Fundraising Fox

Yusuf Sherwani

InvestorFounder

Founder at Octopus Ventures · Founder/CEO at Pelago

New York City

Writes $5K – $50K checks · typically $25K

FoundedPelago · YC

About

Yusuf Sherwani is the Co-Founder and CEO of Pelago, a digital clinic for substance use care. Born and raised in London, he studied Medicine (MD) and Management (BSc) at Imperial College London before bootstrapping two startups, one of which had a modest exit and one that failed. He now angel invests in early-stage founders with a healthcare bias, backing companies such as Curebase, Healthie, firsthand, and Replit. He is an avid reader who set a goal in 2015 to read a book every two weeks and writes about business, biographies, and AI.

Beyond investing

Founded
Co-founded and leads Pelago, a digital clinic for substance use care. Bootstrapped two earlier startups, one of which had a modest exit and one that failed.
Education
Studied Medicine (MD) and Management (BSc) at Imperial College London.
Communities
Ran a book club at Quit Genius that read titles such as Human Compatible.
Hobbies
Sets a reading goal of one book every two weeks, inspired by a 2015 challenge, and publishes book reviews and recommendations.
Family
Was born and raised in London, UK, and now lives in New York City.

Mentioned above: the Imperial College London mafia →

From Yusuf's own website — common ground for a warm intro.

Founder/CEO at PelagoYC W18

Intro paths

YC

Yusuf went through Y Combinator (Winter 2018) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.

In turn, Yusuf can intro founders to Pelago's investors below.

Co-founders at Pelago

SSSarim Siddiqui
Sarim SiddiquiFounder/Chief Medical Officer
MAMaroof Ahmed

Experience

  1. PelagoCo-Founder & CEOcurrent2017 — presentNew York, United States
  2. NHS EnglandClinical Entrepreneur Fellow2017 — 2020London Area, United Kingdom
  3. Wellcome TrustClinical Research Intern2014St Mary's Hospital

Investments

Investor

AnteriorCurebaseFinni HealthfirsthandHealthieMercuryMytosReplitSafiSequence

Per the investor's own website.

Colleagues at Octopus Ventures

Frequently asked questions

Who is Yusuf Sherwani?
Yusuf Sherwani is the Co-Founder and CEO of Pelago, a digital clinic for substance use care. Born and raised in London, he studied Medicine (MD) and Management (BSc) at Imperial College London before bootstrapping two startups, one of which had a modest exit and one that failed. He now angel invests in early-stage founders with a healthcare bias, backing companies such as Curebase, Healthie, firsthand, and Replit. He is an avid reader who set a goal in 2015 to read a book every two weeks and writes about business, biographies, and AI.
Where does Yusuf Sherwani work?
Yusuf Sherwani is Founder/CEO of Pelago and Founder at Octopus Ventures.
What check size does Yusuf Sherwani write?
Yusuf Sherwani typically writes checks of $5K – $50K.
What companies did Yusuf Sherwani found?
Yusuf Sherwani founded Pelago.
What companies has Yusuf Sherwani invested in?
Investments tracked here include Anterior, Curebase, Finni Health, firsthand, Healthie, Mercury, Mytos, Replit, Safi, Sequence.
Where did Yusuf Sherwani go to school?
Yusuf Sherwani studied at Imperial College London (Doctor of Medicine - MD, Medicine); Imperial Business School (Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. Hons), Healthcare Management); Y Combinator (W18 Batch).
What has Yusuf Sherwani written?
Yusuf Sherwani has 1 tracked post on ysherwani.com, including "The $100B Paradox: Why the Largest Company in Healthcare Hasn _article.".

Founder mafias

Y Combinator mafia8,773

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

+ 8,766 more

Y Combinator mafia4,716

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

+ 4,709 more

Imperial College London mafia196

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

+ 189 more

Imperial Business School mafia18

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

+ 11 more

Octopus Ventures mafia6

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Same school

Shared employers