Elpha is a hybrid social and professional network that offers public forums and direct messages to help women in tech foster relationships and build their careers. The product was conceived inside Y Combinator and was spun out and rebranded by CEO Cadran Cowansage with co-founder Kuan Luo after Cowansage built an internal tool for YC. Elpha charges companies $12,000 in annual subscription fees to identify potential hires and currently has 20 paying customers, including venture-backed startups like Lambda School and Webflow. The team plans to use new funding to hire, host events, and continue product development, including a mobile app expected next year. Leadership says the company aims to expand beyond tech into media, science, medicine and other industries and to create sub‑communities for those fields. The startup positions itself to serve women with a tailored networking alternative as larger platforms like LinkedIn move slowly. Elpha (formerly Leap) is a professional networking platform for women in technology that offers editorial content and a member directory to facilitate connections. The service also surfaces information about companies that prioritize welcoming women. The company was launched in 2017 with support from Y Combinator. Founders Cadran Cowansage, Abadesi Osunsade and Kuan Luo lead the effort; Abadesi previously led community at Product Hunt and Kuan designed a retreat for women leaders. Initially a nights-and-weekends project, Elpha now reports 7,500 active members. Y Combinator has invested in the company as it spins out and moves through YC’s winter batch.

Total raised

$1M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Nov 2019