Essam Sleiman
FounderFounder & CEO at Canvas
San Francisco, California, United States
FoundedCanvas · YC
Find your path to Essam
688 people in our graph share verified history with Essam — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Antonio GraciasunlockedEssam: together at Harvard University (2023–2024)
×2Essam: together at Harvard University
×8Essam: together at Y Combinator
Essam: together at Twitch
About
Essam Sleiman is the founder of Canvas AI. He previously built AI and continual learning systems at Twitch and AWS, co-founded Komma, a sales automation platform, and has published AI research in top conferences.
Founder & CEO at CanvasYC F24
Intro paths
YC
Essam went through Y Combinator (Fall 2024) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
GP
Their group partner at YC was Pete Koomen, General Partner at Y Combinator — the partner who ran Canvas's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗
→
In turn, Essam can intro founders to Canvas's investors below.
Canvas's investors · 8
FoundryBoulder · $250K – $15M checks · since 2025HaystackSan Francisco · $1M – $3M checks · since 2022IA VenturesNew York · $1M – $3M checks · since 2022Inspired CapitalNew York · $500K – $20M checks · since 2022M13New York · $4M – $7M checks · since 2022Trilogy Equity PartnersSeattle · $2M – $6M checks · since 2025Upfront VenturesLos Angeles · $1M – $10M checks · since 2022Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K checks · since 2024
Experience
- Canvas AI (YC F24)Founder & CEOcurrent2024 — presentSan Francisco, CA
- Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied SciencesGraduate Research Assistant2023 — 2024
- TwitchResearch Engineer2021 — 2022San Francisco, CA
- KommaCo-Founder/CTO2020 — 2021
- CodeLabCo-Founder/President2020 — 2021
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)Software Engineer2020 — 2021San Francisco Bay Area
- University of California, DavisResearch Assistant2019 — 2021
Skills & more
PyTorchReact.jsNode.jsJavaScriptMongoDBPython (Programming Language)Google Cloud Platform (GCP)Amazon Web Services (AWS)Machine Learning4Computer Vision4Deep Learning4Image Processing
+7 more
Artificial Intelligence (AI)Applied Machine LearningFull-Stack DevelopmentBackendGo (Programming Language)CommunicationTeamworkFrom Essam's professional profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Essam Sleiman?
- Essam Sleiman is the founder of Canvas AI. He previously built AI and continual learning systems at Twitch and AWS, co-founded Komma, a sales automation platform, and has published AI research in top conferences.
- Where does Essam Sleiman work?
- Essam Sleiman is Founder & CEO of Canvas.
- What companies did Essam Sleiman found?
- Essam Sleiman founded Canvas.
- Where did Essam Sleiman go to school?
- Essam Sleiman studied at Harvard University (Master of Science - MS, CSE); Y Combinator (F24); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cross-Registeration).
Founder mafias
Y Combinator mafia10,230
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Sam AltmanPresidentFounded Tools for Humanity +3Garry TanPresident & CEOFounded Y Combinator +1Jessica LivingstonCo-founderFounded Y CombinatorAlexis OhanianPartnerFounded RedditFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded Nudge +1Matt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded Paradigm +1
+ 10,223 more
Massachusetts Institute of Technology mafia1,221
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Elad GilPhDFounded Brain Co. +1Hemant TanejaMinorFounded Hippocratic AINat FriedmanBachelor of ScienceFounded XamarinBrad FeldS.B.Founded TechstarsMatt HuangB.S.Founded Paradigm +1Delian AsparouhovDropoutFounded Nightingale +1
+ 1,214 more
Twitch mafia18
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Justin KanFounderFounded Stash +5Kyle VogtFounderFounded GM Cruise Holdings +2Kevin LinCROFounded Lifelikecap +1Aleksander Leonard LarsenPartnered StreamerFounded Stendr +1Emmett ShearFounderFounded Softmax +1Arram SabetiOffice OperationsFounded Zerocater
+ 11 more
Same school
Also attended Harvard University2,000
Ron ConwayFounder of SV AngelAlfred LinPartner at Sequoia CapitalChris DixonFounder & Managing Partner of a16z crypto at Andreessen HorowitzSarah TavelVenture Partner at BenchmarkDanny RimerPartner at Index VenturesLaela SturdyManaging Partner at CapitalG
+ 1,994 more
Also attended Y Combinator2,000
Tarek MansourCo-founder & CEO of KalshiSuhail DoshiFounder of Mixpanel; founder of ParticleSubomi OluwalanaCo-founder & CEO of ConvoyArhaan A.Deeptech Fellow at Clear VenturesCollin WallaceGeneral Partner at Lobby CapitalVictor SantosVictor Scout at One Way Ventures
+ 1,994 more
Also attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology2,000
Hemant TanejaCEO & Managing Director of General CatalystNat FriedmanCo-lead of Meta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDGBrad FeldCo-founder of Foundry and TechstarsMatt HuangCo-founder and Managing Partner at ParadigmDelian AsparouhovPartner at Founders Fund and co-founder of VardaDrew HoustonCo-founder & CEO of Dropbox
+ 1,994 more
Also attended University of California, Davis353
Charles CallSLP & Venture Partner at Cottonwood Technology FundDavid PhuController at Felicis VenturesTeresa ChanChief Financial Officer at Felicis VenturesBryan EglanDirector of Business Development at Menlo VenturesDennisDirector of Trading at Pantera CapitalScott MaxwellInvestor at OpenView Venture Partners
+ 347 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences39
Ankit GuptaGeneral Partner at Y CombinatorDavid KoleskyPrincipal at MPM BioImpactRuss WilcoxCEO, Trellis Air & Venture Partner at Pillar VCJessica LinCo-Founder and General Partner at Work-BenchAkhil DayalVice President at SaxeCap AdvisorsEmil GilkesPrincipal Data Scientist at Equal Opportunity Ventures
+ 33 more
Also worked at Twitch41
Justin LiuVice President at Sapphire VenturesStewart AlsopInvestor at Alsop Louie PartnersJustin KanInvestor at Goat CapitalEthan KurzweilInvestor at ChemistryHubert ThieblotGeneral Partner at FoundersKevin LinCo-founder and General Partner at Lifelike Capital
+ 35 more
Also worked at Amazon Web Services (AWS)443
Nancy WangInvestor at Felicis VenturesJon TurowVenture Partner at Madrona Venture GroupKeerthi NalabotuInvestor at True VenturesAdam NaorInvestor at CapitalGKen HowardVice President of Technology Services at Flare Capital PartnersEliya ElonInvestor at Notable Capital
+ 437 more
Also worked at University of California, Davis83
Scott MaxwellInvestor at OpenView Venture PartnersJosephine ChenInvestor at Sequoia CapitalCindy DoleDeputy General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at Samsung Catalyst FundGordon RausserAdvisory Board Member at Rembrandt Venture PartnersToni AlejandriaEvents + Community at Rackhouse Venture Management LpTiffine WangInvestor at Inception Studio Capital
+ 77 more