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Discovering Tomorrow's PayPal Mafia Today

Highlighting founders emerging from top startups

Read by investors managing $100B+ AUM. Limited to 200 members.

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8.30.26 - Top Founders of the Week
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Top Founders of the Week

8.30.26 - Top Founders of the Week

Perplexity’s earliest engineers and acquired founders, Blue Origin’s original team and SpaceX veterans, plus Hugging Face’s founding research crew and research leads spinning out.
8.24.26 - The Perplexity Mafia
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Perplexity

8.24.26 - The Perplexity Mafia

Perplexity’s Comet browser builders, 1st SWE & growth engineer, consumer experience lead, and acquired founders leaving to build new AI, agent, robotics, and consumer startups.
8.14.26 - Top Founders of the Week
Members Only
Top Founders of the Week

8.14.26 - Top Founders of the Week

10.13.26 - The Character AI Mafia
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Character AI

10.13.26 - The Character AI Mafia

Character.AI’s founding team, Chief Architect, Head of Research and Head of Product Engineering, alongside stealth and repeat founders.
10.12.26 - The Reflection AI Mafia
Members Only
Reflection AI

10.12.26 - The Reflection AI Mafia

Reflection AI’s former COO (ex-Wiz CSO), Chief of Staff, and Stanford/DeepMind research leader spinning out, alongside early technical talent from a16z-backed Preference Model.
10.9.26 - Top Founders of the Week
Members Only
Top Founders of the Week

10.9.26 - Top Founders of the Week

Isomorphic Labs’ former CTO and founding research engineer, Valon’s Co-Founder & CPO and CTO, Arena’s OpenAI and Anthropic alumni, Nous Research founding member, and Spiko’s former CTO building again.
10.8.26 - Arena’s Ex-OpenAI & Anthropic Researchers + Nous Research’s Founding Talent & Repeat Founders
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Lightspeed

10.8.26 - Arena’s Ex-OpenAI & Anthropic Researchers + Nous Research’s Founding Talent & Repeat Founders

Arena’s early technical team and OpenAI, Anthropic & DeepMind alumni spinning out, alongside Nous Research’s founding researcher, repeat founders and ML talent building new startups.
10.7.26 - Valon Co-Founders & Execs, and Mecka's Robotics Engineers Starting New
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A16Z

10.7.26 - Valon Co-Founders & Execs, and Mecka's Robotics Engineers Starting New

Valon's co-founder, former CTO, design and engineering leaders building again, alongside Mecka's early hardware talent launching YC- and a16z-backed robotics startups.
10.6.26 - Vinci’s Founding Physics & ML Engineers, Spiko’s CTO + Atomic Machines’ Hardware & Manufacturing Leaders
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Khosla

10.6.26 - Vinci’s Founding Physics & ML Engineers, Spiko’s CTO + Atomic Machines’ Hardware & Manufacturing Leaders

Vinci’s founding Head of Physics and ML engineers, Spiko’s former CTO, and Atomic Machines’ manufacturing head and principal hardware engineer building new companies across physical AI, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing.
10.5.26 - The Isomorphic Labs Mafia
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Isomorphic Labs

10.5.26 - The Isomorphic Labs Mafia

Isomorphic Labs’ former CTO, founding research engineer, senior AI researchers, and engineering leaders spinning out, including OpenAI and Google DeepMind alumni building new AI companies.
10.1.26 - Flow’s 1st FTE, Volantis Founding Engineer & EliseAI’s Chief of Staff
Members Only
A16Z

10.1.26 - Flow’s 1st FTE, Volantis Founding Engineer & EliseAI’s Chief of Staff

Flow’s 1st FTE, Volantis founding engineering, Efficient Computer’s Head of Product, and EliseAI technical and operating leaders spinning out.
10.2.26 - Top Founders of the Week
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Top Founders of the Week

10.2.26 - Top Founders of the Week

Parafin’s Co-Founder & founding engineer, Varda’s founding CRO and hardware talent, Monzo’s early architecture leaders, and Flow’s 1st FTE spinning out.
9.30.26 - The Varda Space Mafia
Members Only
Lux

9.30.26 - The Varda Space Mafia

Founding team members from Varda and Physical Intelligence, SpaceX and Anduril hardware leaders, repeat founders, and aerospace engineers spinning out into AI and robotics.
9.29.26 - The Parafin Mafia
Members Only
Parafin

9.29.26 - The Parafin Mafia

Parafin’s Co-Founder, founding engineer, 1st product hire, and capital engineering leaders spinning out into fintech and AI startups.
9.28.26 - The Monzo Mafia
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Monzo

9.28.26 - The Monzo Mafia

Monzo’s early architecture and US engineering leaders, Revolut’s 4th FTE, and fraud talent spinning out into AI, fintech and security startups.

