Conifer
YC S26San Francisco, US · Founded 2025 · 4 employees · 3 known investors
Find your way into Conifer
423 people in our graph share verified history with the Conifer team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Garry Tanunlockedknows Michael Jeffords · together at Y Combinator (overlapped)
×11knows the team · via Y Combinator
Conifer provides a routing system that runs large language models locally on user machines first, then intelligently routes queries to cloud models only when needed, reducing token costs and improving inference speed through optimized GPU kernels.
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareArtificial IntelligenceB2BSecurityUnited States of AmericaAmerica / Canada
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (S26)
Conifer was founded in 2025 by Michael Jeffords and Charles Muehlberger.
MJ
Michael Jeffordsin𝕏Co-FounderMichael Jeffords co-founded The HeartCheck Foundation, which expanded free hypertension screening services across multiple barbershops, and has built machine learning and computer vision systems for neurological disease detection. He previously worked as a clinical researcher at the Dell Medical School Institute of Vascular Surgery and University of Tennessee Health Science Center, focusing on hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
CM
Charles Muehlbergerin𝕏Co-FounderCharles Muehlberger is an engineering researcher with experience in multi-modal inference optimization and physics simulation. He previously worked on edge AI devices for medical applications at DoW and contributed to high-performance electric vehicle engineering at PES.
Investors · 3
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Frequently asked questions
- What does Conifer do?
- Conifer provides a routing system that runs large language models locally on user machines first, then intelligently routes queries to cloud models only when needed, reducing token costs and improving inference speed through optimized GPU kernels.
- Who founded Conifer?
- Conifer was founded by Michael Jeffords, Charles Muehlberger in 2025.
- Who are Conifer's investors?
- Conifer's investors include Perceptive Ventures Management Company, Llc, Vela Partners, Y Combinator.
- Where is Conifer headquartered?
- Conifer is headquartered in San Francisco, US.