Pradeep Elankumaran is Co-Founder and CEO of jo (YC W24), a privacy-first personal AI that runs on your Mac and a dedicated private cloud machine, designed to know your life and improve itself autonomously.

Pradeep holds a BS in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Maryland and built his career across product and engineering roles at Yahoo (Livetext, mobile video monetization) and Lyft (driver growth), before launching his first YC startup Kicksend (S11), which was acquired by Lyft.

A three-time YC founder across batches S11, S16, and W24, Pradeep has spent two decades focused on consumer technology with a conviction that AI should serve everyday people without compromising their privacy.

Alongside co-founder Kevin Li, Pradeep previously co-founded Farmstead (YC S16), an AI-powered digital micro-grocer delivering farm-to-fridge groceries in under 60 minutes, which raised an oversubscribed Series A.

jo has raised $4.5M in total funding and launched jo 1.0 in December 2024, bringing a proactive, voice-first AI experience to macOS, Telegram, and WhatsApp users who demand both power and data privacy.