Repeat Founder

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10.13.26 - The Character AI Mafia
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Character AI

10.13.26 - The Character AI Mafia

Character.AI’s founding team, Chief Architect, Head of Research and Head of Product Engineering, alongside stealth and repeat founders.
10.8.26 - Arena’s Ex-OpenAI & Anthropic Researchers + Nous Research’s Founding Talent & Repeat Founders
Members Only
Lightspeed

10.8.26 - Arena’s Ex-OpenAI & Anthropic Researchers + Nous Research’s Founding Talent & Repeat Founders

Arena’s early technical team and OpenAI, Anthropic & DeepMind alumni spinning out, alongside Nous Research’s founding researcher, repeat founders and ML talent building new startups.
10.2.26 - Top Founders of the Week
Members Only
Top Founders of the Week

10.2.26 - Top Founders of the Week

Parafin’s Co-Founder & founding engineer, Varda’s founding CRO and hardware talent, Monzo’s early architecture leaders, and Flow’s 1st FTE spinning out.

Founding Engineer

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10.6.26 - Vinci’s Founding Physics & ML Engineers, Spiko’s CTO + Atomic Machines’ Hardware & Manufacturing Leaders
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Khosla

10.6.26 - Vinci’s Founding Physics & ML Engineers, Spiko’s CTO + Atomic Machines’ Hardware & Manufacturing Leaders

Vinci’s founding Head of Physics and ML engineers, Spiko’s former CTO, and Atomic Machines’ manufacturing head and principal hardware engineer building new companies across physical AI, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing.
10.5.26 - The Isomorphic Labs Mafia
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Isomorphic Labs

10.5.26 - The Isomorphic Labs Mafia

Isomorphic Labs’ former CTO, founding research engineer, senior AI researchers, and engineering leaders spinning out, including OpenAI and Google DeepMind alumni building new AI companies.
10.1.26 - Flow’s 1st FTE, Volantis Founding Engineer & EliseAI’s Chief of Staff
Members Only
A16Z

10.1.26 - Flow’s 1st FTE, Volantis Founding Engineer & EliseAI’s Chief of Staff

Flow’s 1st FTE, Volantis founding engineering, Efficient Computer’s Head of Product, and EliseAI technical and operating leaders spinning out.

Repeat Founding Engineer

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10.13.26 - The Character AI Mafia
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Character AI

10.13.26 - The Character AI Mafia

Character.AI’s founding team, Chief Architect, Head of Research and Head of Product Engineering, alongside stealth and repeat founders.
10.6.26 - Vinci’s Founding Physics & ML Engineers, Spiko’s CTO + Atomic Machines’ Hardware & Manufacturing Leaders
Members Only
Khosla

10.6.26 - Vinci’s Founding Physics & ML Engineers, Spiko’s CTO + Atomic Machines’ Hardware & Manufacturing Leaders

Vinci’s founding Head of Physics and ML engineers, Spiko’s former CTO, and Atomic Machines’ manufacturing head and principal hardware engineer building new companies across physical AI, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing.
10.5.26 - The Isomorphic Labs Mafia
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Isomorphic Labs

10.5.26 - The Isomorphic Labs Mafia

Isomorphic Labs’ former CTO, founding research engineer, senior AI researchers, and engineering leaders spinning out, including OpenAI and Google DeepMind alumni building new AI companies.

