# Fabian Kamberi

> Fabian Kamberi is the CEO and co-founder of Born, formerly SLAY, which builds consumer social apps and AI characters including Pengu. Originally from Rottenburg in southern Germany and now publicly based in New York, he previously co-founded social music platform Bouncy. He was named to Forbes’ 2025 Under 30 Europe Sports & Games list, served as a judge for the 2026 list, and is a Project Europe partner.

- **Role:** CEO and co-founder at Born
- **Organizations:** Born (formerly SLAY), Bouncy, Project Europe
- **Education:** CODE University of Applied Sciences
- **Known for:** Forbes Under 30 Europe 2025, Sports & Games., Independent judge for Forbes Under 30 Europe Sports & Games 2026., Co-founded the company behind Pengu, which Born reported had reached more than 15 million users globally by September 2025.

## Career timeline

- **2017** — Co-authored Was Du in der Schule nicht lernst: Der Trainingsplan für Deinen Erfolg, published February 18. Visited the United States at 18 and arranged meetings through cold emails, as he later recalled.
- **2020** — Appeared on Product Pioneers as a CODE product management student and Bouncy co-founder. Hosted Bouncy’s More Than Music podcast, active in 2020-2021.
- **2022** — Co-founded SLAY with Jannis Ringwald and Stefan Quernhorst; its compliments app reached number one on Germany’s iOS App Store.
- **2023** — The studio built frfr and launched Pengu toward the end of the year.
- **2024** — SLAY announced a $5 million seed round in June. Kamberi discussed Pengu’s move from games to social networking in October.
- **2025** — Named to Forbes Under 30 Europe Sports & Games. Born announced a $15 million Series A and $25 million total funding in September.
- **2026** — Born expanded Pengu into Friends and previewed Life on January 13. Forbes named Kamberi an independent judge for its 2026 Under 30 Europe Sports & Games list.

## Achievements

- Forbes Under 30 Europe 2025, Sports & Games.
- Independent judge for Forbes Under 30 Europe Sports & Games 2026.
- Co-founded the company behind Pengu, which Born reported had reached more than 15 million users globally by September 2025.
- Led Born as it announced a $15 million Series A and $25 million total funding in September 2025.
- Project Europe partner; Born describes him as a co-initiator.

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Forbes named him an independent judge for its 2026 Under 30 Europe Sports & Games list.
- **2026-01** — Born announced that Pengu was expanding into Friends and previewed the photorealistic companion experience Life.
- **2026-01** — Handelsblatt reported that Kamberi had moved to New York at the beginning of the year.
- **2025-09** — Born announced a $15 million Series A, bringing its reported total funding to $25 million.

## Links

- Website: https://www.kamberi.co/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabian-kamberi/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/fabiankamberi

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/fabian-kamberi
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25