Yilin Zhao
赵一霖
Yilin Zhao is a Gen Z founder and the creator of Hyperknow, a general-purpose learning agent he built after taking leave from Columbia University, where he was a third-year student born in 2005 . He co-founded the project with Ruohan Jiang, a friend from his AI for Science research circle at Columbia; Zhao handles backend development while Jiang focuses on frontend . The pair initially worked on the startup at night while still attending classes before both stepping away from school to pursue it full-time . ZhenFund, which featured Zhao in its 2026 summer fellowship and profiled his path in March 2026, described the two founders as possessing what they call "structure-external growth force" — an almost agent-like initiative .
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Coverage
When Everyone Has Better Tools, What Do You Actually Want to Create? | Zhen Summer Fellowship
Each team will receive up to RMB 500,000.
Taking a Leave from Columbia to Build a Startup: Don't Ask ChatGPT, Ask Hyperknow 3.0
We want to serve everyone who stays curious about knowledge.
Dropped Out of Columbia to Build the First General-Purpose Learning Agent
Gen Z Is Building the World
There's always someone young.
Duolingo Talks to Early-Stage Founders: How to Build a Fun Product in the AI Era?
Because it's weird, because it's fun, because it's one of a kind.
