Fundraising Fox

Ryan Prendergast

Founder

Founder at Alpha Research

New York, New York, United States

FoundedAlpha Research · YC

Find your path to Ryan

11,054 people in our graph share verified history with Ryan — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Sundeep PeechuunlockedRyan: together at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
×3Ryan: together at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
×8Ryan: together at Y Combinator

About

Founder of Alpha Research, which develops open source knowledge bases using AI agents to search and analyze large document collections.

Founder at Alpha ResearchYC X25

Intro paths

YC

Ryan went through Y Combinator (Spring 2025) — 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 Alpha Research's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗

→

In turn, Ryan can intro founders to Alpha Research's investors below.

Alpha Research's investors · 1

Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K checks · since 2025

Experience

  1. Alpha ResearchFoundercurrent2026 — presentNew York, United States
  2. Alpha ResearchCo-Founder of Dolphin2025 — 2026New York, United States
  3. Alpha ResearchCo-Founder of Zenobia Pay2025New York, New York, United States
  4. BubbleSoftware Engineer2022 — 2025New York, United States
  5. CamUXCo-Founder2020 — 2021Champaign, Illinois, United States
  6. TeslaVehicle Software Intern2021
  7. Hack Ridge, IncCo-Founder2016 — 2018
  8. Illinois Institute of TechnologySCC Intern2017

Skills & more

JavaScript1Node.js1Swift (Programming Language)1Python (Programming Language)3Java3C++4HaskellData Visualization1Leadership2Web DesignGNU/Linux2Kingmaking4

Languages English

From Ryan's professional profile.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Ryan Prendergast?
Founder of Alpha Research, which develops open source knowledge bases using AI agents to search and analyze large document collections.
Where does Ryan Prendergast work?
Ryan Prendergast is Founder of Alpha Research.
What companies did Ryan Prendergast found?
Ryan Prendergast founded Alpha Research.
Where did Ryan Prendergast go to school?
Ryan Prendergast studied at Y Combinator (P25); University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Bachelor's degree, Computer Science); Maine South High School.

Founder mafias

Y Combinator mafia10,218

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Sam AltmanPresidentFounded Tools for Humanity +3Garry TanPresident & CEOFounded Y Combinator +1Jessica LivingstonCo-founderFounded Y CombinatorAlexis OhanianAmbassador to the EastFounded RedditFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded Nudge +1Matt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded Paradigm +1

+ 10,211 more

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign mafia351

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Max LevchinBSFounded PayPal +2Luke NosekBSFounded PayPalAnsuman SatpathyPhilosophyFounded Santa Ana +4Maria FardisB.S.Founded Iovance +2DeVaris BrownB.S.Founded Super Heroic +2Harish AgarwalB.S.Founded Nori +2

+ 344 more

Same school

Also attended Y Combinator2,000

Ryan SheaCo-founder of Blockstack (Stacks)Suhail DoshiFounder of Mixpanel; founder of ParticleArhaan A.Deeptech Fellow at Clear VenturesAkshat GoenkaInvestor at Moonfire VenturesJon XuGeneral Partner at Y CombinatorChris GoldaGeneral Partner at Y Combinator

+ 1,994 more

Also attended University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign691

Max LevchinCo-founder of PayPal; founder, chairman & CEO of Affirm; partner at SciFi VCLuke NosekCo-founder of PayPal; co-founder of GigafundSundeep PeechuGeneral Partner at Felicis VenturesDeep NisharInvestment Team at General CatalystPrashant ShahPartner at Monta Vista CapitalNoorPartner at Clear Ventures

+ 685 more

Also attended Maine South High School2

Jimmy LeeAdvisor at SemperVirens Venture CapitalMatt LocascioInvestor at Bain Capital Real Estate

Shared employers

Also worked at Bubble5

Manasi MaheshwariInvestor at Dorm RoomWayne HuPartner at SignalFireWalter KortschakFounder at Firestreak VenturesJack SwisherFounder at BelugaNajmuzzaman (Nazz) MohammadFounder at Nex

Also worked at Tesla265

Steve JurvetsonCo-founder of Future VenturesJoe GebbiaCo-founder of AirbnbJustin LiuVice President at Sapphire VenturesErica WaichmanHead of People & Community at Canvas VenturesBen FawEntrepreneur-in-Residence at Context VenturesBrock CsiraInvestor at Matter Venture Partners

+ 259 more

Also worked at Illinois Institute of Technology19

Katherine HeSenior Investment Associate at TDK VenturesCindy StewartAdvisor at Siddhi CapitalSheel MohnotCo-Founder and Partner at Better Tomorrow VenturesHenrique UeharaPartner at DGFStacey ChangVenture Partner at SeaX VenturesPraveen MandalAdvisor at Starship Ventures

+ 13 more