Kenny Dao

Kenny Dao is a co-founder of Sanctum, a Y Combinator-backed startup (W25) that develops AI-powered simulated user models for product teams. He and his co-founder Vrushank Gunjur apply their quantitative finance backgrounds to build solutions that help companies predict user reactions to new features, identifying bugs and UX issues before launch through high-fidelity user simulations. Their platform integrates with development workflows via GitHub actions for simulated canary deployments. ycombinator+1

Kenny has a strong academic foundation in computer science from Stanford University, where he is pursuing both Bachelor's and Master's degrees. He was admitted for his MS in Computer Science in Autumn 2022 and is expected to graduate in 2025. His time at Stanford was supported by financial aid, enabling him to engage in teaching, mentorship, and research, and contributing to his academic growth and community building. stanford+3

Before co-founding Sanctum, Kenny gained experience in quantitative finance as a quant trader at DRW and IMC Trading. At DRW, he spent three months (June-August 2024) researching trading strategies for a pre-launch systematic fund. He also completed a three-month quant trading role at IMC Trading (June-August 2023).