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Conifer launch: what they're building and where to launch next

What they're building

Least cost routing system to reduce 80%+ token spend

Batch
Y Combinator Summer 2026
Industry
B2B
Team size
4
Based
San Francisco, CA, USA

Founders

conifer.build ↗

See their funding details ↗

Conifer on the record

What they shipped

  • From its YC profile: There are thousands of models, providers, and harnesses, each with its own pricing and strengths, leaving an overwhelming number of choices when it comes to managing token spend and intelligence. Conifer uses intelligent routing and orchestration logic to handle the full path of each query: model selection, provider choice, and cache management. It all runs inside your existing harness, so tools like Claude Code and Codex work without changing your setup. (source)
  • Its own site describes it as: "Conifer routes to the Pareto frontier: the cheapest seat that still clears the work. Name a model and that model is served." (source)

Who is behind it

  • Michael Jeffords, Founder/CGO: Co-founder at Conifer (YC S26). Previously co-founded The HeartCheck Foundation, scaling free hypertension screenings to 20+ barbershops and over 10,000 individuals. Engineered an ML-driven computer vision pipeline using pose estimation for early-onset ALS and Parkinson's detection. (source)
  • Charles Muehlberger, Founder/CTO: Founder at Conifer. Engineering researcher at Princeton, accelerating multi-modal inference on edge devices and designing physics simulation software for coupled laser reservoirs and machine learning with physical neural networks. Previously built custom edge AI devices for RF-based brain injury modeling at DoW, and helped engineer the world record holding fastest electric speedboat at PES. (source)

Timeline

  1. 2026: founded, per its YC profile. (source)
  2. 2026-06-02: "Faster Local engine built from scratch in Rust" posted to Hacker News by v11climbs, 1 point and 2 comments. (source)

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Where else to launch Conifer

  • Product Hunt ↗
    Self-promotion allowedFree
  • Hacker News (Show HN) ↗
    Self-promotion allowed, within the community's rules
    Audience: Hacker News readers; engineers, technical founders, infra-curious people
  • Indie Hackers Forum ↗
    Self-promotion allowed
    Audience: IndieHackers; bootstrapped solo founders sharing revenue and behind-the-scenes
  • Demand Curve ↗
    Self-promotion allowed, within the community's rules
    Audience: Slack community; tight-knit, pseudo-private peer group
  • Dev Hunt ↗
    Self-promotion allowedFree
  • No Code Founders ↗
    Self-promotion allowed, within the community's rules
    Audience: Slack community; tight-knit, pseudo-private peer group
  • OnlineGeniuses ↗
    Self-promotion allowed, within the community's rules
    Audience: Slack community; tight-knit, pseudo-private peer group
  • Product Makers ↗
    Self-promotion allowed, within the community's rules
    Audience: Slack community; tight-knit, pseudo-private peer group

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Featured on FoxPlug: Conifer