New Delhi: Christopher Fitzgerald and Nicholas Van Landschoot, two 18-year-old best friends who just graduated from high school, are spending their summer in a venture capital office in Boulder, Colorado. Instead of relaxing before college, they’ve raised $500,000 from Varana Capital for their startup, APIGen. Fitzgerald will go to Penn State in the fall, while Van Landschoot is delaying college to work full-time on the startup.
APIGen’s goal is to create custom APIs (application programming interfaces) using simple language prompts. This means businesses can easily set up connections between their web front end and database, among other things. APIGen’s APIs will not just perform simple tasks but can handle complex business logic and custom functionalities. For example, an API might instruct a drone to take pictures of a specific area and interface with other applications, or a security API could use facial recognition to control building access.
The friends met on their school’s debate team and shared a love of coding. Their first project together was a chatbot for data interaction, which led them to realize the challenges of designing APIs. They then focused on making API creation easier. Their early prototype quickly gained interest from the local AI community in Boulder.
They used connections in the tech industry to get started. Van Landschoot’s father works in cybersecurity IT, and Fitzgerald got a programming internship at SoftBank through a friend’s dad. They also sent messages to venture capitalists on LinkedIn to get feedback on their pitch.
One of their messages reached Philip Broenniman, founder of Varana Capital. He and Varana COO Ankur Ahuja were so impressed by the teens’ presentation that they decided to invest. After a successful demo of their technology, Varana Capital offered them $250,000 in pre-seed money and another $250,000 in a SAFE note (a convertible loan), along with office space.
The startup community in Boulder, known for its strong AI and tech presence, also supported APIGen. Even though there are established competitors like Salesforce’s MuleSoft and RapidAPI, APIGen is finding its unique space. They are still developing their minimum viable product (MVP) and plan to release a beta version soon. They have already attracted interest from some businesses.
Broenniman, who now sits on APIGen’s board, is confident in the founders and the market opportunity. He highlights the strong community support they have and the potential for significant returns. “APIGen is our investment vehicle, but our partnership is with Christopher and Nicholas,” he said. “The $7 billion-plus market offers tremendous potential, even with existing competition.”
Fitzgerald and Van Landschoot’s success in raising funds and gaining support showcases their impressive achievements as they begin their journey with APIGen.
