| Qasar Younis | |
| Education: | Kettering University (BS) Harvard University (MBA) |
| Known For: | Applied Intuition, Y Combinator, Google |
| CEO of Applied Intuition | |
Qasar Younis is a Pakistani American entrepreneur and venture capitalist, and the CEO of Applied Intuition, a technology company that is building advanced software and infrastructure tools for self-driving vehicles.[1] Prior to Applied Intuition, he was the COO of Y Combinator during Sam Altman’s tenure as President.[2] He was also the co-founder and CEO of Talkbin (acquired by Google).
Younis was born on a farm in Pakistan, and emigrated to the United States. He grew up in the Detroit area. After graduating with an engineering degree from Kettering University, he then went on to complete his MBA at Harvard Business School.[3]
Younis started his career as an engineer at GM and then Bosch in Japan. After completing his MBA at Harvard Business School, he started Cameesa.com.[4] In 2010, he moved to the San Francisco bay area to start his second startup TalkBin, a platform for customers to send messages to businesses. The company graduated from Y Combinator and was acquired by Google in 2011.[5] After the acquisition, Younis joined Google for 3.5 years as a product lead on Google Maps.[6]
After the TalkBin acquisition, Younis continued advising other startups, particularly through Y Combinator. In early 2013, he became a part-time partner at YC. In early 2014, he became a partner at Y Combinator. In 2015 he was promoted to COO.[7] [8]
In his time at Y Combinator, the firm invested in OpenAI, Cruise, ScaleAI, DoorDash, GitLab, Coinbase, Flexport, Checkr, and others. He also helped start and create some of the most important initiatives inside the accelerator including raising the $700m Continuity Fund, starting the software team, and creating Investor Day.[9]
In January 2017, Younis started Applied Intuition, along with co-founder Peter Ludwig, an engineering graduate of the University of Michigan.[10]
Applied Intuition builds software tooling to support the development of autonomous vehicles, and cites work with 18 of the 20 largest global OEMs, autonomy startups, and defense companies to accelerate autonomy programs.[11]
Applied Intuition is currently valued at $6 billion after its Series E fundraise,[12] having raised over $600 million to date from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Lux Capital, General Catalyst, Ray Dalio, Henry Kravis, Mary Meeker, Reid Hoffman and Mustafa Suleyman. [13]