AI

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10.13.26 - The Character AI Mafia
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Character AI

10.13.26 - The Character AI Mafia

Character.AI’s founding team, Chief Architect, Head of Research and Head of Product Engineering, alongside stealth and repeat founders.
10.12.26 - The Reflection AI Mafia
Members Only
Reflection AI

10.12.26 - The Reflection AI Mafia

Reflection AI’s former COO (ex-Wiz CSO), Chief of Staff, and Stanford/DeepMind research leader spinning out, alongside early technical talent from a16z-backed Preference Model.
10.8.26 - Arena’s Ex-OpenAI & Anthropic Researchers + Nous Research’s Founding Talent & Repeat Founders
Members Only
Lightspeed

10.8.26 - Arena’s Ex-OpenAI & Anthropic Researchers + Nous Research’s Founding Talent & Repeat Founders

Arena’s early technical team and OpenAI, Anthropic & DeepMind alumni spinning out, alongside Nous Research’s founding researcher, repeat founders and ML talent building new startups.

Applied AI

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10.1.26 - Flow’s 1st FTE, Volantis Founding Engineer & EliseAI’s Chief of Staff
Members Only
A16Z

10.1.26 - Flow’s 1st FTE, Volantis Founding Engineer & EliseAI’s Chief of Staff

Flow’s 1st FTE, Volantis founding engineering, Efficient Computer’s Head of Product, and EliseAI technical and operating leaders spinning out.
9.22.26 - The Baseten Mafia & an Accel-Backed Co-Founder
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Accel

9.22.26 - The Baseten Mafia & an Accel-Backed Co-Founder

Baseten engineers, a Thrive-backed founder, and Ema’s departing Co-Founder & CTO building across robotics and voice AI
9.18.26 - Top Founders of the Week
Members Only
Top Founders of the Week

9.18.26 - Top Founders of the Week

ElevenLabs’ Voice Agents Lead, Greylock-Backed Physical AI Co-Founder, Open-Weight AI Unicorn Co-Founder, Rainmaker’s 1st FTE & Chief Scientist, and Thatch’s 15th FTE

Fintech

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10.6.26 - Vinci’s Founding Physics & ML Engineers, Spiko’s CTO + Atomic Machines’ Hardware & Manufacturing Leaders
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Khosla

10.6.26 - Vinci’s Founding Physics & ML Engineers, Spiko’s CTO + Atomic Machines’ Hardware & Manufacturing Leaders

Vinci’s founding Head of Physics and ML engineers, Spiko’s former CTO, and Atomic Machines’ manufacturing head and principal hardware engineer building new companies across physical AI, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing.
9.29.26 - The Parafin Mafia
Members Only
Parafin

9.29.26 - The Parafin Mafia

Parafin’s Co-Founder, founding engineer, 1st product hire, and capital engineering leaders spinning out into fintech and AI startups.
9.28.26 - The Monzo Mafia
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Monzo

9.28.26 - The Monzo Mafia

Monzo’s early architecture and US engineering leaders, Revolut’s 4th FTE, and fraud talent spinning out into AI, fintech and security startups.

Infrastructure

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9.24.26 - SiMa.ai Founding Team Member, Quartermaster AI-acquired Founder, and Cyera’s Technical Leaders
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SiMa

9.24.26 - SiMa.ai Founding Team Member, Quartermaster AI-acquired Founder, and Cyera’s Technical Leaders

SiMa.ai founding talent, an acquired maritime-tech founder, and Cyera architecture, engineering and Unit 8200 leaders spinning out.
9.4.26 - SoftBank-Backed Co-Founder & Early Engineer + $30B Crusoe’s VP Eng & Infra Leaders
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Crusoe

9.4.26 - SoftBank-Backed Co-Founder & Early Engineer + $30B Crusoe’s VP Eng & Infra Leaders

Unacademy’s co-founder & CTO and early technical talent, alongside Crusoe’s VP Engineering, cloud infrastructure director and distributed computing engineers building new AI infrastructure companies.
8.20.26 - Paradigm’s 1st Employee, Partners & VP Eng + Early Heroku, Privy & Multiverse Leaders
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Benchmark

8.20.26 - Paradigm’s 1st Employee, Partners & VP Eng + Early Heroku, Privy & Multiverse Leaders

Paradigm’s 1st employee, research and investment partners, and VP Engineering, alongside Heroku’s 1st engineer, Privy’s 2nd FTE & founding engineer, and Multiverse Computing’s former COO.

