Announcing the 16VC Founder Fellowship Cohort: Meet the Next Generation of Builders

Inside the 110 global startups reshaping AI infrastructure, next-generation FinTech, Web3, enterprise software, healthcare, and the future of work.

We are thrilled to officially unveil the latest cohort of the 16VC Founder Fellowship. This highly selective group brings together 110 exceptional startups led by ambitious founders from across the globe. Together, they represent the next generation of builders transforming industries through artificial intelligence, programmable finance, enterprise software, healthcare innovation, blockchain infrastructure, and category-defining vertical solutions.

This year’s fellowship reflects a clear shift in where innovation is heading. Rather than incremental improvements, founders are building entirely new operating systems for businesses, autonomous AI agents, stablecoin-powered financial infrastructure, intelligent healthcare platforms, and specialized software designed for specific industries. The cohort spans founders from North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, showcasing the increasingly global nature of technology entrepreneurship.

The 16VC Founder Fellowship Cohort Distribution by Industry highlights the strong concentration of startups in AI & DeepTech, FinTech, Enterprise SaaS, HealthTech, and Web3, while also featuring founders tackling challenges across education, climate, cybersecurity, consumer technology, gaming, creator tools, and future-of-work platforms.

Key Cohort Trends

Agentic AI Becomes Infrastructure

Many founders are moving beyond chatbot experiences to build autonomous AI systems capable of executing complex workflows with minimal human intervention. From AI operating systems and verification layers to compliance agents and enterprise copilots, this cohort represents the next evolution of applied artificial intelligence.

Stablecoins Enter the Enterprise

Cross-border payments, programmable treasury, on-chain credit markets, and stablecoin settlement infrastructure continue to emerge as one of the strongest investment themes. Rather than replacing banks, these founders are rebuilding global financial rails for an internet-native economy.

Vertical AI is Winning

Instead of building general-purpose AI tools, founders are creating deeply specialized products for healthcare, manufacturing, industrial distribution, finance, education, scientific research, and creator workflows.

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Meet the Founders

Below is the complete directory of the 16VC Founder Fellowship Cohort, organized by industry, including founders, company websites, and what each startup is building.

AI & DeepTech

NetRanks AI

Founder: Berat Reha Sonmez
Website:

https://netranks.ai

Reverse-engineers how AI search engines decide what to cite, helping brands optimize visibility across AI-generated answers.

Ratio Global

Founders: Alisher Kabduakhitov, Marzhan Kabduakhitova
Website:

https://ratio.global

Building a full-stack platform for global scientific knowledge distribution.

Lattanye

Founders: Tatenda Ncube, Yusta Enock
Website:

https://www.lattanye.group/

Developing an agentic operating system purpose-built for African governments.

Spaide

Founders: Matthew Han, Ian Sun
Website:

https://spaideai.com

An AI CAM copilot that automates machining strategies, toolpaths, and manufacturing workflows.

Contineon

Founder: Aidan Yu
Website:

http://containuum.pages.dev/

Building physical AI systems to accelerate scientific discovery beyond human limitations.

Kyra DB

Founder: Sagar Garg
Website:

https://kyradb.com

Transforms enterprise signals into deterministic, auditable AI decisions for regulated industries.

Orion

Founders: Daksh Shettar, Sohom Chakroborty, Shivang Sonker
Website:

https://orion-org.net

Building robust desktop automation infrastructure for AI agents.

Yantra AI

Founders: Rahul Poddar, Sudhama Bhatia
Website: https://travon.ai/products/yantra
An AI-powered order desk designed specifically for B2B industrial distributors.

Optonix

Founders: Tyler Luke Thomas, Nasirudeen Hendricks
Website:

https://www.optonix.co.za/

An AI-accelerated engineering studio combining custom software development with intelligent automation.

Propensity Labs

Founders: Rahul Nambiar, Mana Azarm
Website:

https://www.propensitylabs.ai/

Predicts how AI agents will fail before deployment, improving production reliability.

ManaVerse

Founders: Gia Pereira, Jivika Vikamshi, Miss G. Pereira
Website:

https://www.manaverse.io/

Building voice-first AI infrastructure focused on self-regulation for the next generation.

PunchEdit

Founder: Ayush Yadav
Website:

https://punchedit.com/

An AI-powered video editor that transforms raw footage into publish-ready content.

Brewing

Founder: Lydia Solomon
Website:

https://www.thebrewing.xyz/

Coordinates AI agents, verifies outputs, and automates settlement based on successful execution.

Atheon

Founders: Douglas Smith, Saurabh Ghanekar
Website:

https://atheon-inc.com/

Intent intelligence infrastructure powering trustworthy AI systems.

