📬 Daily brief — 6am Pacific.
How this list works
Hourly ranking from RSS / X / HN / accelerator feeds. Filters out operators, investors, academics, and famous CEOs. A Gemini judge with a tier-1 seed-VC persona (Sequoia / a16z / Conviction / ZhenFund) picks the top 50 by “who would I most want to meet THIS WEEK?”. Top 12 are must-meets; 13–50 are the watch list.
🔥 Top Potential Founders
#1
Jean-Baptiste KempfAI-PhysicalstealthPattern 1/5conf 0.90
Kyber
AI-Physical
Why this week: Jean-Baptiste Kempf, open-source legend, building Kyber, an infrastructure layer for real-time control of remote devices. Strong AI-Physical fit.
Jean-Baptiste Kempf is a French serial entrepreneur and open-source legend, known for his contributions to making free video players run smoothly. He is currently leveraging his expertise in a new venture, Kyber. Kyber is an infrastructure layer designed for the real-time control of remote devices and robots.
Recent updates
No significant activity in the last 5 days.
#2
秦旭AI-PhysicalseedPattern 1/5conf 0.90
雪梦未来
Ex-北京大学计算机学院, Ex-北京大学编解码国家工程实验室 · AI-Physical
Why this week: Qin Xu, founder of SnowOrigin (雪梦未来), a Peking University-backed startup developing sEMG-based neural wristbands. Secured investment from notable figures.
Qin Xu is the founder of SnowOrigin (雪梦未来), a Peking University-backed startup. The company is developing an sEMG-based neural wristband designed for new-generation data acquisition terminals. SnowOrigin has successfully secured investment from notable figures like Gong Hongjia and Lu Qi, as well as overseas institutions.
Recent updates
秦旭's company, SnowOrigin, a Peking University-backed team, recently secured investment from Gong Hongjia, Lu Qi, and overseas institutions. This funding supports its sEMG-based neural wristband and AI decoding model. SnowOrigin aims to build a new generation of human control data acquisition solutions for embodied AI, providing high-quality training data and natural human-machine interfaces for robots.
Sources:36kr
#3
王龙AI-Physicalangelconf 0.90
随擎机器人
Ex-同济大学, Ex-香港科技大学 · AI-Physical
Why this week: Wang Long, Tongji University robotics PhD, secured multi-million yuan angel round for Suiqing Robotics, developing AI robots for coal mining.
Wang Long is the founder of Suiqing Robotics, a company focused on developing AI-powered robots for the coal mining industry. A Tongji University robotics PhD, he recently secured a multi-million yuan angel round for his venture. Wang Long pivoted Suiqing Robotics from construction robots to target the "structural blue ocean" of auxiliary operations in coal mines.
Recent updates
王龙, a Tongji University robotics PhD, recently secured a multi-million yuan angel round for his company, Suiqing Robotics. The company develops AI-powered robots for auxiliary tasks in coal mines, addressing an overlooked market segment. Suiqing Robotics has already received small batch orders and established strategic partnerships with leading state-owned enterprises.
Sources:36kr
#4
秦深涛AI-Physicalseedconf 0.85
OriginFlow
Ex-清华大学 · AI-Physical
Why this week: Qin Shentao, Founder & CEO of OriginFlow, developing AI-powered industrial inspection. BlueRun Ventures invested quickly, indicating strong early traction.
Qin Shentao is the Founder & CEO of OriginFlow. He is a prominent figure in the AI venture capital space, actively participating in discussions on early-stage investments. Shentao advocates for identifying and investing in AI opportunities strategically, often before market consensus is fully established.
Recent updates
秦深涛's company, OriginFlow, was recently highlighted in a 36Kr 2026WAVES roundtable discussion. BlueRun Ventures made a quick decision to invest in OriginFlow, which develops non-invasive neural interfaces for embodied AI. This investment aligns with the VC's long-term vision for AGI, robotics, and 3D interaction.
Sources:36kr
#5
王智林AI-PhysicalseedPattern 1/5conf 0.85
雪梦未来
Ex-北京航空航天大学软件开发环境国家重点实验室 · AI-Physical
Why this week: Wang Zhilin, co-founder of SnowOrigin (雪梦未来), a Peking University-backed startup developing sEMG-based neural wristbands. Secured investment.
Wang Zhilin is a co-founder of SnowOrigin (雪梦未来), a Peking University-backed startup focused on innovative data acquisition. The company is developing an sEMG-based neural wristband for new-generation data acquisition terminals. SnowOrigin has attracted significant investment from prominent investors such as Gong Hongjia, Lu Qi, and various overseas institutions.
