Honglei Liu
Company: Tofu
LinkedIn: [honglei](http://www.linkedin.com/in/honglei)
1. Current Role and Company Overview
Honglei Liu is a Co-Founder and CTO at Tofu, a San Mateo, CA-based company. Tofu delivers a generative AI platform specializing in the creation of hyper-personalized, omnichannel B2B marketing campaigns at scale. The product automates top-of-funnel (TOFU) activities for B2B marketing teams and focuses on revolutionizing enterprise marketing through generative AI. The company’s solutions enable marketing teams to generate targeted, multichannel campaigns rapidly, facilitating account-based marketing (ABM), industry/persona targeting, and keyword optimization.
The company was incorporated in March 2023 and quickly saw rapid development: After interviewing 40+ CMOs, a prototype was built, which turned into a fully functional MVP by April–May 2023. Tofu’s technology enables customers to create infinite, tailored landing pages in minutes, addressing the need for scalable content personalization without significant manual effort.
Funding & Market Validation
- In October 2023, Tofu announced the closing of a $5 million seed round led by Index Ventures with participation from SignalFire and other investors.
- The company achieved significant market attention and validation within its first year:
- In May 2025, Tofu Pages (a key product feature) won Product of the Day on Product Hunt, marking a successful public launch and increased awareness in the startup and product communities.
- By March 2025, the team celebrated the launch of their third-generation product, labeled their most significant transformation since inception.
2. Professional Background and Expertise
Prior to Tofu, Honglei Liu held significant leadership positions in the tech industry, with specialized experience in machine learning, engineering management, and AI infrastructure:
- Senior Engineering Manager at Twitter
- Head of Machine Learning at Affirm
- Engineering experience at Facebook
Educationally, Liu is an alumnus of UC Santa Barbara.
His deep technical background, coupled with leadership in product-driven AI innovation, has positioned him as a key technical driver at Tofu. His work involves bridging advanced ML techniques with real-world enterprise marketing applications, and he has contributed to multiple research publications in the fields of AI, machine learning, and data augmentation for large language models.
3. Recent Activity and Achievements at Tofu
- 2023–2025: Rapid Product Iteration and Go-to-Market
- Built, tested, and launched the MVP of Tofu after extensive CMO interviews.
- Drove the team through the fastest product cycle, shipping the third-generation Tofu platform within three months, exceeding initial timeline projections.
- Product Hunt Recognition
- Tofu Pages garnered strong user engagement and positive feedback, culminating in earning Product of the Day status on Product Hunt in May 2025.
- Thought Leadership & Team Building
- Regularly publishes insights and progress updates on LinkedIn, highlighting both company milestones and startup realities.
- Recognized for building a strong, motivated team culture at Tofu.
4. Strategic/Technical Interests
Honglei Liu’s expertise centers on the intersection of generative AI, large language models, and practical enterprise application:
- Focuses on personalization at scale, specifically in B2B marketing channels.
- Contributions to research on data augmentation for LLMs, knowledge unlearning, and improving AI-driven content generation.
- Actively engaged in product, engineering, and leadership communities, and maintains a public presence via LinkedIn, a personal homepage ([honglei.ai](https://honglei.ai/)), and X (Twitter: [@ppuliu](https://x.com/ppuliu)).
5. Key Team & Collaborators
Tofu was co-founded with Eunjoon (EJ) Cho and Elaine Zelby, both of whom have extensive experience in AI, machine learning, and B2B marketing.
The Tofu team’s composition, spanning technical and marketing leadership, supports their mission to combine advanced AI R&D with practical go-to-market strategy.
6. Operational and Market Considerations
- Market Fit: Tofu’s early validation with CMOs and rapid scaling reflect a strong focus on product-market fit in the B2B martech space.
- Technology Emphasis: By offering automated, multi-touchpoint content generation, Tofu targets a core pain point among enterprise marketing organizations: high-volume, high-personalization content needs.
- Growth Trajectory: Post-funding, Tofu has rapidly expanded its platform and industry footprint, as evidenced by public recognition and accelerated product launches.
7. Reputation and Public Presence
- Professional Endorsements: Testimonials highlight Liu’s technical skills, self-motivation, and project completion abilities.
- Community Engagement: Active thought leader on LinkedIn and X; visible advocate for innovative startup practices and engineering leadership.
- Awards & Recognition: Led the team to Product Hunt “Product of the Day” honor, underscoring both product excellence and community alignment.
Summary of Actionable Insights
- Honglei Liu is a leading technical founder and scale-up CTO in the generative AI for B2B marketing sector, with a proven record of rapid development cycles and market validation.
- Tofu’s product and funding traction position the company as a significant, innovative player in AI-driven marketing automation, directly targeting enterprise needs for scalable, personalized outreach.
- Liu’s blend of technical leadership, founder experience, and industry recognition are central to Tofu’s product direction and market success. His ongoing research and engagement in AI communities indicate a high likelihood of continued innovation.
Contact and further engagement with Honglei Liu should emphasize technology-driven business impact and a mutual interest in AI-powered enterprise applications.
