About
Nicole Ma studied computer science and mechanical engineering at Stanford and previously worked on physics simulations at NASA. She is currently building Topological.
Co-Founder & CEO at TopologicalYC S25
Intro paths
YC
Nicole went through Y Combinator (Summer 2025) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
GP
Their group partner at YC was Brad Flora, Backing expeditions into the future — the partner who ran Topological's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗
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In turn, Nicole can intro founders to Topological's investors below.
Topological's investors · 1
Co-founders at Topological
ZK
Zeyneb KayaCo-Founder & CTO
Experience
- NVIDIAInterncurrent2026 — present
- Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL)Student Researchercurrent2025 — present
- TopologicalCo-Foundercurrent2025 — presentSan Francisco, CA
- Notable CapitalNextGen AI Fellow2025San Francisco, California, United States
- Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)Student Researcher2025Stanford, CA
- Stanford ASESBootcamp Fellow2024 — 2025Stanford, California, United States
- Jane StreetWiSE Program2024New York, New York, United States
- Simons FoundationResearch Fellow, Simons Summer Research Program2023 — 2024New York, United States
- NASA Jet Propulsion LaboratoryResearch Intern2021 — 2023Pasadena, CA
Skills & more
Languages English · Mandarin
From Nicole's professional profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Nicole Ma?
- Nicole Ma studied computer science and mechanical engineering at Stanford and previously worked on physics simulations at NASA. She is currently building Topological.
- Where does Nicole Ma work?
- Nicole Ma is Co-Founder & CEO of Topological.
- What companies did Nicole Ma found?
- Nicole Ma founded Topological.
- Where did Nicole Ma go to school?
- Nicole Ma studied at Stanford University (Bachelor of Science - BS, Computer Science); Sage Hill School.
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
Stanford University mafia903
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Peter ThielJ.D.Founded PayPal +1Reid HoffmanB.S.Founded LinkedIn +2Joe LonsdaleBSFounded Opto +3Mike Maples JrBSFounded Pattern BreakersSteve JurvetsonMSEEFounded Mojo VisionBalaji SrinivasanGraduate StudentFounded Counsyl +1
+ 896 more
NVIDIA mafia81
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Jonathan RossChief Software ArchitectFounded GroqSaurabh SrivastavaNemotron, Advanced Deep Learning ResearchFounded Warpdrive by Synthetic Minds +1Lee LiuWeb Software EngineerFounded Mezmo +1Musawir ShahSr. Software Engineer - TegraFounded Jerry +1Alex SismanisAndroid Developer InternFounded L1 Advisors +1Bhairav MehtaDeep Learning and Robotics ResearchFounded CharacterQuilt +1
+ 74 more
Sage Hill School mafia2
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Same school
Also attended Stanford University2,000
Peter ThielCo-founder & Partner at Founders FundReid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockDavid SacksCo-founder & General Partner at Craft Ventures; former White House AI & Crypto CzarKeith RaboisManaging Director at Khosla VenturesGarry TanPresident & CEO of Y CombinatorAlfred LinPartner at Sequoia Capital
+ 1,994 more
Also attended Sage Hill School2
Shared employers
Also worked at Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL)36
Jay YuInvestment Analyst at Pantera CapitalAndrew YingInvestor at GreycroftIrving HsuInvestor at Mayfield FundAdriel SaportaVenture Fellow at SHAKTIJayaInvestor at Foundation CapitalRob HarriesSoftware Engineer at Rocketship.vc
+ 30 more
Also worked at Topological1
Also worked at Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI)15
Fei-Fei LiCo-founder & CEO of World Labs; Sequoia Professor of Computer Science at StanfordRohini KosogluVenture Partner at FusionEric HorvitzInvestor at Blue Tulip VenturesHeidi RoizenPartner at Threshold VenturesPaul DaughertyInvestor at Premji InvestChristopher WanVice President at Bessemer Venture Partners
+ 9 more
