In a Y Combinator batch dominated by AI, Will Hanna and Zak Singh stand out as something of an anomaly. The Cambridge University roommates-turned-cofounders have raised $3.5 million to build Miniswap, a marketplace designed specifically for Warhammer miniatures collectors. The funding round positions Miniswap to capitalise on what the founders see as a surprisingly large and woefully underserved market. Warhammer players routinely spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on their hobby each year, yet remain stuck navigating generic platforms ill-suited to their needs. Hanna and Singh believe they can change that.
Miniswap is much more than another e-commerce platform; it’s a meticulously crafted digital ecosystem designed to serve niche communities that demand an intense level of detail—something the company’s founders argue generic marketplaces, and even over-hyped AI tools, consistently fail to deliver. They are launching with a focus on Warhammer miniatures, a “sneaky big” market of fanatical hobbyists obsessed with their craft.
The company was founded by two Cambridge alumni, Will Hanna (COO) and Zak Singh (CEO), whose commitment to the Miniswap vision is as essential to the company’s success as the capital they just raised.
Hanna, a former strategic communications advisor and serial entrepreneur who famously dropped out of law school to pursue Miniswap, brings the strategic vision and operational clarity needed to scale the platform. Singh, who dropped out of his PhD in Computer Science at Cambridge, is the technical mastermind and domain expert, having played Warhammer for two decades. Their complementary skills are the engine driving the company’s laser focus.
“In a world where every pitch deck is about AI agents, we are building a consumer marketplace for a niche game,” Hanna stated in a recent interview. “Our vision resonated with investors because of how many underserved consumer niches there are—Warhammer is the tip of the iceberg. Together, we have the domain expertise, the elite technical know-how, and an unyielding commitment to our partnership to win this space.”
Miniswap’s core innovation lies in its comprehensive approach to cataloging. Using AI-assisted tools, the team has created what they describe as the most complete taxonomy of tabletop wargaming miniatures in existence, covering every miniature manufactured in the past decade.
Miniswap plans to use the new capital to aggressively expand its catalog, enhance community features, and begin laying the groundwork to expand beyond Warhammer into other underserved niche hobbies.
