Fundraising Fox

Aamir Poonawalla

Founder

CTO & Co-Founder at Understudy Labs · Founder at Tap to Learn

San Francisco Bay Area

FoundedTap to Learn · YCUnderstudy Labs · YC

About

Aamir Poonawalla spent 9 years at Instacart developing ads serving infrastructure, machine learning systems, and experimentation platforms. He holds an MS in Computer Science from Georgia Tech and is a two-time Y Combinator founder.

CTO & Co-Founder at Understudy LabsYC S26

Intro paths

YC

Aamir went through Y Combinator (Summer 2026) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.

GP

Their group partner at YC was Tyler Bosmeny, General Partner at Y Combinator — the partner who ran Understudy Labs's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗

→

In turn, Aamir can intro founders to Understudy Labs's investors below.

Understudy Labs's investors · 1

Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K checks · since 2026

Co-founders at Understudy Labs

LMLuis Manrique
Luis ManriqueFounder

Founder at Tap to LearnYC W12

Intro paths

YC

Aamir went through Y Combinator (Winter 2012) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.

→

In turn, Aamir can intro founders to Tap to Learn's investors below.

Tap to Learn's investors · 2

Imagine K12Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K checks · since 2012

Co-founders at Tap to Learn

RTRoby Thomas John
Roby Thomas JohnFounder/CEO
APAvinash Pandey
Avinash PandeyCo-Founder
PAPriyanthy Aprain Srampical
Priyanthy Aprain SrampicalFounder
SJSreejit Jayanthan
Sreejit JayanthanFounder

Experience

  1. Understudy LabsCo-Founder & CTOcurrent2026 — present
  2. InstacartSenior Software Development Manager2022 — 2026
  3. InstacartEngineering Manager2020 — 2022
  4. InstacartTechnical Lead2020San Francisco Bay Area
  5. InstacartTechnical Lead2018 — 2019San Francisco Bay Area
  6. InstacartSenior Software Engineer2016 — 2018San Francisco Bay Area
  7. URX (acq. by Pinterest)Senior Software Engineer2015 — 2016San Francisco Bay Area
  8. MicrosoftSoftware Developer at Yammer2013 — 2014San Francisco Bay Area
  9. MicrosoftSoftware Engineer at Skype2012 — 2013
  10. Skype ( Acquired by Microsoft)Software Developer2011San Francisco Bay Area
  11. Qik ( Acquired by Skype )Software Engineer2010 — 2011San Francisco Bay Area

Skills & more

Java9Android Development2Product Development1GoAPIsSoftware Design5Git4Java Enterprise Edition3Distributed Systems10XML2SIP1Start-ups2

From Aamir's professional profile.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Aamir Poonawalla?
Aamir Poonawalla spent 9 years at Instacart developing ads serving infrastructure, machine learning systems, and experimentation platforms. He holds an MS in Computer Science from Georgia Tech and is a two-time Y Combinator founder.
Where does Aamir Poonawalla work?
Aamir Poonawalla is Founder of Tap to Learn and CTO & Co-Founder at Understudy Labs.
What companies did Aamir Poonawalla found?
Aamir Poonawalla founded Tap to Learn, Understudy Labs.
Where did Aamir Poonawalla go to school?
Aamir Poonawalla studied at Y Combinator (TapToLearn - yCombinator Class of W2012); Georgia Institute of Technology (Masters, Computer Science); Savitribai Phule Pune University (BE, Computer Engineering).