Edge AI

Founder: Andrew Mikhail
Website:

https://runedge.ai

Helping physical AI developers deploy optimized on-device voice agents.

Driftless

Founders: Luis Sanjuan, Jose Luis Tello
Website:

https://driftless.icu/

A collaborative workspace where human teams and AI agents work together seamlessly.

DigiNav AI

Founder: Neha Prasad
Website:

https://compliscore-nu.vercel.app/

An autonomous compliance platform helping Indian startups manage GST, audits, incorporation, and regulatory filings.

Akhara AI

Founder: Spandana Govindgari
Website:

https://akhara.ai

Building specialized verification infrastructure for autonomous AI agents.

HOL

Founders: Michael Kantor, Patches Smith
Website:

https://hol.org

Security, discovery, and trust infrastructure for AI agents.

FIORA5

Founders: Darian Domocos, Alin Parcalab
Website:

https://fiora5.com

Building next-generation AI infrastructure and enterprise automation solutions.

Autter

Founders: Sagnik Ghosh, Tanvi Bhole
Website:

https://autter.dev

An AI code reviewer that executes code, identifies edge cases, and improves software quality before merge.

Argus Labs

Founder: Varad Santosh Durge
Website:

https://www.arguslabs.in/

Detects silent failures across enterprise AI pipelines before they impact production.

Mirage

Founders: Sara Nambiar, Nilay Tayade, Siddhant Vishnu
Website:

https://www.trymirage.app/

Creating adaptive software interfaces that personalize themselves to each user’s workflow.

Yoetz

Founders: Shay Ben Shabtay, Daniel Kuptzov
Website:

https://yoetzagent.com

Enterprise AI research systems designed for reliability, transparency, and trust.

MorningHQ

Founders: Shubham Goel, Arthur Lechoncito, Mayank Gupta
Website:

https://morninghq.ai/

Helping modern teams streamline operations with AI-powered workplace intelligence.

Purpose:Labs

Founders: Alkinoos Sarioglou, Tanishq Goswami
Website:

https://www.purposelabs.ai/

Developing the operating system for human relationships in an AGI-enabled future.

Trotta

Founder: Fela Akinse
Website:

https://www.trotta.io

Protects people and AI systems from phishing, ransomware, deepfakes, and social engineering attacks.

Parable

Founder: Peter Choi
Website:

https://parable.so

Building AI-native tools that help teams create, organize, and share knowledge more effectively.

Fleeks

Founders: Victor Mugisha, Moise Murhi
Website:

https://fleeks.ai/

A dedicated runtime environment built specifically for AI coding agents.

FinTech

Netaro

Founder: Yash Patel
Website:

https://netaro.xyz

Building stablecoin infrastructure for global B2B payments, automated three-way document matching, and programmable financial operations.

Aviax

Founders: Fara Narbayev, Sergei Baranov
Website:

https://aviax.io/

Turning aircraft telemetry into liquid financial assets through next-generation aviation finance infrastructure.

ChurchPay

Founders: Olayinka Akinhanmi, Chukwuemeka Obiaka
Website:

https://trychurchpay.com

Cross-border payment infrastructure purpose-built for churches, ministries, and global giving.

LinkMoney

Founders: Saurav Roy, Dhiraj Kumar Jain
Website:

https://linkmoney.in/

An AI-powered credit advisor helping consumers discover, access, and manage financial products.

Settle

Founder: Jayesh Singhania
Website:

https://settle.financial/

Providing 24/7 on-chain foreign exchange and payment infrastructure that operates beyond traditional banking hours.

istocks

Founder: Priyanshu
Website:

https://www.istocks.codes

An AI-powered investing platform that enables users to build, test, and execute trading strategies using natural language.

Prism

Founder: Ng Ju Peng
Website:

https://getprism.money/

A mobile wallet enabling international visitors to scan and pay Vietnamese merchant QR codes without opening a local bank account.

Glintz Technologies Inc

Founders: Zoey Lee, Deborah Lee
Website:

https://tryglintz.com

A smart routing platform for international money transfers that significantly reduces cross-border transaction costs.

Statem Finance

Founder: Oghenekparobor Eminokanju
Website:

https://statem.finance

Institutional proof-of-funds infrastructure powering the on-chain financial ecosystem.

MrTaxes

Founder: Federico Alconada
Website:

https://www.mrtaxes.xyz

An AI-powered tax recovery platform helping individuals and businesses maximize eligible refunds.

UseMoney AI

Founder: Shaswat Deep
Website:

https://usemoney.ai/

An intelligent investment copilot designed to simplify wealth management for retail investors.