Defense

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7.19.26 - Top Founders of the Week
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Top Founders of the Week

7.19.26 - Top Founders of the Week

Prime Intellect's founding research and protocol leaders, Helsing's AI directors, deployed engineers, and acquired founder, Shaped's co-founder following its Whatnot acquisition, Valarian's co-founders, TerraFirma's interim COO, and MicroAGI's co-founder.
7.15.26 - The Helsing Mafia
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Helsing

7.15.26 - The Helsing Mafia

Helsing-acquired founder, AI directors, deployed AI engineers, and product leaders building Europe's next generation of defense startups.
7.9.26 - Peregrine's Deployment Team & CRED's Founding Product Leaders
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Peregrine

7.9.26 - Peregrine's Deployment Team & CRED's Founding Product Leaders

Deployment leaders from Peregrine, CRED's founding product team and repeat founders, and an early Castelion engineer building the next defense prime.

Biotech

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7.31.26 - Function’s Co-Founding CTO, Antora’s CFO & Sequoia-Backed Summer Health Co-Founder
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A16Z

7.31.26 - Function’s Co-Founding CTO, Antora’s CFO & Sequoia-Backed Summer Health Co-Founder

Function Health’s Co-Founding CTO, Antora’s CFO and 5th commercial hire, the Co-Founder of Lux- and Sequoia-backed Summer Health, and Sail Biomedicines’ Chief Scientific Officer
7.28.26 - Top Founders of the Week
Members Only
Top Founders of the Week

7.28.26 - Top Founders of the Week

Co-Founders of Chainguard, Fluidstack & Colossal Biosciences, plus OpenSea’s former CTO and early employees & GMs from Atoms
7.26.26 - Co-Founders of Fluidstack’s Co-Founders & Colossal Biosciences
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Fluidstack

7.26.26 - Co-Founders of Fluidstack’s Co-Founders & Colossal Biosciences

Fluidstack’s co-founders, VP and directors of infrastructure and power systems; plus Colossal’s co-founder/CBO, Head of Biological Sciences, hardware director, and AI, computational biology, and stem-cell talent.

Healthcare

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9.18.26 - Top Founders of the Week
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Top Founders of the Week

9.18.26 - Top Founders of the Week

ElevenLabs’ Voice Agents Lead, Greylock-Backed Physical AI Co-Founder, Open-Weight AI Unicorn Co-Founder, Rainmaker’s 1st FTE & Chief Scientist, and Thatch’s 15th FTE
9.15.26- Greylock-Backed Physical AI Co-Founder + Factory AI Infra Head & Savvy Wealth Founding Engineers
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Greylock

9.15.26- Greylock-Backed Physical AI Co-Founder + Factory AI Infra Head & Savvy Wealth Founding Engineers

Antioch’s co-founder, Factory’s AI infrastructure and technical talent, Savvy Wealth’s founding and 6th engineers, plus early Clarion and Manus builders launching newcos.
9.14.26 - Open-Weight AI Unicorn Founder, Thatch’s 15th FTE, and Adaptive’s Founding Product Head
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A16Z

9.14.26 - Open-Weight AI Unicorn Founder, Thatch’s 15th FTE, and Adaptive’s Founding Product Head

Arcee AI’s co-founder & CTO and Head of AI Engineering, Thatch’s early engineer and platforms GTM lead, plus Adaptive’s founding Head of Product & Strategy building again.

Crypto

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8.21.26 - Top Founders of the Week
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Top Founders of the Week

8.21.26 - Top Founders of the Week

Simile’s 1st hire and 5th MTS, Gravis Robotics’ co-founder, Higgsfield’s founding research talent, Fish Audio’s co-founders and founding engineer, Neros’ former COO, and Paradigm’s 1st employee & GP.
6.11.26 - The Mistral Mafia
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Mistral

6.11.26 - The Mistral Mafia

Mistral's former Chief Business Officer, researchers from OpenAI and DeepMind, a healthcare AI founder from Morpho, and repeat engineering leaders behind multiple acquisitions
5.14.26 - Sequoia-Backed Founder, Repeat YC Founders, and Nectar Social’s 1st Engineer
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Founder

5.14.26 - Sequoia-Backed Founder, Repeat YC Founders, and Nectar Social’s 1st Engineer

