Sherpa
YC X26San Francisco, US · Founded 2026 · 2 employees · 4 known investors
Sherpa uses behavioral data and continuous testing to automatically refine websites for both human visitors and AI agents, measuring success through conversion improvements.
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (X26)
Sherpa was founded in 2026 by Ethan Kinnan and Norbu Sonam.
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Ethan Kinnanin𝕏Co-Founder & CEOEthan Kinnan has focused on automation throughout his career and now leads conversion rate optimization automation efforts at Sherpa.
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Norbu Sonamin𝕏Co-FounderHe previously worked at Lindy on agent infrastructure and growth initiatives, and before that contributed to image generation features shipped in Microsoft Copilot.
Investors · 4
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements$20.2M disclosed across 2 rounds · 2026
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
The YC application· Spring 2026 batch
Alumni Q&A
- What is the core problem you are solving? Why is this a big problem? What made you decide to work on it?
- The founders note that running a single website experiment currently requires coordination among marketers, designers, and engineers over several weeks. Before Sherpa, co-founder Norbu ran over 50 growth experiments at Lindy and encountered this difficulty each time. Sherpa identifies what to change on a site, builds the change, and tests it automatically, addressing the roughly $7 trillion in commerce that moves through digital funnels annually.
- What is your long-term vision? If you truly succeed, what will be different about the world?
- The founders aim to build software that improves itself, so that websites, apps, and products refine automatically based on real usage data. They are beginning with conversion optimization because its feedback loops are short and outcomes are measurable.
Summarized from the founders' answers on their Y Combinator profile.
Images
Competitors · 3
by search overlapSherpahq4 shared keywordsSherpa builds an AI operating system for enterprise external workforce management, handling contingent labor, freelancers, suppliers, and AI agents from engagement through payment and compliance.
Sherpa Labs4 shared keywordsSherpa Labs is building an agentic data platform that uses a swarm of AI agents to automate ETL, data modeling, and data discovery. Its assistant, Finn, provides natural language search, automated data dictionaries, and data lineage visualization for modern data teams and data-driven organizations.
Ai3 shared keywordsAI Science provides technical co-founder partnerships for founders and firms seeking to validate and build AI businesses. The service combines market validation, product development, and launch support through a structured three-phase process, serving entrepreneurs, domain experts, and professional services firms with market insight but lacking technical depth.
Companies competing with Sherpa for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
In the news
Sherpa raises $2.2m to build the AI operating system for tomorrow's workforce - Seedcampseedcamp.com · Jul 2026
Sherpa, AI Platform For External Workforce Management, Raises $2.2m Pre-seedtechrseries.com · Jul 2026
German AI workforce management startup Sherpa raises $2.2M pre-seed - Tech.eutech.eu · Jul 2026
Sherpa.ai raises $18M to support data-sovereign AI development - Tech.eutech.eu · Jul 2026Frequently asked questions
- What does Sherpa do?
- Sherpa uses behavioral data and continuous testing to automatically refine websites for both human visitors and AI agents, measuring success through conversion improvements.
- Who founded Sherpa?
- Sherpa was founded by Ethan Kinnan, Norbu Sonam in 2026.
- Who are Sherpa's investors?
- Sherpa's investors include Y Combinator, Activant Capital, DN Capital, Seedcamp.
- How much funding has Sherpa raised?
- Sherpa has disclosed $20.2M raised across 2 rounds.
- Where is Sherpa headquartered?
- Sherpa is headquartered in San Francisco, US.