Founder mafias

Y Combinator mafia8,773

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Sam AltmanPresidentFounded Tools for Humanity +3Jessica LivingstonCo-founderFounded Y CombinatorAlexis OhanianYC Summer 2005Founded RedditFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded Nudge +1Matt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded HotspotsTrae StephensYC Winter 2022Founded Pursuit +1

+ 8,766 more

Y Combinator mafia4,716

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Ryan SheaEntrepreneurshipFounded StacksTarek MansourFounded KalshiSuhail DoshiEating beans & riceFounded Playground +1Subomi OluwalanaW22Founded ConvoyDarius "Bubs" MonsefS19Founded Sightbox +3Matthew ScholzFounded Oisin Biotechnologies +3

+ 4,709 more

Georgia Institute of Technology mafia180

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Lukasz GadowskiExchange SemesterFounded Spreadshirt +2Jonathan FriedmanBachelor of Science (B.Sc.)Founded Assembly +1Eric WangMaster of Science - MSFounded Natural +1Pranavkrishna SureshDual EnrollmentFounded Blaze Market Incorporated +1Royce ArockiasamyBachelor of Science - BSFounded Pleom +1Prama YudhistiraBachelor of Science - BSFounded Parameter +1

+ 173 more

Instacart mafia23

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Jesse RobbinsStrategic AdvisorFounded Chef +1Jake SeipSenior Product Manager, New VerticalsFounded Aero +1Matthew DeitersDirector of Product, Instacart AppFounded Assembly Made +1Quentin RousseauSenior Software EngineerFounded Rootly +1Fahim FerdousSenior EngineerFounded AdQuick +1Lev KokotovSenior Software EngineerFounded PostgresML +1

+ 16 more

Savitribai Phule Pune University mafia4

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Sujay MaheshwariBEFounded Cloudanix +1Vaibhav DomkundwarBachelor of EngineeringFounded MobileumJalaj ShuklaBachelor of Engineering - BEFounded Intelligence Factory

Same school

Also attended Y Combinator2,000

Tarek MansourCo-founder & CEO of KalshiSuhail DoshiFounder of Mixpanel; founder of ParticleSubomi OluwalanaCo-founder & CEO of ConvoyMaroof AhmedFounder at Octopus VenturesJustin SwartPartner at Bitkraft Esports VenturesCollin WallaceGeneral Partner at Lobby Capital

+ 1,994 more

Also attended Georgia Institute of Technology346

Brando De CourtenData Engineer at P101 VenturesTom DyalCo-Founder at Redpoint VenturesWouter Van de PutteInvestment Director at Capricorn Venture PartnersWill McGinnisEntrepreneur and data science executive working at the intersection of AI/ML, technology, and business strategyJaya GuptaInvestor at Foundation CapitalJames WangGeneral Partner at Creative Ventures

+ 340 more

Also attended Savitribai Phule Pune University33

Prayag MohantyPrincipal at Fireside Ventures Advisory LlpShaleen DevgunInvestor at TitletownTechMonish DardaInvestor at Pentathlon VenturesVikram BarandwalInvestment at Hashed EmergentKaushikCo-founder at Figure 8 InvestmentsRohit GoyalManaging Partner at Windrose Capital

+ 27 more

Shared employers

Also worked at Understudy Labs1

Luis ManriqueFounder at Understudy Labs

Also worked at Instacart46

Apoorva MehtaFounder of Instacart; founder of Cloud Health SystemsAlex TranInvestment Team at General CatalystJesse RobbinsFounder and Investor in AI Developer ToolsNeil TolaneyGeneral Partner at TCVLily SarafanInvestor at Streamlined VenturesIhar MahaniokFounder & General Partner at Geek Ventures

+ 40 more

Also worked at URX (acq. by Pinterest)10

David GorceyVenture Partner at Rackhouse Venture Management LpLindsay UllmanCo-founder and part-time GP at Coalition OperatorsRichard SmithCo-Founder and Managing Partner at Mosaic General Partnership, LLCLauren NemethInvestor at Premji InvestCasey AylwardInvestor at AccelBen BravermanCo-Founder and Managing Partner at Flexport

+ 4 more

Also worked at Microsoft1,188

Reid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockGarry TanPresident & CEO of Y CombinatorNat FriedmanCo-lead of Meta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDGKai-Fu LeeChairman of Sinovation Ventures and CEO of 01.AIBill GatesCo-founder of Microsoft; Chair of the Gates FoundationMike KriegerCo-founder of Instagram; Chief Product Officer at Anthropic

+ 1,182 more