Recent updates
王智林's company, SnowOrigin, a Peking University-backed team, recently secured investment from Gong Hongjia, Lu Qi, and overseas institutions. This funding supports its sEMG-based neural wristband and AI decoding model. SnowOrigin aims to build a new generation of human control data acquisition solutions for embodied AI, providing high-quality training data and natural human-machine interfaces for robots.
Sources:36kr
#6
牛郁岭AI-PhysicalangelPattern 1/5conf 0.85
芯感通科技有限公司
Ex-Qualcomm, Ex-Yijing Technology · AI-Physical
Why this week: 牛郁岭, Ex-Qualcomm, founder of Xingantong Technology, secured multi-million yuan angel round for AI compute center perception solutions.
牛郁岭 is the Founder of Xingantong Technology, a company specializing in AI compute center perception and efficiency management solutions. Under his leadership, the company recently secured a multi-million yuan angel round of funding.
Recent updates
牛郁岭's company, Xingantong Technology, recently secured a multi-million yuan angel round of funding. The round was led by Lenovo Star and K2VC. Xingantong provides AI compute center perception and efficiency management solutions, advancing its chip-level fluxgate sensor technology for high-density AI data centers and space computing.
Sources:36kr
#7
张乃川AI-PhysicalangelPattern 1/5conf 0.80
芯感通科技有限公司
Ex-Tudatong, Ex-Yijing Technology, Ex-Xifeng Optoelectronics · AI-Physical
Why this week: 张乃川, co-founder of Xingantong Technology, secured multi-million yuan angel round for AI compute center perception solutions.
张乃川 is the Co-founder of Xingantong Technology, a company focused on AI compute center perception and efficiency management solutions. The company recently achieved a significant milestone by securing a multi-million yuan angel round of investment.
Recent updates
张乃川's company, Xingantong Technology, recently secured a multi-million yuan angel round of funding. The round was led by Lenovo Star and K2VC. Xingantong provides AI compute center perception and efficiency management solutions, advancing its chip-level fluxgate sensor technology for high-density AI data centers and space computing.
Sources:36kr
#8
李祥彪AI-Physicalseedconf 0.85
连云港力普司船舶科技有限公司
Ex-苏船, Ex-南高精, Ex-瓦锡兰 · 20 years experience · AI-Physical
Why this week: 李祥彪, Wärtsilä veteran, founder of LiiPuS, developing advanced permanent magnet propulsion systems for ships. Secured seed and angel funding.
李祥彪 is the founder of 连云港力普司船舶科技有限公司 (LiiPuS), leveraging his extensive experience as a Wärtsilä veteran. Under his leadership, LiiPuS is developing advanced permanent magnet propulsion systems for ships, aiming to revolutionize marine power. The company has successfully secured seed and angel funding, demonstrating strong investor confidence in its innovative technology and and securing over 50 million RMB in orders within half a year.
Recent updates
No significant activity in the last 5 days.
#9
王茜AI-PhysicalseedPattern 1/5conf 0.90
芯生视界
Ex-北京大学心理与认知科学学院, Ex-IDG麦戈文脑科学研究所 · AI-Physical
Why this week: Wang Qian, Peking University scientist, founder of Xinsheng Shijie (invasive BCI), raised nearly 100M RMB in seed round. Bessemer-thesis fit.
Wang Qian is the founder of Xinsheng Shijie, an invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) company. As one of the Peking University scientists who founded the company, she has led Xinsheng Shijie to raise nearly 100 million RMB in its seed round.
Recent updates
No significant activity in the last 5 days.
#10
王宣恺AI-Physicalangelconf 0.85
太微量子
Ex-University of Science and Technology of China · AI-Physical
Why this week: 王宣恺, USTC quantum physics PhD, founder of MQTEK, developing core quantum computing components. Secured Angel and Angel+ funding.
王宣恺 is the Founder and CEO of 太微量子 (MQTEK), a company he established in 2021. As a USTC quantum physics PhD, he leads MQTEK in developing core quantum computing components. Under his leadership, the company has successfully secured Angel and Angel+ funding rounds.
Recent updates
No significant activity in the last 5 days.
#11
朱毅鑫AI-PhysicalseedPattern 1/5conf 0.80
芯生视界
Ex-北京大学 · AI-Physical
Why this week: Zhu Yixin, Peking University Professor, co-founder of Xinsheng Shijie (invasive BCI), raised nearly 100M RMB in seed round.
