About
Yousef Helal holds a BS in electrical engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley and an MS in electrical engineering from Stanford. He has worked on FPGA infrastructure at Apple and Microblaze V development at AMD, and previously founded a startup focused on AI-powered shopping assistants for retail environments. He also served as a teaching assistant at Berkeley, with his instructional methods recognized in academic publications.
Founder at VendoYC S26
Intro paths
YC
Yousef went through Y Combinator (Summer 2026) β any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
GP
Their group partner at YC was Ankit Gupta, General Partner at Y Combinator β the partner who ran Vendo's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile β
β
In turn, Yousef can intro founders to Vendo's investors below.
Vendo's investors Β· 1
Co-founders at Vendo
NZ
Nour ZahzahCo-Founder & CEO
Experience
- Vendo (YC S26)Co-Foundercurrent2026 β present
- AisleCo-Founder2025 β 2026California, United States
- AppleSoftware Engineering Intern (FV CAD)2025Cupertino, California, United States
- University of California, BerkeleyTeaching Assistant2022 β 2023Berkeley, California, United States
- Berkeley RISE LabUndergraduate Researcher2022 β 2023Berkeley, California, United States
- AMDSystem Engineering Intern2023San Jose, California, United States
- ClouderaSoftware Engineer Intern2022Santa Clara, California, United States
- Bay Area Community Resources (BACR)Software Engineer Intern2020 β 2021
- De Anza CollegeComputer Science Teaching Assistant2020 β 2021Cupertino, California, United States
Skills & more
Formal VerificationTeamCityEmbedded Devices1Embedded Software1Xilinx Vivado1Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA)1RISC-V1OpenCV1Database Management System (DBMS)1Teaching1Leadership1GatsbyJS1
+12 more
HTML/CSSTypeScriptTeam LeadershipKubernetesDockerIstioShell ScriptingMobile Application DevelopmentFlutterC++JavaPython (Programming Language)From Yousef's professional profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Yousef Helal?
- Yousef Helal holds a BS in electrical engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley and an MS in electrical engineering from Stanford. He has worked on FPGA infrastructure at Apple and Microblaze V development at AMD, and previously founded a startup focused on AI-powered shopping assistants for retail environments. He also served as a teaching assistant at Berkeley, with his instructional methods recognized in academic publications.
- Where does Yousef Helal work?
- Yousef Helal is Founder of Vendo.
- What companies did Yousef Helal found?
- Yousef Helal founded Vendo.
- Where did Yousef Helal go to school?
- Yousef Helal studied at Stanford University (Master of Science - MS, Electrical Engineering); University of California, Berkeley (Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science); De Anza College (Transfer, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science).
Founder mafias
Y Combinator mafia8,773
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Stanford University mafia903
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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
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University of California, Berkeley mafia538
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Steve WozniakBSFounded AppleTony XuB.S.Founded DoorDashAravind SrinivasDoctor of Philosophy - PhDFounded PerplexityAli GhodsiPost-docFounded DatabricksRyan PetersenBAFounded FlexportDavid FriedbergBAFounded Climate +2
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Cloudera mafia5
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
De Anza College mafia5
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
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Also attended University of California, Berkeley1,458
Byron DeeterPartner at Bessemer Venture PartnersSteve WozniakCo-founder of AppleTony XuCo-founder & CEO of DoorDashAravind SrinivasCo-founder & CEO of Perplexity AIAli GhodsiCo-founder & CEO of DatabricksRyan PetersenFounder & CEO of Flexport
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Also attended De Anza College22
Jack Bixby LucasGeneral Partner at Lucas Venture GroupAditya ReddyVice President at Sapphire VenturesCatie YoungExecutive Assistant at Uncork CapitalBrian RojasInvestor at Side Door VenturesRyan ParkFinance Manager at Samsung NextJeanette HillExecutive Assistant at TDK Ventures
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Shared employers
Also worked at Vendo (YC S26)1
Also worked at Aisle1
Also worked at Apple490
Reid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockJim BreyerFounder & CEO of Breyer CapitalDaniel GrossMeta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDG and Safe SuperintelligenceSteve JurvetsonCo-founder of Future VenturesKai-Fu LeeChairman of Sinovation Ventures and CEO of 01.AISteve WozniakCo-founder of Apple
+ 484 more
Also worked at AMD58
Ray SchuderSr. Investment Director at Samsung Catalyst FundIndra SinghalOperating Partner at EMERGENT VENTURESBrian FrankPartner at Permanent Capital VenturesWael NafeeGeneral Partner at RAED VenturesDaisy CaiGeneral Partner at B4 CapitalEva LauFounding and General Partner at Inovia Capital
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