Early Life and Education
Brendan Foody's path to success began with his early entrepreneurial spirit. While in high school, Foody started a business providing AWS consulting services and also sold donuts. He later enrolled at Georgetown University in 2021, studying business administration and economics. However, Foody found himself more drawn to building a company than studying, and dropped out of Georgetown University in his second year to focus on his startup.
Rise to Success
Foody co-founded Mercor in 2023 with Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha, both former high school debate teammates. Initially, Mercor connected freelance programmers with companies. The company quickly pivoted to data labeling, matching experts with AI companies such as OpenAI to train their algorithms. In October 2025, the company raised $350 million in Series C funding at a $10 billion valuation. Mercor's AI-powered platform automates various aspects of the hiring process.
Key Business Strategies
Mercor's success is attributed to its rapid growth and its ability to identify a critical need in the AI industry: the sourcing and vetting of top professionals to measure model capabilities. The company's strong network effects and data flywheel, which learns from every customer interaction, have contributed to its market position. Foody emphasizes a culture of hard work, having worked every day for the past three years, and a focus on building valuable products rather than just fundraising.
Philanthropy
Information on Brendan Foody's specific philanthropic initiatives and amounts is not available from the search results.