What Hackers/Founders does

Hackers/Founders (H/F) is a volunteer-led community organization founded in 2008 by Jonathan Nelson in Silicon Valley, serving tech founders globally through a decentralized network of chapters led by local organizers. The organization's flagship product, the H/F Community, operates across 60+ countries and 5 continents, providing in-person and virtual meetups where founders seek cofounders, investors, UI/UX talent, developers, and advisers. The claimed network spans over 300,000 companies, though no engagement metrics or active-member figures are disclosed.

The platform extends beyond events through two additional product lines. H/F Research is positioned as an applied scientific research division that leverages the founder network to provide tech companies with research tools and data-driven insights, though no client engagements, deliverables, or pricing are publicly disclosed. H/F Finder is a directory tool enabling users to locate the nearest chapter or initiate a new one, extending platform utility into discovery and navigation. The underlying technology stack is described as a community networking platform with content marketing and social channels (Meetup, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter/X, Twitch, GitHub, LinkedIn), but no proprietary technical infrastructure, APIs, SDKs, or platform integrations are documented.

The business model is opaque. H/F self-identifies as a volunteer organization with no publicly disclosed pricing, revenue streams, sponsorship structure, or paying customer base. Historical disclosed funding is minimal, totaling approximately $295,000 across three small rounds between 2012 and 2018 (most recently with Magma Partners in 2018 at $0 disclosed). The company has 11-50 employees per third-party data, with named leadership including CEO Jonathan Nelson, Chief Innovation Officer Laura Nelson, Director of LatAm Community Elsa Maldonado, and Director of Scientific Research and Technology Transfer Antonio Hyder. The customer base is horizontally distributed across individual founders and SMBs, with no enterprise segment or named logos disclosed.

Name

Hackers/Founders

Legal name

Hackers and Founders

Website

https://hf.cx

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hackers/Founders is a global, volunteer-led community organization founded in 2008 that connects tech founders across 60+ countries through local chapter meetups, while operating an applied research division (H/F Research) and a chapter directory tool (H/F Finder).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Startup Community and Networking

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

akta.pro primary industry

Open-Source & Developer Communities (BPAMABAM)

Keywords

• Startup community network
• Tech founder networking
• Entrepreneur community events
• Startup research services
• Founder meetup platform

Headquarters

HQ city

San Jose

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Community Membership and Events: The organization operates as a volunteer community that hosts meetups and events for tech founders globally. Revenue generation model is not explicitly disclosed but appears to involve community participation, event attendance, and potentially research services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Hackers/Founders is a global community of tech founders that operates volunteer-led local chapters worldwide for in-person networking and meetups. Through H/F Research, the organization also provides applied scientific research services to tech companies, leveraging its network of 300,000+ companies across 60+ countries to deliver data-driven insights. The H/F Finder tool helps users locate their closest chapter.

Product overview

Hackers/Founders operates as a unified community platform for tech founders comprising three interconnected offerings: the core Hackers/Founders Community (a global networking platform with chapters worldwide), H/F Research (applied scientific research services backed by a network of 300,000+ companies), and H/F Finder (a directory tool for locating local chapters). The organization, founded in 2008 and headquartered in Silicon Valley, positions its community as the foundation that enables research capabilities and chapter discovery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• H/F Research: Applied scientific research division backed by the global network of founders, spanning over 300,000 companies in 60+ countries, providing tech companies with research tools for informed decisions.

Products and services

• Hackers/Founders Community Global volunteer-led community of tech founders with chapters worldwide, headquartered in Silicon Valley. Provides in-person and virtual meetups where founders can find cofounders, investors, UI/UX designers, developers, and advisers within their local startup ecosystem.
• H/F Research
• H/F Finder Directory tool for locating the closest Hackers/Founders chapter. Allows users to find their nearest local chapter and connect with regional organizers, or to request to start a new chapter where none exists.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Indie Hackers: Online community and content platform for independent tech founders and startup builders, sharing H/F's focus on connecting and educating bootstrapped/hacker-style entrepreneurs.
• Founder Institute: Global founder-support program with chapters in 95+ cities, offering structured training and a community similar to H/F's chapter-based model for early-stage tech founders.
• Founders Network: Private community and mentorship network for tech founders, comparable to H/F in serving founders through peer connections, advisors, and educational resources.
• Startup Grind: Global community for tech founders with local chapters in 125+ countries, directly comparable in mission and structure to Hackers/Founders. Notably, Startup Grind's founder Derek Andersen is listed among H/F's affiliated founders, underscoring how directly the two compete for the same grassroots founder community niche.
• Product Hunt: Community-driven platform for tech founders and makers to launch and discover products, overlapping with H/F's audience of hacker/founder types building tech ventures.
• CoFoundersLab: Matching platform specifically designed to help entrepreneurs find cofounders, directly addressing one of H/F's stated primary use cases (finding a cofounder) for tech founders.
• On Deck: Curated, paid community and fellowship programs for tech founders, operators, and investors — a more premium version of the founder community H/F provides grassroots-style.

Others

• Meetup: Platform infrastructure that H/F itself uses to host many of its global chapter meetups, representing the underlying enabling layer for distributed in-person founder communities.

Broad incumbents

• Techstars: Global accelerator network with a large founder community (acquired Startup Grind), overlapping with H/F's ecosystem-building mission but operating a much broader accelerator + community portfolio.
• Y Combinator: Premier global startup accelerator with a vast founder community and content platform (Bookface, HN, etc.), representing a much larger and better-resourced version of the founder support H/F provides.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/hackersfounders
• Facebookfacebook.com/hackersandfounders
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hackers-founders/?originalSubdomain=es
• Instagraminstagram.com/hackersfounders
• Xx.com/HackFoundSV

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments2 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hackers/Founders