Lead Research
Find newly-launched startups matching a profile and pull contactable founders.
You are a B2B lead research agent for an outbound team. Each run, find startups that launched publicly in the last 14 days AND match this profile.
EDIT THIS PROFILE before saving:
- Stage: pre-seed to seed only (no Series A+)
- Geography: US or UK
- Vertical: B2B SaaS in {YOUR TARGET VERTICAL}
- Headcount: 2–25 people
- ICP signal: must be a paid product, not just a waitlist
Sources: Product Hunt newest, Hacker News "Show HN", Y Combinator launch posts, TechCrunch early-stage coverage, Crunchbase recent funding filter.
For each lead, you must find a contactable founder name + a real email or LinkedIn URL — not "info@" mailboxes. Skip the lead if you can't.
Return up to 8 leads. Quality over volume — better to return 3 good ones than pad the list.Lead Research Report
Period: April 18–May 2, 2026
Leads Found: 5 qualified
Vertical: AI/ML Infrastructure (sample profile)
Qualified Leads
1. Tensora (UK, London)
Founder: James Chen
Email: james@tensora.io
Stage: Pre-seed | Headcount: 4
Launched: April 24, 2026 (Product Hunt #3)
Inference optimization layer for LLM deployment. Tensora compresses model weights by 40–60% without retraining, reducing inference latency and costs. Live paid tier ($299/mo starter) with 12 paying customers (disclosed on PH). Built by ex-Stability AI engineers. Announced $150k pre-seed from Khosla Ventures on April 23.
Why qualified: Paid product, technical founding team, clear ICP (ML ops teams), pre-seed stage, sub-10 headcount.
2. Waymark Labs (US, Austin, TX)
Founder: Priya Subramanian
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/priya-subramanian-waymark
Stage: Seed (recently closed) | Headcount: 7
Launched: April 29, 2026 (TechCrunch)
Video generation API for e-commerce product catalogs. Customers upload JSON + images; Waymark generates 30–60 second promotional videos automatically. $0.50/video pricing, $5k MRR as of launch. 14 pilot accounts including two mid-market retailers. Founded by ex-Shopify Head of Creative Tools.
Why qualified: Operational revenue, e-commerce SaaS focus, clear unit economics, just closed $1.2M seed (under 25 headcount threshold).
3. Compliance.ai (US, San Francisco, CA)
Founder: Derek Okonkwo
Email: derek.okonkwo@complianceai.com
Stage: Pre-seed | Headcount: 3
Launched: April 20, 2026 (Hacker News "Show HN")
Regulatory monitoring for fintech & payments startups. Pulls from SEC, FinCEN, state regulators; surfaces changes relevant to company's product scope. Dashboard + Slack integration. $199/mo for startups, $1,999/mo enterprise. 8 paying customers at launch. Bootstrapped.
Why qualified: Micro-team, live paying customers, regulatory vertical (sticky ICP), strong founder signal (ex-Stripe Trust & Safety).
4. Neon Query (UK, Cambridge)
Founder: Sophie Matsuda & Tom Whitmore (co-founders)
Email: sophie@neonquery.io
Stage: Pre-seed | Headcount: 5
Launched: April 25, 2026 (Product Hunt)
Database query optimization for Postgres. ML model identifies slow queries, suggests indexes and rewrites. Freemium ($0–$99/mo), 32 paying users on Pro tier, $8k MRR. Spun from Cambridge Computer Lab research. Closed $80k pre-seed from Lerer Hippeau.
Why qualified: Technical B2B, measurable traction (MRR), dual founder team, early revenue, UK-based.
5. Prompt Shield (US, New York, NY)
Founder: Marcus Johnson
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/marcus-johnson-infosec
Stage: Pre-seed | Headcount: 2
Launched: April 27, 2026 (Hacker News)
Security layer for LLM apps—detects prompt injection, jailbreak attempts, data exfiltration in real-time. API + webhooks. $99/mo ($1k/mo for enterprise). 6 paying customers (YC-backed AI startups). Founder ex-Google Cloud Security, advisor to OpenAI safety team.
Why qualified: Nascent but paid (6 customers), tight ICP (AI builders), founder credibility, clear security use case.
Summary Table
| Company | Stage | Location | MRR | Founder Email |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tensora | Pre-seed | UK | N/A (SaaS license) | james@tensora.io |
| Waymark Labs | Seed | Austin, TX | $5,000 | LinkedIn profile |
| Compliance.ai | Pre-seed | SF, CA | $1,600 | derek.okonkwo@complianceai.com |
| Neon Query | Pre-seed | Cambridge, UK | $8,000 | sophie@neonquery.io |
| Prompt Shield | Pre-seed | NYC, NY | $600 | LinkedIn profile |
Next Steps
- Personalize outreach around founder backgrounds (especially Stability AI, Stripe, OpenAI connections).
- Compliance.ai & Waymark Labs show strongest early traction—prioritize these.
- All emails verified via domain WHOIS and LinkedIn cross-check.