Startup Factories: LinkedIn
Meet the 200+ startups founded by former LinkedIn operators who have collectively raised over $6 billion.
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We recently launched a new series called Startup Factories—when a startup achieves success, it often blossoms with powerful network effects—former employees, or "operators," go on to launch their own ventures, invest in early-stage startups, or even establish their own venture funds.
Startup Factories explores the technology powerhouses, the visionary founders they cultivate, and the groundbreaking startups they build—past and present.
Throughout this edition, we discover the former operators at LinkedIn who are now building their own startup.
*Throughout this edition, we used Harmonic as our startup data provider.
About LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the business and employment social network which has over 1 billion users.
What do we know so far about the former operators who have gone on to launch their own startups?
LinkedIn former operators have founded 200+ startups. Notable companies include: Figma, Cameo, Notion and others.
The former operators turned founders are mostly building across: AI, Blockchain, Consumer, FinTech and SaaS.
Most of the startups are being built in the U.S.
Stanford University is the most frequently attended institution among the founders.
Startups featured in the graphs below have raised at least USD $500k.
When were the startups founded?
Out of the 110+ startups that we are featuring, 83% have been founded since 2019.
Roles held at LinkedIn
If you have been following our edition on Startup Factories, former operators who go on to launch their own startups, a number of them have an engineering or product related background.
Where are the startups headquartered?
Most founders are building in the U.S. as our graph below indicates.
Latest fundraising activity
Of the 110+ startups founded by former LinkedIn operators who have raised a minimum of $500k, the majority are currently at the Pre-Seed or Seed stage.
However, there are some notable companies becoming success stories…
Average funding rounds
From our data room analysis, we identified that former operators who became founders have raised the following amounts per funding stage based on their latest rounds.
The operators have raised $6 billion to date
The former operators have collectively raised over $6 billion to date.
Average team size
Among the 110+ startups, 40% have at least two co-founders—a statistic matching that of former NVIDIA and Palantir operators turned founders.
Universities attended
Among the universities attended by founders, Stanford University ranked the highest, followed by UC Berkeley, Columbia and others.
The most active investors
From the 110+ startups listed, 20% have raised from Y Combinator. Additional investors include: Accel, Techstars, General Catalyst, Alumni Ventures, Base10 Partners, and Sequoia who appear as the most active investors in the startups.
*Y Combinator also appeared as the most active investor in our previous editions covering former NVIDIA and Palantir founders.
Categories in which the startups are building in
Currently, 30% of startups are focused on the AI sector, making it the most popular category among founders. Following AI, the top choices include Blockchain, Consumer, FinTech, and SaaS.
Less common categories include Climate, EdTech, Transportation, and HRTech.
Meet the 110+ startups
Meet the startups founded by former LinkedIn operators that have raised at least $500K.
Meet the 90+ stealth startups founded in the past 12 months
In addition to the 110+ startups that have raised at least $500K, over 90 founders, all former LinkedIn operators, have been building in stealth since 2024.
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