Lideflow

Founder: Esso-Dong Djafalo
Website:

https://www.lideflow.com

An MCP-native settlement layer enabling secure AI agent payments across African financial rails.

Playmos Labs

Founder: Boz Menzalji
Website:

https://playmos.io

Developing a stablecoin SDK and MCP infrastructure powering the economic layer for agentic commerce.

Splitpact

Founders: Myroslav Khatsevych, Yurii Rohulin, Alex Vega
Website:

https://splitpact.com/

A programmable routing layer enabling conditional stablecoin payouts on Solana.

Accend

Founder: João Vitor Rodrigues Oliveira
Website:

https://accend.now

A global dollar account connecting Pix, USD banking, and stablecoins for Brazilian businesses.

Kobopay Inc

Founders: Leslie Emenalo, Chinemere Okereke
Website:

https://kobopay.co

Helping immigrants build local credit, bank locally, and move money globally through a modern financial platform.

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SaaS / Enterprise Software

Buildy

Founders: Nicholas McIntosh, Dylan McIntosh, Bill McIntosh
Website:

https://www.buildy.ai/

A conversational AI business builder helping non-technical entrepreneurs launch and grow profitable businesses through voice.

Sinter Inc.

Founders: Teeraphat Aungkroonpisarn, Yajas Sharma
Website:

https://sinter.tech/

An AI operating system that connects startup knowledge, workflows, and execution into a single collaborative platform.

VidGuy

Founders: Yassin Soulimane, Behfar Iranmanesh
Website:

https://vidguy.ai

A self-learning GTM engine that manages short-form marketing and content operations end-to-end.

Grantsnap

Founder: Himanshu Goswami
Website:

https://www.grantsnap.pro/

Helping startups discover and apply for non-dilutive grants using AI-powered research and automation.

Influencer connect AI ltd

Founders: Raghav Goyal, Kunal Deb Roy
Website:

https://brand-brief-1.preview.emergentagent.com/

An AI-powered platform connecting brands with UGC creators and micro-influencers for scalable content distribution.

Xpnse AI LLC

Founder: Shannen Lawson
Website:

https://www.xpnse.ai

Provides real-time financial visibility and fund management tools for organizations and associations.

2ndPay

Founder: John Cardenas
Website:

https://www.2ndpay.app/

A revenue orchestration platform enabling businesses to automate payroll, banking, and financial allocation.

Reporti

Founder: Gracie Broom
Website:

https://reporti.pro/

An AI-powered incident intelligence platform improving crowd safety and compliance for live events.

QuickContract

Founder: Rafael Casuso
Website:

https://quickcontract.io/

Smart contract infrastructure designed for collaboration between humans and AI agents.

Route5

Founder: Neville Engineer
Website:

https://route5ai.com

Transforms team discussions into owned, measurable, and completed action items.

Veral

Founder: Elaha Mahboob
Website:

https://veral.ai/

Delivering verified, real-time market intelligence for startups and growing businesses.

Panaptico

Founder: Adoba Yua
Website:

https://www.panaptico.com

An AI-powered implementation runtime for IT operations and complex enterprise systems.

TasksMind

Founders: Vatsal Pandya, Kashish Syed, Thang Do, Chiradeep Debnath
Website:

https://www.tasksmind.com

An AI on-call engineer that investigates production incidents, diagnoses issues, and opens safe pull requests automatically.

Neuron

Founder: Ali
Website:

https://tryneuron.net

An AI company brain that transforms Slack, Gmail, Notion, and Linear into trusted organizational knowledge.

Clarity AI

Founders: Calvin Lim, Thomas Htet
Website:

https://www.clarity-cloud.com/

AI-native analytics embedded directly into modern enterprise data infrastructure.

Nexal Labs

Founder: Warren Chisasa
Website:

https://www.nexallabs.com

An AI-native business agent that helps organizations discover, qualify, and act on new sales opportunities.

Web3 / Blockchain

Stvor

Founder: Ilyas Zh
Website:

https://pqc.stvor.xyz

Building next-generation cryptographic infrastructure with a focus on post-quantum security for the decentralized economy.

CardChase

Founder: Giannis Panagiotopoulos
Website:

https://cardchase.fun/

Creating financial markets and liquidity infrastructure for trading card game (TCG) collectibles.

Coly

Founders: Purin Tabtimto, Suparlerk Yamtim, Paramet Moonkaew, Aran Sriaran
Website:

https://app.coly.trade

An automation layer and operating system powering global prediction markets.

Cray

Founders: Sayli Ramkant Patil, Aishwarya Valliappan
Website:

https://cray.pro

Delivering a “Square-like” payment experience for stablecoins across the Middle East.

