Fundraising Fox

Cory Li

Founder

Founder at Spellbrush

San Francisco, California, United States

FoundedSpellbrush Β· YC

About

Cory Li previously worked at Benchling and studied bioengineering at MIT. He now works on Spellbrush.

LinkedIn β†—X / Twitter β†—
Latest on 𝕏

cory @cixelyn

aqua bought a new appliance https://t.co/thyTt3e31R

Apr 25, 2026 Β· β™₯ 21

cory @cixelyn

https://t.co/GF06F3BJhY

Dec 27, 2025 Β· β™₯ 10 Β· ⇄ 1

cory @cixelyn

as is tradition, finally 100%'d the latest zachlike. (are they still called zachlikes if zachtronics is defunct and the new studio is called coincidence?) anyways, aqua is now a valued matsuzawa employee https://t.co/SVHHKjOePB

Dec 26, 2025 Β· β™₯ 3

Founder at SpellbrushYC W18

Intro paths

YC

Cory went through Y Combinator (Winter 2018) β€” any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.

GP

Their group partner at YC was Diana Hu, General Partner at Y Combinator β€” the partner who ran Spellbrush's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile β†—

β†’

In turn, Cory can intro founders to Spellbrush's investors below.

Spellbrush's investors Β· 3

First Round CapitalQuest Venture PartnersY Combinator

Co-founders at Spellbrush

RLRuwen Liu
Ruwen LiuFounder
HMHaitao Mao
Haitao MaoFounder

Experience

  1. SpellbrushCEOcurrent2018 β€” presentSan Francisco Bay Area
  2. Freelance ConsultantBioautomation Consultant2015San Francisco Bay Area
  3. BenchlingCo-Founder2012 β€” 2015San Francisco Bay Area
  4. VenuetasticSoftware Engineering Intern2011San Francisco Bay Area

Education

  1. Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyBachelor of Science - BS, Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering2008 β€” 2012
  2. North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics2006 β€” 2008
  3. Y CombinatorS12, W18

Skills & more

Machine Learning2Molecular Biology4Game Development3Entrepreneurship1Software DevelopmentPCB Design1

From Cory's professional profile.

Founder mafias

Y Combinator mafia8,668

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Sam AltmanPresidentFounded LooptFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded CoinbaseMatt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded HotspotsTrae StephensYC Winter 2022Founded PursuitDelian AsparouhovYC Summer 2014Founded Nightingale +1Justin KanYC Winter 2018Founded Rye +3

+ 8,661 more

Massachusetts Institute of Technology mafia464

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Hemant TanejaS.B.Founded CommureMatt HuangB.S.Founded HotspotsDelian AsparouhovDropoutFounded Nightingale +1Noubar AfeyanPhDFounded ProFound Therapeutics +6Geoffrey von MaltzahnPhDFounded Sana Biotechnology +3Yet-Ming ChiangS.B.Founded Addis Energy +2

+ 457 more

North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics mafia9

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Len BoyetteHigh SchoolFounded Edge +1Drew PattersonFounded WalkwayRyan McLinkoFounded AstranisTejas SundaresanFounded DialectJonathan KelleyFounded Dioxus LabsLevi LianFounded Raycaster

+ 2 more

Benchling mafia5

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Owen BodleyEngineering lead, PipeBioFounded PipebioJannick BendtsenHead of PipeBioFounded PipebioJames ThomasSoftware Engineering InternFounded DialectJonathan YinSoftware Engineer InternFounded Lifelike

Same school

Also attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology1,290

Fred WilsonCo-founder & Partner at Union Square VenturesElad GilSolo general partner investing through Gil CapitalAileen LeeFounder & Managing Partner of Cowboy VenturesHemant TanejaCEO & Managing Director of General CatalystNat FriedmanCo-lead of Meta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDGBrad FeldCo-founder of Foundry and Techstars

+ 1,284 more

Also attended North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics11

Mac BarnesData Analyst at Advantage Capital PartnersAlex LiuCampus Lead at The MBA FundDrew PattersonVenture Partner at TidemarkJoseph GalarneauInvestor at Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA)Ryan McLinkoFounder/CTO at AstranisLen BoyetteFounder at Scratch Data

+ 5 more

Also attended Y Combinator2,000

Leo LuInvestor at Foundation CapitalMaroof AhmedFounder at Octopus VenturesJustin SwartPartner at Bitkraft Esports VenturesVictor SantosVictor Scout at One Way VenturesSwapnil JainCEO, Observe.AI at EMERGENT VENTURESChase AdamPartner at Very Serious Ventures

+ 1,994 more

Shared employers

Also worked at Spellbrush1

Haitao MaoFounder at Spellbrush

Also worked at Benchling15

Nina AchadjianInvestor at Index VenturesWill ReedInvestor at Spark CapitalJosephine ChenInvestor at Sequoia CapitalKrista CoppermanOperating Partner at TCVEric VishriaGeneral Partner at BenchmarkMatt MurphyPartner at Menlo Ventures

+ 9 more