Cantillon, having lived in several hacker houses over the years, recognized the need for a space specifically for women. This led her to co-found HackHer House, the first all-female hacker house in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“I had lived in a few hacker houses before and wanted to replicate that energy,” said Cantillon, 20, co-founder of HackHer House and founder of the startup NOX. “A place where really energetic, hardcore people came together to solve problems. But every house I lived in was mostly male. It was obvious to me that I wanted to do the inverse and build an all-female hacker house that created the same dynamic but with women.”
“A hacker house is a shared living space where builders and innovators come together to work on their own projects while collaborating with others,” said Jennifer Li, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and sponsor of the HackHer House. “It’s a community that thrives on creativity and resource sharing, making it a cost-effective solution for those in high-rent areas like Silicon Valley, where talented founders and engineers can easily connect and support each other.”
Founded by Cantillon, Zoya Garg, Anna Monaco and Anne Brandes, this house was designed to empower women in a tech world traditionally dominated by men.
“We’re trying to break stereotypes here,” said Garg, 21, a rising senior at Stanford University. “This house isn’t just about living together; it’s about creating a community where women can thrive in tech.”
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Situated in North Beach, HackHer House housed seven women this summer, all united by the goal of launching successful tech ventures.
Venture capital was crucial in bringing HackHer House to life. With financial support, the house provided subsidized rent, enabling the women to concentrate on their projects without the burden of the Bay Area’s notoriously high living expenses.
“New grad students face daunting living expenses, with campus costs reaching the high hundreds to over a thousand dollars a month,” said Li. “In the Bay Area, finding a comfortable room typically starts at $2,000, and while prices may have eased slightly, they remain significantly higher than the rest of the U.S. This reality forces many, including founders, to share rooms or crash on friends’ couches just to make ends meet.”
Hacker houses are not a new concept in the Bay Area or in cities like New York and London. These live-in incubators function as both homes and workspaces, fostering a collaborative environment where tech founders and innovators can exchange ideas and resources. In a city famous for its tech breakthroughs, hacker houses are seen as essential for fueling the next wave of innovation. By offering affordable housing and a dynamic community, these spaces help entrepreneurs succeed in an otherwise competitive and costly market.
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