Q2 2026
Top 26 Founders
Spotlighting the most promising founders building in New York and beyond.
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Irakli Mirzikashvili
Briano
I want to prove that category-defining AI companies can be built from Georgia.
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Itai Gafni & Roy Weisfeld
Huskeys
Organizations were not looking for another security product. They needed a better way to make the security they already trusted actually work.
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Mou Dasgupta
Brook37
Every cup of Brook37 carries my father's standard forward.
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Yochai Pagi
Psistar
The next decade belongs to the real, noisy, physical world — a frontier that demands new research.
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Sarah Kraft
Koil
3 in 4 US teens struggle to launch their careers, just like I did - so we're rebuilding LinkedIn, but for the next generation(s).
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Jordan Smith
mymodel
Tech Populism — the belief that technology, done right, can enable untold human flourishing.
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Eni Maj
Travel Spoken
I know what it is to feel like the world wasn't built for you and to go out and build your own corner of it anyway.
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Cien Zhang
Topaas AI
Agents can write local code. They cannot understand the company's system. That gap is the whole business.
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Davida Ginter
Eloo
AI is now table stakes, but non-technical teams can't build reliable agents without engineers. Eloo closes that gap by turning every company into an AI-native business.
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Varun Mishra
AgenQ Inc
Enterprise software should be intelligent enough to adapt to the user, not the other way around.
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Kevin Ghim
Summoner
The hardest part of a platform shift is rarely the technology. It's the trust.
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Nyamitse-Calvin Mahinda
Vital Audio
I grew up learning that geography shouldn't dictate who survives. So we built a way to hear the world's heartbeat through voice.
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Nikola Trajanov
Qlupod AG
Building something meaningful is not about avoiding failure; it is about having the conviction to keep going when failure seems inevitable.
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Michael Bervell
TestParty
I've spent my life often being the only one in the room. Now I build software that lets people in.
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Teja Urankar
Butter Be Kind Inc
Science creates better formulas. Nature provides the wisdom. Energy gives every ritual meaning. I believe the future belongs to all three.
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Sanja Mitrovska
The Founder Games
I believe founders can become the role models of our generation if we dare to show the journey behind the success. That's the story we chose to tell.
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Mihir Pathak
antitech
Entrepreneurship is ultimately an act of service.
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Shikha Soneji
ConsenTerra
People deserve to spend their time doing their best work, not drowning in paperwork to prove they're compliant.
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Jaclyn Kilani & Catherine Isbell
SafeMindsAI
AI was becoming part of our children's daily lives, and we realized there was no control layer between them and AI systems designed for adults.
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Umid Akhmedov
Tezbor
I build practical infrastructure solutions for overlooked markets — moving fast where others see friction, because the places hardest to serve are the ones that need it most.
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Nikola Milanovic
wellpet.ai
I would rather be wrong early and in public than right too late. When your product sits on a living animal, that is not a style choice.
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Anna Belova
OpenWay AI
I've built two categories that didn't exist yet. OpenWay AI is the third. Since I was five, 'impossible' has been a word other people used, never one I did.
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Pilar Arthur-Snead
The Run Hub
Every runner knows there are a million ways race day can go wrong. Travel should not be one of them.
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Filip Koprcina
Energy Shift
The energy transition cannot succeed if participation is limited to those who can already afford it.
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Shahin Katebi
VitalStaf
Resilience matters more than confidence. Confidence gets you started; resilience keeps you building when you have to change course.
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Wendy Herman
BRABAR
Trust is infrastructure.
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Gratitude to our partners
Founder Index would not be possible without partners who believe in entrepreneurship, innovation, and the people building what comes next.
165 Global
A global family office backing purpose-driven, founder-led companies from seed through growth. With a focus on long-term impact, the firm partners with ambitious entrepreneurs building meaningful businesses and transforming industries.
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Melodi Capital
A boutique fractional CFO firm specializing in strategic finance for high-growth businesses. Through a long-term, relationship-driven approach, the firm supports companies and entrepreneurs as they build, grow, and create lasting value.
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