Privacy Cloak Inc

Founder: Jerreen Ajai
Website:

https://www.privacycloak.in

Making transactions and data across public blockchains fully private through advanced privacy infrastructure.

Nysa Finance

Founders: Giacomo Maraglino, Jordy DeKoning, Sven Daneel
Website:

https://nysa.finance

Building on-chain credit markets purpose-built for real-world assets (RWAs).

BitVault SA

Founder: Francesco Madonna
Website:

https://www.bitvault.sv/

Bitcoin security infrastructure featuring multisignature custody and enforced time-delay protection.

ClawCash

Founders: Akshat Mishra, Akshay Dev
Website:

https://cash.clawlens.io

Building the credit and financial operating layer specifically for AI agents.

Planbok

Founders: Ifeanyichukwu Welechi, Ogechi Welechi
Website:

https://planbok.io

Programmable wallet infrastructure providing businesses with a unified API for fiat and crypto payments.

RemittEase

Founder: Noble Nyoni
Website:

https://remittease.xyz/

A stablecoin-powered cross-border payments platform serving emerging markets.

Trawelist

Founder: Sakib Ashai
Website: https://linktr.ee/sacib
Building decentralized travel infrastructure designed to create more engaging travel experiences.

Demether

Founder: Kartik Swaminathan
Website:

https://demether.io

A high-yield savings and investment platform for digital assets and tokenized finance.

Tickify

Founders: Phil Potgieter, Ali Fouad, Crawford Sudarshan, Velu Raveendran
Website:

https://www.tickify.io

Programmable ticketing infrastructure combined with AI-powered fan intelligence for live events.

Raster

Founders: Michael Gomez Wood, Iwan Spillebeen, Jacob Camilleri
Website:

https://raster.finance/

An AI-powered quantitative trading and digital finance platform.

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HealthTech / Biotech

Depth

Founders: Raghav Dua, Prithvish Baidya
Website:

https://depth.fit/

An intelligent conversational AI health companion delivering personalized health guidance and ongoing wellness support.

Alertra AI

Founder: Gugan Loganathan
Website:

https://alertra.ai/

An AI eldercare assistant that proactively checks on seniors to help prevent health emergencies.

TrialV.AI

Founder: Miaomiao Fu
Website:

https://www.trialv.com/

Automating patient outreach, pre-screening, and follow-up to accelerate clinical trial recruitment.

Immortigen Technologies

Founders: Aayan Raj Singh, Himanshu Choudhary
Website:

https://www.immortigen.com/

Building a digital clone of the human body using agentic AI models for healthcare and life sciences.

TendHer Health Inc.

Founders: Oluwatobi David Akinyede, Charles Allison, Nifemi Adeyemo
Website:

https://tendherhealth.com/

An AI maternal health companion improving access to trusted healthcare information across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Heron

Founders: Harsh Gupta, Prithvi Rana
Website:

https://www.heronbilling.com/

AI-powered medical billing software that automatically submits claims and challenges insurance denials.

KwikMedi

Founder: Abhishek Kumar Yadav
Website:

https://kwikmedi.com/

Building India’s hyperlocal healthcare infrastructure connecting patients with pharmacies and essential medical services.

Voima

Founder: Emmanuel Dey
Website:

https://voimainitiative.com/

An AI health companion helping people living with sickle cell disease proactively prevent health crises.

UBiosis Health

Founder: Alex Arevalos
Website:

https://www.ubiosishealth.com

An autonomous AI nurse providing continuous care for patients with chronic conditions between doctor visits.

Tether Analytics

Founders: Jared Cristobal, Michael Guderyon
Website:

https://www.tetheranalytics.com/

An operational system of record for drug manufacturing and biopharmaceutical process optimization.

AviCella

Founders: Radman Mazloomnejad, Arman Bakhtiari
Website:

https://avicella.ai/

A biological intelligence platform that converts RNA-seq data into evidence-based biological insights.

Privexa

Founder: Hemal Vora
Website:

https://privexa.io/

Developing privacy-first healthcare infrastructure that enables secure management and sharing of sensitive medical data.

Media / Creator Economy

Dexter Copilot

Founders: Astemir Azhakhov, Kanshobi Azhakhov
Website:

http://www.dexterai.org/

An AI copilot for live streamers that automates OBS controls, moderation, audience engagement, and stream analytics.

Wavi.stream

Founder: Rishi Narayanan
Website:

https://wavi.stream

An AI-native workspace enabling music creators to organize, collaborate on, and monetize unreleased music.

