The 28 Hardware & Electronics companies that produced the most founders (2026)
A founder factory is a company whose people leave to start companies of their own. This ranks every company in the graph by how many of its alumni — people who founded it or worked there — went on to found at least one company, counting only ventures started no earlier than the company itself.
Share ↗ Refreshed 2026-09-13 · updates nightly
Founder factories · Hardware & Electronics Alumni who went on to found companies Apple: 18 alumni founded 41 companies Apple 18 Sun Microsystems: 6 alumni founded 9 companies Sun Microsystems 6 Hewlett-Packard: 5 alumni founded 11 companies Hewlett-Packard 5 Silicon Graphics: 5 alumni founded 10 companies Silicon Graphics 5 Oculus: 4 alumni founded 7 companies Oculus 4 Oculus VR: 4 alumni founded 7 companies Oculus VR 4 Desktop Metal: 4 alumni founded 6 companies Desktop Metal 4 Nest: 4 alumni founded 4 companies Nest 4 Google Nest: 4 alumni founded 3 companies Google Nest 4 Pixieray: 4 alumni founded 2 companies Pixieray 4 Wyze Labs: 4 alumni founded 1 companies Wyze Labs 4 Cisco: 3 alumni founded 3 companies Cisco 3 Varjo: 3 alumni founded 3 companies Varjo 3 Cerebras Systems: 3 alumni founded 2 companies Cerebras Systems 3 CTRL-labs: 3 alumni founded 1 companies CTRL-labs 3
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Company
Sector HQ Founded Founders
Companies started
1
Apple Hardware & Electronics Cupertino, USA
1976
18
41
2
Sun Microsystems Hardware & Electronics Santa Clara, USA
1982
6
9
3
Hewlett-Packard Hardware & Electronics Palo Alto, USA
1939
5
11
4
Silicon Graphics Hardware & Electronics Mountain View, USA
1982
5
10
5
Oculus Hardware & Electronics Irvine, USA
2012
4
7
6
Oculus VR Hardware & Electronics Irvine, USA
2012
4
7
7
Desktop Metal Hardware & Electronics Boston, USA
2015
4
6
8
Nest Hardware & Electronics — — 4
4
9
Google Nest Hardware & Electronics United States
2010
4
3
10
Pixieray Hardware & Electronics — — 4
2
11
Wyze Labs Hardware & Electronics — — 4
1
12
Cisco Hardware & Electronics United States
1984
3
3
13
Varjo Hardware & Electronics — — 3
3
14
Cerebras Systems Hardware & Electronics Sunnyvale, USA
2015
3
2
15
CTRL-labs Hardware & Electronics — — 3
1
16
Peloton Hardware & Electronics New York City, USA
2012
3
1
17
Sauron Systems Hardware & Electronics — — 2
9
18
Ampex Hardware & Electronics Redwood City, USA
1944
2
5
19
Kano Hardware & Electronics — — 2
2
20
Konux Hardware & Electronics — — 2
2
21
Leap Motion Hardware & Electronics — — 2
2
22
Dropcam Hardware & Electronics United States
— 2
1
23
Estimote Hardware & Electronics New York City, USA
2012
2
1
24
Markforged Hardware & Electronics — — 2
1
25
Mighty Buildings Hardware & Electronics San Francisco, USA
2017
2
1
26
Nanotronics Hardware & Electronics — — 2
1
27
NuvoMedia Hardware & Electronics Mountain View, USA
1997
2
1
28
Pure Storage Hardware & Electronics — — 2
1
How this is counted.
A person counts as an alumnus of a company if they founded it or worked there. They count towards the company’s score if they went on to found at least one other company that was started no earlier than the company itself. Universities and other non-commercial organisations are pruned from the graph where we can identify them.
Data is community-corrected — fix something .