Keyu Chen

Honestly, let me school you on Keyu Chen – this guy’s a straight-up tech hustler with a story that’s pretty damn inspiring. So, he’s part of YC W25, which means he’s legit in the startup game right now, but his process’s been wild even before that.

Keyu’s the co-founder of Pinch, a YC-backed startup that’s basically changing how we do video calls. Imagine Zoom but with real-time voice translation – so no more language barriers. They just went into public beta, and it’s already supporting real-life use cases for both folks chatting with friends and businesses closing deals. Crazy, right? This isn’t some half-baked idea; these guys are making moves.

But here’s the kicker – before Pinch, Keyu was deep in research, over 7 years in multimodal and computer vision stuff. He’s not just some guy with an idea; he’s legit a tech nerd who’s been grinding in academia and industry. He worked at Tavus, where he met his co-founder Christian Safka. That’s where the magic started – they’ve led engineering, research, and product teams across seven countries. That’s no small feat – they jumped into different markets, learned what works, and built real-world experience.

And here’s what’s really telling about him: after YC, he split from his co-founder but didn’t fold. Instead, he kept pushing, grew the thing profitably to $2M. That’s some hustle. It shows he’s all about building real, sustainable tech that people actually need now, not just chasing shiny new ideas.

So, what’s the story here? Keyu’s all about solving big problems with tech. His background in research and global team-building means he’s got the brains, the guts, and the vision. He’s never afraid to jump into new tech – AI, voice translation, video conferencing – and actually make it happen. The guy’s driven by a real desire to break barriers and make communication smoother for everyone.

Honestly, if you want to understand what’s hot in the startup scene right now, look at Keyu. He’s proof that if you combine deep tech skills with hustle and a willingness to pivot, you can turn crazy ideas into real-world stuff that’s changing how we connect. No cap, this guy’s just getting started, and I think we’ll see a lot more from him.