---
title: 'Founding Engineer at Fernstone'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/founding-engineer-fernstone-new-york-29mq16q2kqa4'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-17'
---

# Founding Engineer at Fernstone

- **Company:** Fernstone
- **Location:** New York, NY
- **Compensation:** $120k–$180k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-09-27
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-17
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/fernstone/1b9df8c7-1da0-44db-8d19-0f51b3710f32

## Job description

About Fernstone: Fernstone is building a new kind of insurance company: we combine AI with expert advisors to place insurance faster and at better terms.

We think AI will fundamentally reshape how insurance is bought and sold – and the new winners in this $1T category will compete directly with legacy insurers instead of selling software to them.

We’ve raised $3M from Y Combinator and other notable investors, and have grown from 0 to 500+ customers since launching at the start of the year.

Fernstone was founded by[James](http://bookface.ycombinator.com/user/737672/linkedin_redirect?key=f4f026c4cd7e51d1014e2de378f0e60f559cb6ac) (BCG, Traba, UChicago), and[Bryant](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryant-le-3884a7134/) (Google, SentiLink, Vanderbilt). We work in-person in our NYC office.

The role: As founding engineer (and engineering hire #2), you’ll have a substantial role in building our product. You’ll work directly with the operators using your product, own critical systems across the stack, and help set the technical direction of the company. Your work will have a direct impact on how we operate, serve customers, and grow.

What you’ll work on:

- Own outcomes: partner with our operations team to learn how insurance work gets done, identify the biggest opportunities, and decide what to build.
- Build across the stack: Design and build complete features across the interface, application logic, data model, and infrastructure.
- Engineer for the real world: Create reliable workflows where accuracy matters, outside systems fail, and events may unfold over days or weeks
- Develop practical AI: Build systems that interpret information, automate multi-step work, and recognize when a person needs to step in.

What we look for:

- 2+ YOE
- You’ve shipped and maintained production software that people depend on.
- You can take an ambiguous business problem, ask good questions, and turn it into a focused solution.
- You have strong backend and relational database fundamentals, and you’re comfortable building a polished frontend.
- You think carefully about data correctness, failure handling, and how systems behave after deployment.
- You have practical experience building with language models, including evaluating their output and handling mistakes.
- You use AI development tools effectively and take responsibility for understanding, reviewing, and debugging the code you ship.

## About Fernstone

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Fernstone is an AI-native insurance brokerage that combines artificial intelligence with licensed brokers to help businesses obtain complex insurance faster and at better terms.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Pre-Seed / Y Combinator F25 batch)
- **Headquarters**: New York City, NY, United States (some sources also list San Francisco, CA – conflicting reports) [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone) | [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/fernstone)
- **Founded**: 2025 [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone)
- **Founders**: James Chen, Bryant Le, and a third co-founder (Luke) [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Insurance brokerage, with a focus on commercial property & casualty, workers’ compensation, and specialty lines.
- **Target customers**: B2B – construction, security, trades, and other businesses that need complex, multi-carrier risk coverage.
- **Mission or purpose statement**: “Insurance for businesses that move fast” – providing a single platform to manage risk, compliance, and coverage without the typical back-and-forth. [fernstone.com](https://fernstone.com/)

## Products & Services
- **Fernstone Platform**: A SaaS-based insurance management suite that includes:
  - **COI Management** – Create and share certificates of insurance instantly.
  - **Claims Handling** – File and track claims with dedicated support.
  - **Policy Management** – Access, update, and organize policies across carriers.
  - **Automated Alerts** – Notifications for renewals, expirations, and coverage gaps.
  - **Secure Access Control** – Role-based permissions for team collaboration.
  - **Billing & Payments** – Pay premiums, manage installments, and view history.
- **Brokerage Services**: Human-in-the-loop licensed brokers who combine AI-driven automation with personal relationships to source quotes from top carriers (Tokio Marine, Amtrust, Markel, Liberty Mutual, The Hartford, CNA, Travelers, BHSI, Kinsale). [fernstone.com](https://fernstone.com/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private, pre-seed).
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $125,000 from Y Combinator (pre-seed round, led by YC, September 2025). [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/fernstone)
- **Notable Investors / Partners**: Y Combinator (lead investor); David Lieb (primary YC partner). Carrier partners include Tokio Marine, Amtrust, Markel, Liberty Mutual, The Hartford, CNA, Travelers, BHSI, Kinsale. [fernstone.com](https://fernstone.com/) | [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone)
- **Growth Signals**: Serving 100+ businesses in construction, security, and trades; monthly website traffic growth of +394%; headcount growth of +40% monthly (from 2 to 5 employees); actively hiring a Growth & Operations Lead. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/fernstone) | [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone)

## Competitive Advantages
- **AI-native automation**: An AI agent automates the manual broker-carrier back-and-forth (email threads, follow-ups, document generation), dramatically reducing quote turnaround times.
- **Licensed brokers in the loop**: Combines technology with human expertise – all co-founders and staff are licensed brokers, ensuring quality and accountability.
- **Dedicated risk management team**: Every client gets a single point of contact who learns their operations, updates policies, and monitors exposures proactively.
- **Transparent, competitive pricing**: Works across multiple carriers to keep coverage effective and affordable, with continuous monitoring to avoid overpaying.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the platform**: Onboarding more businesses, especially in complex risk verticals (construction, security, trades).
- **Expanding carrier relationships**: Partnering with additional top-rated insurers to broaden coverage options.
- **Product development**: Enhancing the self-service portal and AI capabilities to reduce friction further.
- **Talent acquisition**: Building a small, high-leverage team (currently ~5 people) with a focus on growth, engineering, and operations.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Early-stage startup with a strong sense of ownership; all three founders are hands-on and licensed brokers, creating a culture of deep domain expertise and hustle.
- **Remote/Hybrid**: Fully remote workspace (US-based). [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/fernstone)
- **Notable perks**: Direct exposure to Y Combinator’s network; opportunity to shape the product and company from the ground up; small team means high impact per person.
- **Engineering culture**: One co-founder (Bryant Le) is a former Google and SentiLink engineer; the team values technical tooling and automation. [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone)

## Sources
1. [fernstone.com](https://fernstone.com/)
2. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/fernstone](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/fernstone)
3. [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fernstone)
4. [builtin.com](https://builtin.com/company/fernstone)
5. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/fernstone)

## Other roles at Fernstone

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