Founder Directory
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Founders10
Known for these resultsRole70%Role is parsed from founder titles in yc.db. Known for 70% of these rows — the rest have no title at all, mostly 2019–2023. Those rows stay in the result and are counted as Unknown, never as No.Bio100%Bio coverage: 100% of these founders have a bio on their YC profile. Every bio-derived facet (ex-company, school, credentials, discipline) is Unknown for the rest.Ex-company100%Ex-company is matched from bios with employment context (ex-, formerly, worked at). 100% of these rows have at least one match.School60%School is matched from bios, case-sensitive for acronyms. 60% of these rows have at least one match.
- Tommy LiFounder/CTO · Praxis RoboticsS26Industrials · San Francisco
- Merlin Kafka@merlinkafkaFounder/CEO · RexS26B2B · San Francisco
- Aaron Chen@boewu_Founder/CEO · PaynaW26B2B · San Francisco
- Bryant LeFounder/CTO · FernstoneF25Fintech · New York
- Derek YeFounder/CTO · MaximalS25B2B · San Francisco
- Mariano Sorgente@sorgente711Founder/CEO · ISSENF24Consumer · New York
- Nikita Singareddy@singareddynmFounder · Fortuna HealthS23Healthcare · New York
- Vishakh Hegde@vishakhhegdeFounder/CTO · Inventive AIS23B2B · San Francisco
- Dhruv MangtaniFounder · Notebook LabsS22B2B · San Francisco
- Kristine HaraFounder · Quadrant EyeW21Healthcare · San Francisco
FOUNDERROLEBATCHINDUSTRYLOCATIONTEAMX_url
Tommy LiPraxis RoboticsFounder/CTOSummer 2026IndustrialsSan Francisco, United States3—Merlin KafkaRexFounder/CEOSummer 2026B2BSan Francisco, United States2https://x.com/merlinkafkaAaron ChenPaynaFounder/CEOWinter 2026B2BSan Francisco, United States2https://x.com/boewu_Bryant LeFernstoneFounder/CTOFall 2025FintechNew York, United States2—Derek YeMaximalFounder/CTOSummer 2025B2BSan Francisco, United States3—Mariano SorgenteISSENFounder/CEOFall 2024ConsumerNew York, United States1https://x.com/sorgente711Nikita SingareddyFortuna HealthFounderSummer 2023HealthcareNew York, United States22https://x.com/singareddynmVishakh HegdeInventive AIFounder/CTOSummer 2023B2BSan Francisco, United States15https://x.com/vishakhhegdeDhruv MangtaniNotebook LabsFounderSummer 2022B2BSan Francisco, United States3—Kristine HaraQuadrant EyeFounderWinter 2021HealthcareSan Francisco, United States4—
Showing 1–10 of 10 founders
Aaron Chen
Founder/CEO·Payna
PRIMARY INFO
RoleFounder/CEO
Team size2
BatchWinter 2026
LocationSan Francisco, United States
Company statusActive
StageEarly
BIO
Worked as a product engineer at an a16z backed DeFi startup helping scale crypto products, then went on to win ETHGlobal New York and ETHGlobal Delhi while earning recognition from Business Insider and the Ethereum Foundation. After building in crypto and seeing firsthand how painful manual licensing and compliance workflows are for regulated companies, now building Payna to automate regulatory licensing and ongoing compliance.
Ex-company, school and discipline below are derived from this bio. Nothing is inferred when the bio is missing.
BACKGROUND
Credentialsnone mentioned
DisciplineEngineerKeyword match from the bio text, not a classifier.
TRACK RECORD
First YC company on record
COMPANY CONTEXT
Payna
AI Licensing Agent for Regulated Industries
Co-foundersHe Song@7_hesong