Turnkey’s co-founder and ex-Coinbase Custody product lead, repeat YC founders acquired by Multiverse, Nectar Social’s 1st engineer, and Exaforce’s engineering lead

Cybersecurity

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6.11.26 - The Mistral Mafia
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Mistral

6.11.26 - The Mistral Mafia

Mistral's former Chief Business Officer, researchers from OpenAI and DeepMind, a healthcare AI founder from Morpho, and repeat engineering leaders behind multiple acquisitions
6.8.26 - Top Founders of the Week
Members Only
Top Founders of the Week

6.8.26 - Top Founders of the Week

The co-founders of Luma AI, Liftoff, Basis, Lila Sciences, Forage, Impulse Space's COO and first technical hire, and founders acquired by DriveNets
6.5.26 - 9 Figure Repeat Founder, Founders of Opals, and Zyphra Engineering Executives
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Greylock

6.5.26 - 9 Figure Repeat Founder, Founders of Opals, and Zyphra Engineering Executives

A $133M founder, Opal's co-founder, CTO, and CPO, engineering executives from Zyphra, and builders behind exits to Airwallex, Harness, and Salesforce

SaaS

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9.10.26 Top Founders of the Week
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Top Founders of the Week

9.10.26 Top Founders of the Week

Cognition’s engineers and researchers, Clay’s 1st and 5th employees, Wonderful’s former GM & Lokalise founder, and Unacademy’s co-founder & CTO starting new
8.31.26 - The Clay Mafia
Members Only
SaaS

8.31.26 - The Clay Mafia

Clay’s 1st and 5th employees, 1st marketing hire, early growth and engineering leaders spinning out to build across AI, fintech, healthcare, and physical sciences.
8.4.26 - The Airtable Mafia
Members Only
Airtable

8.4.26 - The Airtable Mafia

Former Airtable CTOs, GMs, founding leaders, and acquired founders.

Robotics

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10.7.26 - Valon Co-Founders & Execs, and Mecka's Robotics Engineers Starting New
Members Only
A16Z

10.7.26 - Valon Co-Founders & Execs, and Mecka's Robotics Engineers Starting New

Valon's co-founder, former CTO, design and engineering leaders building again, alongside Mecka's early hardware talent launching YC- and a16z-backed robotics startups.
8.21.26 - Top Founders of the Week
Members Only
Top Founders of the Week

8.21.26 - Top Founders of the Week

Simile’s 1st hire and 5th MTS, Gravis Robotics’ co-founder, Higgsfield’s founding research talent, Fish Audio’s co-founders and founding engineer, Neros’ former COO, and Paradigm’s 1st employee & GP.
8.17.26 - Founders & Early Builders from Higgsfield, Simile, Gravis Robotics & SkyPilot
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DST

8.17.26 - Founders & Early Builders from Higgsfield, Simile, Gravis Robotics & SkyPilot

Higgsfield’s founding researcher, Simile’s 1st hire and 5th MTS, a Gravis Robotics co-founder, and SkyPilot talent building YC-backed Tokenless.

American Dynamism

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10.1.26 - Flow’s 1st FTE, Volantis Founding Engineer & EliseAI’s Chief of Staff
Members Only
A16Z

10.1.26 - Flow’s 1st FTE, Volantis Founding Engineer & EliseAI’s Chief of Staff

Flow’s 1st FTE, Volantis founding engineering, Efficient Computer’s Head of Product, and EliseAI technical and operating leaders spinning out.
9.30.26 - The Varda Space Mafia
Members Only
Lux

9.30.26 - The Varda Space Mafia

Founding team members from Varda and Physical Intelligence, SpaceX and Anduril hardware leaders, repeat founders, and aerospace engineers spinning out into AI and robotics.
9.24.26 - SiMa.ai Founding Team Member, Quartermaster AI-acquired Founder, and Cyera’s Technical Leaders
Members Only
SiMa

9.24.26 - SiMa.ai Founding Team Member, Quartermaster AI-acquired Founder, and Cyera’s Technical Leaders

SiMa.ai founding talent, an acquired maritime-tech founder, and Cyera architecture, engineering and Unit 8200 leaders spinning out.