# Hariharan Kolam

> Hariharan (Hari) Kolam is co-founder and CEO of Findem, a people intelligence company. Previously co-founder and CTO of Instart, he worked in engineering at Sun Microsystems and Aster Data and co-authored more than 50 technology patents. His experience scaling teams helped inspire Findem’s approach to hiring through contextual people and company data.

- **Role:** Co-founder & CEO at Findem
- **Organizations:** Findem, Instart, Aster Data, Sun Microsystems
- **From:** Bellary, India
- **Education:** Master’s degree in Computer Science, Stony Brook University, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Co-founded Instart and Findem., Co-authored more than 50 technology patents during his time at Instart., Led Findem through an October 2025 financing package comprising $36 million in equity and $15 million in growth financing.

## Career timeline

- **2003-2007** — Member of Technical Staff at Sun Microsystems.
- **2008** — Completed a master’s degree in computer science at Stony Brook University.
- **2008-2010** — Software engineer at Aster Data.
- **2010** — Co-founded Instart with Manav Mital and Raghu Venkat; served as CTO.
- **2019** — Co-founded Findem with Raghu Venkat.
- **2020** — Findem launched publicly and announced a $7.3 million Series A.
- **2025** — Findem announced $51 million in financing and acquired Getro.
- **2026** — Expanded Findem with Glider AI and the public launch of Studio.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Instart and Findem.
- Co-authored more than 50 technology patents during his time at Instart.
- Led Findem through an October 2025 financing package comprising $36 million in equity and $15 million in growth financing.
- Published essays on talent acquisition and AI through Forbes Human Resources Council.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Findem launched Studio on September 22; Kolam wrote about customer uses extending into sales, consulting and investing.
- **2026-09** — Discussed AI agents and the future of hiring on Venture with Grace.
- **2026-05** — Discussed integrating Glider AI’s assessments and verification with Findem’s candidate discovery.
- **2026-03** — Findem announced a definitive agreement to acquire Glider AI on March 19.
- **2025-12** — Findem acquired Getro and introduced Intelligent Job Posts.

## Links

- Website: https://www.findem.ai/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hkolam
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/hkolam

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/hari-kolam
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-12