Yusuf Sherwani
InvestorFounderFounder 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
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.
Pelago's investors · 8
Co-founders at Pelago

Experience
- PelagoCo-Founder & CEOcurrent2017 — presentNew York, United States
- NHS EnglandClinical Entrepreneur Fellow2017 — 2020London Area, United Kingdom
- Wellcome TrustClinical Research Intern2014St Mary's Hospital
Investments
Investor
AnteriorCurebaseFinni HealthfirsthandHealthieMercuryMytosReplitSafiSequence
Per the investor's own website.
Writing
All posts ↗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.
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Y Combinator mafia4,716
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
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Imperial College London mafia196
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+ 189 more
Imperial Business School mafia18
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
+ 11 more
Same school
Also attended Imperial College London499
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Also attended Imperial Business School81
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Also attended Y Combinator2,000
+ 1,994 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Pelago10
+ 4 more
Also worked at NHS England9
+ 3 more
Also worked at Wellcome Trust10
+ 4 more







































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