Matrix

Founder: Isha Chaturvedi
Website:

https://ai-matrix.lovable.app

An AI-native social studio building persistent characters and script-to-cinema production pipelines.

Intaglio Labs, Inc.

Founders: Austin Yoshino, Rishab Nayak
Website:

https://contentprinter.com

Building an agentic video editing platform tailored for cinematic storytelling and professional content creation.

CollabBook

Founder: Dorcas Ajayi
Website:

https://collabbook.co/

A comprehensive operating system helping digital creators manage partnerships, campaigns, contracts, and brand deals.

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E-commerce / Consumer

Scendira

Founder: Amrita Kriplani
Website:

https://www.scendira.com

An AI-powered fragrance discovery platform, often described as the “Spotify for scent.”

Purepicked

Founder: Nikit Gupta
Website:

https://purepicked.store

A transparent grocery marketplace helping consumers shop with complete ingredient and sourcing visibility.

NailedIT Labs

Founder: Alex (Hongyuan) Jin
Website:

https://nailedit.live

A visual discovery and booking platform connecting customers with beauty professionals.

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HRTech / Future of Work

Preferrd

Founder: Mark Francis
Website:

https://www.preferrd.io/

Modern referral infrastructure helping companies source, manage, and reward talent recommendations.

Arkire

Founders: Artin Kennedy, Ajitesh Sharma
Website:

https://arkirehq.com

Building AI-powered workforce infrastructure that helps organizations discover, manage, and develop talent.

GitHired

Founder: Raghav Bansal
Website:

https://githired.tech/

Connecting developers with employers through AI-powered technical hiring and portfolio evaluation.

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EdTech

Praxora

Founders: Pouya Mirzaei, Anurag Janaswamy, Aayush Agrawal
Website:

https://praxora.org

AI-driven roleplay simulations helping healthcare students gain practical clinical experience through immersive learning.

Polyflow

Founder: Rebecca Chery
Website:

https://polyflow-landing-three.vercel.app/

An AI speech alignment platform providing pronunciation coaching for under-resourced languages.

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Other Sectors & Specialized Solutions

Miri Africa (ClimateTech / Energy)

Founder: Temidayo Oniosun
Website: http://x.com/temidayooniosun
Building the oracle layer powering Africa’s environmental and climate risk markets.

SafeBond AI, Inc. (Cybersecurity)

Founders: Tran Tue Nhi, Tran Hai Linh
Website:

https://www.safebondai.com

Detects scams, fraud, and social engineering attacks across voice and video communications in real time.

Shoko (Gaming)

Founders: Tamir Azbel, Max Feinberg
Website:

https://www.shoko.tv/

Automated AI-powered prediction markets designed specifically for livestream communities.

Mera Nivas (PropTech)

Founder: Aryan Ghosh
Website:

https://meranivas.com/

Building digital infrastructure that modernizes residential community management.

Tails, Co.

Founder: Pawel Kaczmarek
Website:

https://trytails.com

An AI-powered marketplace connecting pet owners with trusted caregivers for seamless booking and management.

pepl

Founders: Divyansh Nayan, Jose Pablo Rivera
Website:

https://pepl.live

A platform designed to strengthen real-world networking by helping people build meaningful in-person connections.

Maiga.markets

Founders: Victor Lee, Cindy Jin
Website:

https://maiga.markets/

Prediction market infrastructure purpose-built for Southeast Asian users and businesses.

Glint Labs

Founder: Martin Sandomirsky
Website:

https://glintlabs.io

Developing copy-proof, design-flexible authentication labels as an alternative to traditional QR codes.

thirdspace

Founders: Eshan Betrabet, Cedric Osagie
Website:

https://thirdspace.so/

A social platform that makes sharing and discovering real-life experiences more engaging and interactive.

TipStars

Founder: James Dale Ellis
Website:

https://tipstars.art/

An AI-powered platform connecting independent artists with collectors and art enthusiasts.

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Looking Ahead

The 2026 16VC Founder Fellowship cohort showcases an extraordinary group of founders building across artificial intelligence, fintech, enterprise software, Web3, healthcare, creator tools, education, cybersecurity, climate technology, and consumer platforms. While their industries vary, they share a common ambition: solving meaningful global problems through technology.

Together, these 110 startups represent the next generation of innovation, combining technical excellence with bold entrepreneurial vision. As they continue to build, launch, and scale, they are helping shape the future of business, finance, healthcare, infrastructure, and the internet itself.

We congratulate every founder and co-founder selected for this year’s fellowship and look forward to following their journeys in the years ahead.

To learn more about the 16VC Founder Fellowship, explore the companies featured above, or connect with the founders, visit www.16vc.co

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