Brave
Brave makes a privacy-focused web browser and search engine used by over 120 million people worldwide. It blocks ads and trackers by default and offers features like a VPN and AI assistant, while its independent search API provides real-time data for AI models.
The growth story
Brave grew from 246 to 365 employees between 2023 and 2026, raising $42M along the way, most recently a Series B in April 2022.
About
Brave sells a web browser and search engine designed for privacy and speed. Its browser blocks third-party ads and trackers by default, while its search engine avoids user profiling and offers AI-enhanced answers. Both products are available standalone or integrated into the browser.
The company has grown to 365 employees since its 2015 founding and raised $42M in a 2022 Series B. Brave Search is one of only three Western web search indexes at scale, and the only one with a commercially available API.
Founders and leadership
Engineering is Brave's largest function with 71 employees, representing nearly 20% of its workforce. The company has a median tenure of 4 years, suggesting strong employee retention.
The Brave org chart
Brendan Eich (CEO) leads 55 mapped leaders with 14 direct reports. Click +N to expand a team; names link to the person’s public profile.
Departments, and which ones grew
Headcount by function: Engineering 87 (+5% YoY), Information Technology 28 (+12% YoY), Business Development 26 (+30% YoY), Arts and Design 22 (+47% YoY), Marketing 22 (+5% YoY), Sales 22 (+29% YoY).
Talent flow
Brave draws heavily from Mozilla, with 10 hires from the browser maker. Other top sources include ad tech firms like Cliqz and Rocket Fuel. Alumni have gone on to work at Tesla, Apple, and Meta, with several founding their own companies.
Most common previous employers of Brave staff: Mozilla (10), Cliqz (5), Imperial College London (3), Microsoft (3), Rocket Fuel (3), eyeo (3). Former Brave employees most often moved to Tesla (4), Apple (4), Meta (3), Palo Alto Networks (3), Mozilla (2), Blotout (2).
Alumni worth knowing
The Brave mafia
Brave alumni have founded at least 10 companies, including Blotout (45 staff), MegaLabs (18 staff), and The Aha Company (10 staff). These startups span privacy tech, AI, and productivity software.
10Mandar Shinde, was Vice President Of Products until 2020Shuyao Kong (孔姝尧), was Product until 2019Enzo Soyer, was BAT Ambassador until 2023Samuel Dare, was Technical Architect until 2021Edward Ridgely, was VP of Marketing & Growth until 2022AmirSaber Sharifi, was Principal Infrastructure Architect, Privacy & Payments until 2022
Cezar Augusto, was Senior Software Engineer until 2020
Dénes Bán, PhD, was Software Quality Researcher until 2019
R Jay O., was Community Ambassador until 2025Hiring now
Web traffic
Traffic mix: 83% direct, 15% search, 0% social, 0% paid.
What this company is made of
Most common skills at Brave: Python (Programming Language) (63), JavaScript (62), C++ (56), Software Development (47), Linux (46), Java (45), SQL (45), C (Programming Language) (43).
Where the team actually sits
Brave people are concentrated in England, United Kingdom (16), California, United States (14), San Francisco Bay Area (9), Ontario, Canada (9).
Search footprint
Brave attracts about 272,200 organic search visits a month, traffic worth roughly $306K a month if bought through ads. It gained 9,168 ranking keywords and lost 7,160 in the last period.
What employees say
- Compensation
- 4.40 / 5
- Career opportunities
- 4.20 / 5
- Senior management
- 4.30 / 5
- Work-life balance
- 4.50 / 5
Frequently asked
Brave has 365 employees as of September 2026.
Brave has raised $42M in total, most recently a Series B round in April 2022.
Brendan Eich (CEO) sits at the top of Brave's reporting structure, with 14 direct reports.
The most common previous employers of current Brave staff are Mozilla (10 people), Cliqz (5 people), Imperial College London (3 people).
Former Brave employees most often move to Tesla (4), Apple (4), Meta (3).
At least 10 companies have a founder who previously worked at Brave, including Blotout, MegaLabs, The Aha Company (formerly Aha Labs).
Brave attracts about 272,200 organic search visits a month, worth roughly $306K a month in equivalent ad spend.
The most common skills among Brave staff are Python (Programming Language), JavaScript, C++, Software Development, Linux.
Brave staff are concentrated in England, United Kingdom (16), California, United States (14), San Francisco Bay Area (9).
Brave has about 87 people in Engineering, up 5% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Brave has about 28 people in Information Technology, up 12% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Computed from 161 current and 237 former Brave profiles, as of September 2026. Source: Crustdata.
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