Zhu Yixin is a Co-founder and Professor at Xinsheng Shijie, an invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) company. He is part of the team of Peking University scientists who founded the company, which recently secured nearly 100 million RMB in its seed funding round.
Recent updates
No significant activity in the last 5 days.
#12
李远宁AI-PhysicalseedPattern 1/5conf 0.80
芯生视界
Ex-上海科技大学, Ex-卡耐基梅隆大学, Ex-加州大学旧金山分校Edward Chang实验室 · AI-Physical
Why this week: Li Yuanning, Peking University scientist, co-founder of Xinsheng Shijie (invasive BCI), raised nearly 100M RMB in seed round.
Li Yuanning is a Co-founder of Xinsheng Shijie, a company specializing in invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. As one of the Peking University scientists behind the venture, he contributed to the company's recent success in raising nearly 100 million RMB in its seed round.
Recent updates
No significant activity in the last 5 days.
👀 Watch list
#13
美杰· NoonWake.AIseedChina
美杰, Ex-ByteDance Dali Education, Product Design Lead at NoonWake.AI, an AI-driven startup for emotional consumption products. Seed round secured.
#14
Sasha MalyshevastealthUS
Sasha Malysheva, ex-DeepMind, ex-Google AI, ex-X, now founding in stealth. Strong builder credibility. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#15
Kevin MathewstealthUSEx-UnicornEx-FAANG1/5
Kevin Mathew, ex-DeepMind, ex-Microsoft, ex-Audible, now founding in stealth. Strong builder credibility. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#16
Lev NaimanstealthUSEx-YCEx-FAANG1/5
Lev Naiman, ex-YC, ex-Meta, now founding in stealth. Strong builder credibility and YC alumni. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#17
Mert Köseoğlu· context-modeseedOtherEx-Unicorn2/5
Mert Köseoğlu, ex-OpenAI, founder of context-mode, open-source AI programming plugin. Strong technical depth. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#18
John Schulman· Thinking MachinesstealthUSEx-Unicorn2/5
John Schulman, ex-OpenAI researcher, co-founder of Thinking Machines, building advanced AI voice/video conversation models. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#19
Dj UrsalstealthUSEx-Unicorn1/5
Dj Ursal, ex-Salesforce, ex-Oracle, building new venture in stealth from Indianapolis. Strong product leadership background. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#20
Ben Cochran· StatewrightseedUSEx-Unicorn1/5
Ben Cochran, ex-NVIDIA, ex-AMD, launched Statewright for reliable AI agents using visual state machines. Strong technical depth. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#21
Alireza SafdaristealthUSEx-UnicornEx-YC1/5
Alireza Safdari, ex-Tesla Optimus Senior Robotics Software Engineer, ex-Meta, building in stealth. Strong physical AI background. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#22
Itamar NiddamstealthOtherEx-UnicornEx-FAANG1/5
Itamar Niddam, ex-Tulip Interfaces Director of AI Engineering, building in stealth from Israel. Strong AI engineering leadership. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#23
Krishna GantistealthUSEx-UnicornEx-FAANG1/5
Krishna Ganti, serial founder (GalaMela, WhipUp AI), ex-LinkedIn, building in stealth. Strong repeat founder signal. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#24
Mayee ChenstealthUSEx-UnicornEx-FAANG1/5
Mayee Chen, ex-Allen Institute for AI, ex-Microsoft, ex-Google, building in stealth. Strong research and technical background. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#25
Benjamin EisnerstealthUSEx-UnicornEx-FAANG1/5
Benjamin Eisner, ex-Tesla Optimus, ex-DeepMind, ex-Google, building in stealth. Strong ML/Robotics expertise. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#26
Zaiyuan WangstealthChinaEx-Unicorn1/5
Zaiyuan Wang, ex-ByteDance Doubao LLM team, building in stealth. Strong frontier AI background. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#27
Louis Barinaga· Stealth ModestealthUSEx-YCEx-FAANG1/5
Louis Barinaga, ex-YC, ex-Meta, ex-Valve, ex-Microsoft, building in stealth. Strong hardware engineering background. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#28
Diganta KalitastealthUSEx-UnicornEx-FAANG1/5
Diganta Kalita, ex-VMware, ex-HPE, ex-Microsoft, building in stealth. Strong engineering leadership. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#29
Muhammad Farhan Hossain· BlueseedUSEx-UnicornEx-FAANG2/5
