Quild #12: Merge

One API to rule them all

This is the Quild daily, highlighting one early-stage startup that has statistically significant signals of becoming a unicorn.

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Merge integrates HR, payroll, recruiting, and accounting platforms into a unified API. Its drop-in component makes adding integration authorization to a product a walk in the park. It also enables logs, issue detection, and automated alerts to save customer success team time, money, and headaches.

Founders: Gil Feig, Shensi Ding

Signals:

1. Venture-backed company experience

   • Shensi was the chief of staff at Expanse for 2 years until it was acquired by Palo Alto Networks for $800M in 2020. Expanse was funded by Founders Fund, NEA, IVP, and TPG

   • Gil was the head of engineering at Canvas for 2 years until he started Merge in 2020. Canvas was funded by Sequoia and Owl Ventures

2. Top company alumni

   • Shensi worked at Credit Suisse and Silver Lake for ~3 years before joining Expanse

   • Gil worked at LinkedIn and Wealthfront for ~3 years before joining Canvas

3. Top university graduates

   • Gil graduated with BS Computer Science from Columbia University

   • Shensi graduated with BS Computer Science from Columbia University

4. Fast team growth

   • Grew from ~4x from 8 to 35 over the past year

   • They’re still hiring a lot!

5. Accelerated funding

   • Merge was founded in 2020, announced seed funding in May 2021, and series A funding in Nov 2021

6. Midas list investors

   • Addition led series A

   • NEA led seed

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Till tomorrow, Kenn