# Diane Yu

> Diane Yu is the co-founder and CEO of Tidalwave, a New York-based agentic AI mortgage startup whose SOLO platform aims to modernize mortgage origination with transparency, speed, and lower costs for lenders and borrowers. A career engineer and repeat founder, she previously co-founded the adtech company FreeWheel (acquired by Comcast for roughly $375-400M in 2014), served as CTO of Comcast Advertising and of the digital lender Better, and spent nearly a decade at DoubleClick rising to VP of Engineering. In November 2025 Tidalwave raised a $22M Series A led by Permanent Capital with participation from homebuilder D.R. Horton, and the company was named to the 2026 CB Insights AI 100.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Tidalwave
- **Organizations:** Tidalwave, Magnite (board member), Better (former), Comcast Advertising (former), FreeWheel (former), DoubleClick (former)
- **From:** China
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Graduate studies, University in Ohio (United States)
- **Known for:** Co-founded FreeWheel and led it to a ~$375-400M acquisition by Comcast in 2014, Raised a $22M Series A for Tidalwave in November 2025 (bringing total funding to ~$24M), led by Permanent Capital with D.R. Horton, Tidalwave's SOLO platform named to the 2026 CB Insights AI 100 (selected from 40,000+ companies)

## Career timeline

- **~1998-2007** — Engineer through VP of Engineering at DoubleClick, working across ~11 teams over nine years on ad-serving products (DART, Rich Media, DFA)
- **2007** — Co-founded FreeWheel as CTO, building a B2B video ad monetization platform serving major global media companies
- **2014** — FreeWheel acquired by Comcast for roughly $375-400M
- **2014-2020** — Served as CTO of Comcast Advertising, integrating five acquired companies into a unified platform
- **2021-2022** — Chief Technology Officer at Better, leading platform and technology strategy for the digital mortgage lender
- **2022** — Joined the board of directors of Magnite (Nasdaq: MGNI)
- **2023** — Co-founded Tidalwave with Jack Deng and Cheng Li
- **2025** — Named a 2025 HousingWire Woman of Influence; raised $22M Series A led by Permanent Capital with D.R. Horton
- **2026** — Tidalwave named to the CB Insights AI 100

## Achievements

- Co-founded FreeWheel and led it to a ~$375-400M acquisition by Comcast in 2014
- Raised a $22M Series A for Tidalwave in November 2025 (bringing total funding to ~$24M), led by Permanent Capital with D.R. Horton
- Tidalwave's SOLO platform named to the 2026 CB Insights AI 100 (selected from 40,000+ companies)
- Named a 2025 HousingWire Woman of Influence
- Board member of Magnite (Nasdaq: MGNI) since March 2022
- Named to Cablefax 'Most Powerful Women' and 'Most Influential Minorities' lists multiple times
- Recognized as a 2021 'Working Mother of the Year' by She Runs It
- Built integrations with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Argyle and Plaid enabling real-time income and asset verification, cutting processing times by up to 67%

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Tidalwave named to the CB Insights AI 100 list of the world's most promising AI companies for 2026.
- **2025-11** — Tidalwave raised a $22M Series A led by Permanent Capital, with participation from D.R. Horton and follow-on from Engineering Capital, on track to reach 4% of the U.S. mortgage market.
- **2025-09** — Featured across podcasts and interviews (Keep Going, Innovators & Investors) discussing building an AI-first mortgage company.

## Links

- Website: https://tidalwave.ai
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianeyu
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzbnAJRSzco

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/diane-yu
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-20