# Eliot Horowitz

> Eliot Horowitz is the founder and CEO of Viam, a New York robotics-and-automation software platform that lets developers build, deploy, and manage machines in the physical world. He wrote the original core code of MongoDB, which he co-founded in 2007 and steered as CTO for 13 years through a 2017 IPO and a market cap that climbed into the tens of billions. After tinkering with a cat feeder, a chess-playing robot, and a smarter sprinkler during the pandemic, he concluded that robotics hardware had outrun its software, and built Viam to close that gap.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Viam
- **Organizations:** Viam, MongoDB, ShopWiki, DoubleClick, 10gen
- **From:** New York, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Computer Science, Brown University
- **Known for:** Wrote the original core codebase of MongoDB, one of the world's most widely adopted databases., Co-founded and served as CTO of MongoDB for ~13 years, leading product and engineering through its 2017 IPO., Guided MongoDB to a market capitalization that climbed into the tens of billions of dollars.

## Career timeline

- **1990** — By age nine, writes software for his mother's medical practice (began coding at four).
- **2000s** — Joins DoubleClick as a software developer in its R&D group, where he meets future MongoDB co-founder Dwight Merriman.
- **2005** — Co-founds ShopWiki, an internet shopping search engine, serving as CTO and chief engineer.
- **2006** — Named one of BusinessWeek's Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under Age 25.
- **2007** — Co-founds 10gen (later MongoDB) with Dwight Merriman and Kevin P. Ryan; writes the core database codebase.
- **2009** — MongoDB ships its first public release.
- **2013** — 10gen is renamed MongoDB, Inc.
- **2017** — MongoDB lists on NASDAQ; IPO raises roughly $192 million.
- **2020** — Steps down as MongoDB CTO after ~13 years; founds Viam during the COVID-19 lockdown.
- **2024** — Viam expands beyond robotics into broader no-code automation; raises $45M Series B.
- **2025** — Raises $30M Series C led by Union Square Ventures, bringing total funding to $117M.

## Achievements

- Wrote the original core codebase of MongoDB, one of the world's most widely adopted databases.
- Co-founded and served as CTO of MongoDB for ~13 years, leading product and engineering through its 2017 IPO.
- Guided MongoDB to a market capitalization that climbed into the tens of billions of dollars.
- Named one of BusinessWeek's Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under Age 25 (2006).
- Founded Viam, raising $117 million across multiple rounds including a $30M Series C in 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — Viam raised a $30M Series C led by Union Square Ventures (with Battery Ventures and Neurone), bringing total funding to $117M.
- **2025-10** — Horowitz continued making the public case that practical robotics is finally viable and that more engineers should be building with hardware.

## Links

- Website: http://www.eliothorowitz.com/
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/eliothorowitz
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/eliothorowitz
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eliothorowitz/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/eliot-horowitz
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-12