :accepted_partial, ->(account) { joins(:account).merge(Account.local).accepted.where(uri: nil, account_id: account.id) }
   scope :pending_or_accepted, -> { where(state: [:pending, :accepted]) }
+  scope :top_items, lambda { |limit = 4|
+    subquery = where('collection_items.collection_id = collections.id')
+      .accepted.ordered.limit(limit)
+      .arel.lateral('top_items')
+    collection_query = Collection
+      .select('top_items.*')
+      .from([Collection.arel_table, subquery])
+    from(collection_query, 'collection_items')
+  }
 
   def with_local_account?
     account&.local?
diff --git a/app/presenters/collections_presenter.rb b/app/presenters/collections_presenter.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e97d872769
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/presenters/collections_presenter.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+class CollectionsPresenter < ActiveModelSerializers::Model
+  attributes :collections
+
+  def accounts
+    owners = collections.map(&:account)
+    top_accounts = collections.flat_map { |c| c.top_items.map(&:account) }
+    (owners + top_accounts).uniq
+  end
+end
diff --git a/app/serializers/rest/collections_with_account_previews_serializer.rb b/app/serializers/rest/collections_with_account_previews_serializer.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..95216ea649
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/serializers/rest/collections_with_account_previews_serializer.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+class REST::CollectionsWithAccountPreviewsSerializer < ActiveModel::Serializer
+  has_many :collections, serializer: REST::CollectionSerializer
+  has_many :partial_accounts, serializer: REST::PartialAccountSerializer
+
+  def partial_accounts
+    object.accounts
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/models/collection_spec.rb b/spec/models/collection_spec.rb
index b9a5453642..0a04473d56 100644
--- a/spec/models/collection_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/collection_spec.rb
@@ -199,4 +199,16 @@ RSpec.describe Collection do
       expect(subject.to_log_permalink).to eq ActivityPub::TagManager.instance.uri_for(subject)
     end
   end
+
+  describe '#top_items' do
+    let(:collection) { Fabricate(:collection) }
+
+    before do
+      5.times { |i| Fabricate(:collection_item, collection:, position: i + 1) }
+    end
+
+    it 'returns the topmost four items' do
+      expect(collection.top_items.map(&:position)).to contain_exactly(1, 2, 3, 4)
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/presenters/collections_presenter_spec.rb b/spec/presenters/collections_presenter_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7207637481
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/presenters/collections_presenter_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'rails_helper'
+
+RSpec.describe CollectionsPresenter do
+  subject { described_class.new(collections:) }
+
+  let(:collection_owner_one) { Fabricate(:account) }
+  let(:collection_owner_two) { Fabricate(:account) }
+  let(:collection_one) do
+    Fabricate(:collection,
+              account: collection_owner_one,
+              name: 'Exquisite follows')
+  end
+  let(:collection_two) do
+    Fabricate(:collection,
+              account: collection_owner_two,
+              name: 'Excellent people')
+  end
+  let(:collections) { [collection_one, collection_two] }
+
+  describe '#accounts' do
+    context 'when collections do not have any items' do
+      it 'includes only the collection owners' do
+        expect(subject.accounts).to contain_exactly(collection_owner_one, collection_owner_two)
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'when collections include accounts' do
+      let(:accounts) { Fabricate.times(3, :account) }
+
+      before do
+        accounts[0..1].each { |a| Fabricate(:collection_item, collection: collection_one, account: a) }
+        accounts[1..2].each { |a| Fabricate(:collection_item, collection: collection_two, account: a) }
+      end
+
+      it 'includes collection owners and unique preview accounts' do
+        expect(subject.accounts).to contain_exactly(
+          collection_owner_one,
+          collection_owner_two,
+          accounts[0],
+          accounts[1],
+          accounts[2]
+        )
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/serializers/rest/collections_with_account_previews_serializer_spec.rb b/spec/serializers/rest/collections_with_account_previews_serializer_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3d65f6c99d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/serializers/rest/collections_with_account_previews_serializer_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'rails_helper'
+
+RSpec.describe REST::CollectionsWithAccountPreviewsSerializer do
+  subject do
+    serialized_record_json(presenter, described_class, options: {
+      scope_name: :current_user, scope: nil
+    })
+  end
+
+  let(:collection_owner_one) { Fabricate(:account) }
+  let(:collection_owner_two) { Fabricate(:account) }
+  let(:featured_account) { Fabricate(:account) }
+  let(:collection_one) do
+    Fabricate(:collection,
+              account: collection_owner_one,
+              name: 'Exquisite follows')
+  end
+  let(:collection_two) do
+    Fabricate(:collection,
+              account: collection_owner_two,
+              name: 'Excellent people')
+  end
+  let(:collections) { [collection_one, collection_two] }
+  let(:presenter) { CollectionsPresenter.new(collections:) }
+
+  before do
+    Fabricate(:collection_item, collection: collection_one, account: featured_account)
+  end
+
+  it 'includes collections and partial accounts with the expected attributes' do
+    expect(subject).to include({
+      'collections' => [
+        a_hash_including({ 'name' => 'Exquisite follows' }),
+        a_hash_including({ 'name' => 'Excellent people' }),
+      ],
+      'partial_accounts' => [
+        a_hash_including({ 'id' => collection_owner_one.id.to_s }),
+        a_hash_including({ 'id' => collection_owner_two.id.to_s }),
+        a_hash_including({ 'id' => featured_account.id.to_s }),
+      ],
+    })
+  end
+end