15 sectors · One-engineer companies · Threshold-driven
The one-person unicorn lens, indexed by sector.
One engineer. One repo. One revenue curve. The Solo-Founder Tracker indexes the GitHub shape of one-person companies, the commit cadence, the star trajectory, the contributor-concentration window, across 15 sectors. Distinct from /predicted (all-stage, all-org-shape) and /startups-to-watch (sector ranking): this surface answers a narrower question, where are the one-engineer companies emerging right now, and what shape does that acceleration take?
Default thresholds (per-sector overrides on each page)
What makes a repo “solo-founder” on this site
- Stars (floor)
- ≥ 500
- On the breakout repo.
- Commits (rolling 90d)
- ≥ 60
- Default branch, post-squash normalisation.
- Distinct contributors
- ≤ 3
- Humans only, bots excluded.
- Top-contributor share
- ≥ 85%
- Of commits, rolling 90 days.
Per-sector pages override these, fintech and healthcare run lower star floors because their distribution is private; AI/ML and developer tools run higher floors because the customer is also the GitHub audience.
/solo-founder-tracker/ai-ml
≥800★ · ≥90 commits · ≤2 contribAI & Machine Learning
Where the one-person research repo turns into a one-person inference company before anyone notices.
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/solo-founder-tracker/developer-tools
≥600★ · ≥75 commits · ≤2 contribDeveloper Tools
The classic solo-builder sector, your customers are the only audience that can read the diff.
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/solo-founder-tracker/data-infrastructure
≥700★ · ≥80 commits · ≤2 contribData Infrastructure
The lone-engineer database, distinct architecture, distinct philosophy, distinct revenue curve.
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/solo-founder-tracker/cybersecurity
≥400★ · ≥60 commits · ≤2 contribCybersecurity
The single-researcher security tool, fast iteration, hard moat, narrow surface.
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/solo-founder-tracker/fintech
≥300★ · ≥50 commits · ≤2 contribFintech
Solo founders inside fintech are rarer, but the ones who ship cross the revenue line faster than any other sector.
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/solo-founder-tracker/enterprise-saas
≥150★ · ≥60 commits · ≤2 contribEnterprise SaaS
The one-engineer B2B tool with three logos and no marketing site.
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/solo-founder-tracker/climate-tech
≥200★ · ≥45 commits · ≤2 contribClimate Tech
Solo founders in climate are usually software-on-top, instrument-grade data services shipped by one engineer.
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/solo-founder-tracker/healthcare
≥120★ · ≥35 commits · ≤2 contribHealthcare
The one-clinician engineer, the rarest solo-founder shape, and the most predictable revenue curve when it shows.
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/solo-founder-tracker/edtech
≥200★ · ≥50 commits · ≤2 contribEdTech
Solo-founder edtech is the indie-builder sector, paid B2C, no contract sales, founder-as-instructor.
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/solo-founder-tracker/ecommerce-infrastructure
≥200★ · ≥50 commits · ≤2 contribE-commerce Infrastructure
Single-engineer Shopify/Stripe extensions, small TAM, fast revenue, sticky LTV.
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/solo-founder-tracker/supply-chain
≥100★ · ≥40 commits · ≤2 contribSupply Chain
Solo-founder supply-chain repos are rare, but when they ship, the contract velocity is brutal.
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/solo-founder-tracker/web3
≥250★ · ≥55 commits · ≤2 contribWeb3
The single-engineer protocol, sparse repos, dense token economics, one-author whitepaper.
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/solo-founder-tracker/robotics
≥150★ · ≥40 commits · ≤2 contribRobotics
Software-side robotics solo founders are rare. The ones that exist are simulation, perception, or fleet management.
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/solo-founder-tracker/legal-tech
≥100★ · ≥35 commits · ≤2 contribLegal Tech
The one-lawyer engineer, a tiny solo-founder cluster with disproportionate contract revenue per repo.
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/solo-founder-tracker/hr-tech
≥120★ · ≥40 commits · ≤2 contribHR Tech
Solo-founder HR-tech is recruiting-tools-on-top, single engineer, narrow ICP, high ACV per logo.
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/solo-founder-tracker/proptech
≥80★ · ≥35 commits · ≤2 contribPropTech
Solo-founder proptech is small-landlord tooling, niche TAM, fast payback, founder-as-landlord.
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/solo-founder-tracker/agtech
≥60★ · ≥30 commits · ≤2 contribAgTech
The single-grower engineer, rare, geographically specific, surprisingly profitable.
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/solo-founder-tracker/gaming
≥400★ · ≥55 commits · ≤2 contribGaming
Solo-founder game studios are common, solo-founder gaming infrastructure is rare and undervalued.
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/solo-founder-tracker/space-tech
≥120★ · ≥35 commits · ≤2 contribSpace Tech
Software-only space-tech solo founders, earth-observation pipelines, mission planners, ground-segment software.
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/solo-founder-tracker/social-community
≥200★ · ≥45 commits · ≤2 contribSocial & Community
The one-engineer community platform, niche audience, indie-builder economics, founder-as-mod.
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How this differs from /predicted and /startups-to-watch
Three surfaces, three questions.
- /predicted: the all-stage weekly bet. Ten orgs every Monday across every org-shape, graded against fundraise news at 60 and 90 days.
- /startups-to-watch: the ranked sector list. Filters the panel by sector + period and ranks by acceleration; agnostic to team size.
- /solo-founder-tracker (this page) the one-engineer lens. Per-sector editorial on the shape of one-person companies + threshold definitions a sourcer can memorise.
Refreshed 2026-05-22. Sector entries reviewed monthly. Anonymity rule preserved: we describe the pattern, not the founders. Live data lives at /predicted and /startups-to-watch.