Mariano Sorgente

Mariano Sorgente is the co-founder and CEO of ISSEN, an artificial intelligence real-time voice companion for language learning based in New York City. Founded in 2024, the two-employee educational technology startup recently secured $500,000 in early-stage funding and is backed by the prominent accelerator Y Combinator. Prior to launching his current enterprise, he worked as a partner at the venture capital firm a16z and served as a core crypto engineer at the blockchain network Chia. During his engineering tenure at Chia, the Stanford University alumnus successfully developed the initial technical versions of the Chia Blockchain, Proof of Space, and BLS signature schemes. He also maintains an active developer presence with 239 followers on GitHub. Sorgente currently focuses on advancing consumer artificial intelligence applications, combining his deep technical expertise in cryptographic engineering with his institutional background in venture capital investing.