Muhammad Farhan Hossain, co-founder of Blue (YC S25), developing AI-powered USB-C dongle for phone automation. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#30
Mingge DengstealthUSEx-UnicornEx-FAANG1/5
Mingge Deng, ex-Confluent Sr Principal Engineer, ex-Google Sr Staff Engineer, building in stealth. Strong engineering expertise. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#31
Roberto SantosdiazstealthUSEx-UnicornEx-FAANG1/5
Roberto Santosdiaz, ex-Moloco, ex-Google, building in stealth. Strong business development and partnerships background. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#32
Drew Baglino· Sadi Thermal MachinesseedUSEx-Unicorn2/5
Drew Baglino, ex-Tesla executive, founded Sadi Thermal Machines for heat pump technology. Strong physical AI/hardware background. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#33
Abhijeet JhastealthOtherEx-UnicornEx-FAANG1/5
Abhijeet Jha, ex-Google, ex-Amazon, ex-Visa, building in stealth from India. Strong software engineering background. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#34
Mia Carina ReyesstealthUSEx-UnicornEx-FAANG1/5
Mia Carina Reyes, ex-Hinge Product Marketing Lead, ex-Google, building in stealth. Strong product marketing expertise. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#35
Varun JainstealthUSEx-UnicornEx-FAANG1/5
Varun Jain, 2x founder (Viva Labs YC W22, ZeusCloud), building in stealth. Strong repeat founder and YC alumni. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#36
Omar Abdelaziz· BlueseedUSEx-UnicornEx-FAANG2/5
Omar Abdelaziz, co-founder of Blue (YC S25), developing AI-powered USB-C dongle for phone automation. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#37
Radhika KapurstealthOtherEx-UnicornEx-FAANG1/5
Radhika Kapur, ex-Apple Head of Product (India), ex-Microsoft, building in stealth from India. Strong product leadership. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#38
Daniel Heywood· Stealth ModestealthUSEx-YCEx-FAANG1/5
Daniel Heywood, ex-YC, ex-Meta, ex-Apple, building in stealth. Strong physical AI/hardware background. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#39
Shivam PandeystealthUS
Shivam Pandey, ex-Raylu Founding AI Engineer, building in stealth from New York. Strong early-stage AI expertise. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#40
Piyush MakhijastealthUSEx-YC1/5
Piyush Makhija, ex-YC, ex-Meraki Labs Head of AI, building in stealth. Strong AI/ML leadership. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#41
Adam HanostealthUSEx-YC1/5
Adam Hano, ex-YC, ex-Alpaca Head of Marketplace, building in stealth in San Francisco. Strong marketplace and ML background. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#42
Isabella Liu· ConnitoAIseedUS
Isabella Liu, founder of ConnitoAI Subnet 102, ex-Opentensor Foundation ML research lead. Strong decentralized AI expertise. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#43
孙浚凯· 智往未来 (Zhiwang Weilai)seedChina
孙浚凯, ex-Horizon Robotics product lead, founder of Zhiwang Weilai (embodied AI robotics). Targeting 100 units this year. Bessemer-thesis fit.
#44
吕定顺· 量坤科技angelChina
吕定顺, Tsinghua PhD, ex-Huawei, ex-ByteDance AI4S Lab, founder of QuantKun Technology. Secured hundreds of millions RMB angel funding.
#45
Ben Hylak· Raindrop AIseedUSEx-UnicornEx-FAANG1/5
Ben Hylak, ex-Apple, ex-SpaceX, co-founder/CTO of Raindrop AI, launched open-source 'Workshop' for AI agent debugging. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#46
Martin HallstealthUS1/5
Martin Hall, repeat founder, ex-Intel Head of AI Strategy, building in stealth in San Francisco. Strong AI strategy background. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#47
Hans-Christoph Eckstein· Stealth ModestealthUS
Hans-Christoph Eckstein, ex-Lucid Motors Sr Director of Vision Systems, building in stealth. Strong vision systems expertise. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#48
Anton VicestealthUSEx-Techstars1/5
Anton Vice, ex-Techstars, ex-Grably CTO, ex-NBCUniversal AI Engineer, building in stealth in San Francisco. Strong AI engineering. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#49
Mike Nemke· Stealth ModestealthUS
Mike Nemke, ex-Function Health Co-founder/CTO, ex-Aptive Director of AI/ML, building in stealth in Austin. Strong AI/ML leadership. (successPatternScore >= 3)
#50
Bin NistealthUS
Bin Ni, ex-Google DeepMind Sr Director of Research (GenAI), ex-X Head of AI, building in stealth. Deep expertise in generative AI. (successPatternScore >= 3)