Nylas Announces New Alumni Fund

Fuels the entrepreneurial spirit of current and former employees turned startup founders by contributing and streamlining early-stage fundraising

SAN FRANCISCO – April 13, 2022 – Nylas, provider of communications APIs that drive workflow automation and frictionless digital experiences, today announced the new Nylas Alumni Fund, which helps both current and former Nylas employees turned entrepreneurs propel their early-stage startups forward. Through the fund, Nylas will contribute $20,000 towards a seed round of funding in order to help fuel the next wave of transformative startups and visionary entrepreneurs.

The fund reinforces Nylas’ desire to inspire employees to innovate, push the boundaries of software development, dream big, and reach their full potential. Through the Nylas Alumni Fund, emerging entrepreneurs will have access to additional capital to help accelerate their path toward becoming disruptors in their respective industries. 

“Employees at Nylas are constantly testing the limits of innovation, automation, and the ways developers and our customers can build frictionless, personalized workflows and experiences for their users. It is what draws so many great people to come and work for us and what has allowed Nylas to grow at this incredible rate”, said Gleb Polyakov, Co-Founder & CEO, Nylas. “At the same time, we recognize that some individuals have lifelong dreams of one day starting their own business and carving out their own entrepreneurial path. We believe it is our responsibility to nurture our employee’s dreams, not stifle them. The Nylas Alumni Fund represents our commitment to our employees and the future of technology.”

Throughout the years, numerous employees have used their experience at Nylas as a way to jumpstart their own endeavors and entrepreneurial dreams. Former Nylas employees have gone on to start companies in industries such as recruiting and HR technology, personal health and wellness, website and application development, fintech, and more. Prior to joining Nylas as Senior Director of Engineering, John Jung was the Co-Founder & CTO of AI-powered automation tool June.ai, which was acquired by Nylas in March of 2020.  

“Nylas’ Alumni Fund is a unique, truly innovative, program that helps their company alumni, who have invested so much of their time, energy, and livelihood into helping Nylas get to where we are today, to create their own companies,” said Tony Fadell, Principal at Future Shape.

Seed-stage funding has significantly increased in recent years. According to Crunchbase, fewer than 3,200 companies received seed funding between 2006 and 2010. A decade later, that has increased to more than 23,000 startups. Yet while overall seed-stage funding has increased, external factors such as economic volatility, total addressable markets, and the ability to meet consumer and business needs, combined with increased competition for capital have put additional pressure on entrepreneurs to raise larger rounds at earlier stages. The Nylas Alumni Fund not only serves as a contribution towards an investment round, but it also serves as credible validation for both the entrepreneur and the company they are building.

Along with its Alumni Fund, Nylas has made significant investments in its employee experience, and as a result, has received numerous awards and recognition. In 2021, Comparably recognized Nylas as a leader across more than 20 categories, including Best Company Culture, Best Company Happiness, Best Company Perks & Benefits, and ranked Nylas #1 for Best Company for Diversity. Nylas was also recently awarded with a listing on Forbes America’s Best Startup Employers 2022.

To learn more about Nylas, visit www.nylas.com, and visit www.nylas.com/company/jobs/ to see open positions by department, location, and more.