Jared Yellin, the New Jersey technology entrepreneur behind SYNDUIT, CILA Labs, and Project 10K, has been sued at least three times in federal court by investors and co-founders who said he took their money for software projects that were never finished. The Jared Yellin lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey between 2022 and 2023, and the main cases either settled or were dismissed by consent in the spring of 2025. One related breach of contract action remained active as of 2026.
Who Yellin Is and What His Companies Do
Yellin describes himself as a “non-tech tech founder” focused on marketing, sales, and strategy rather than engineering. He founded SYNDUIT, a marketing software platform for small businesses, in 2011 in Fort Lee, New Jersey. By 2021 the company said it had more than 40,000 paying users.
In June 2020 Yellin announced a goal to “build, scale, and sell 10,000 tech companies” by 2031, which he branded as Project 10K. He co-founded 10X Incubator with Grant Cardone and launched CILA Labs as a vehicle for co-founding software companies with outside entrepreneurs. The model involved CILA taking equity in portfolio companies and building them “at cost,” handling the software development, go-to-market work, and fundraising. The investor disputes that followed grew out of that arrangement.1Forbes. Jared Yellin, Founder, Project 10K
The Dill and Cline Fraud Case
The most detailed case against Yellin was filed in October 2022 by Gallant Dill and Chase Cline, two technology entrepreneurs and investors. The suit was brought in the District of New Jersey and assigned to Judge Stanley R. Chesler. Named as defendants alongside Yellin were CILA Labs, LLC; CILA Incubator Private Limited; and Project 10K, LLC.2GovInfo. Dill v. Yellin, Civil Action No. 22-6116, Opinion and Order
The dispute centered on a software-as-a-service product called “Business Toolkit.” Dill developed the concept and Cline put in $150,000 in capitalization. The parties formed Business Tools, LLC in February 2021 and signed an operating agreement that June. Dill and Cline alleged that two years later the software was nowhere near finished, and that Yellin had run up another $150,000 in expenses they considered unjustified. Their complaint brought claims for fraud, fraud in the inducement, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, and promissory estoppel.2GovInfo. Dill v. Yellin, Civil Action No. 22-6116, Opinion and Order
In March 2023, Judge Chesler threw out most of the complaint without prejudice, meaning the plaintiffs could try again. The fraud counts failed the heightened specificity rules federal courts apply to fraud pleadings. The fiduciary duty claims were dismissed because the complaint didn’t show Yellin personally owed Dill and Cline that kind of duty. The breach of contract claim against Yellin as an individual was dismissed because he wasn’t personally a party to the contract. Promissory estoppel survived.2GovInfo. Dill v. Yellin, Civil Action No. 22-6116, Opinion and Order
The plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint. In June 2023, Judge Chesler denied Yellin’s motion to dismiss that version, letting the negligent misrepresentation claim proceed as an alternative theory to fraud in the inducement.3GovInfo. Dill v. Yellin, Civil Action No. 22-6116, June 2023 Opinion and Order
On May 2, 2025, Law360 reported that Yellin and his companies had settled the fraud and breach of contract claims. The dollar amount was not disclosed.4Law360. Software Cos. Settle Tech Investors’ Fraud, Contract Claims
Yellin’s Counterclaims
The business relationship between the parties had ended in June 2022 with a Termination Agreement that included a non-disparagement clause. Yellin and his companies filed thirteen counterclaims arguing Dill and Cline violated it.
According to the counterclaims, in September 2022 Dill and Cline sent a group text message calling Yellin a “complete con artist” and a “delusional dreamer” and accusing him of running a “giant Ponzi scheme.” Yellin also alleged they helped solicit a July 2023 HuffPost article about his business dealings and then promoted it on social media, and that they contacted other entrepreneurs in his portfolio to spread negative information. The counterclaims included breach of contract, defamation, civil conspiracy, tortious interference, and an indemnification claim based on Cline’s alleged misrepresentation of his accredited-investor status.5GovInfo. Dill v. Yellin, Civil Action No. 22-6116, March 2024 Opinion and Order
In March 2024, Judge Chesler dismissed the civil conspiracy and aiding-and-abetting counts with prejudice and dismissed the good-faith-and-fair-dealing count without prejudice. The core breach of contract claim survived, and so did all of the defamation-related counts.5GovInfo. Dill v. Yellin, Civil Action No. 22-6116, March 2024 Opinion and Order
Other Investor Lawsuits in New Jersey
The Dill and Cline case was not the only one. Court records identify at least three other actions filed against Yellin and his companies in roughly the same period.
Ghafoor v. Yellin
Alam Ghafoor and GC International Holdings, LLC sued Yellin, CILA Labs, and CILA Incubator for breach of contract on June 30, 2022, under case number 22-4375. The case was reopened in March 2025, reassigned to Judge Chesler, and resolved on April 30, 2025, when the judge signed a consent order of dismissal with prejudice.6PACER Monitor. Ghafoor v. Yellin et al
Osteen v. Yellin
Joshua Osteen, along with SystemsLynk, LLC and UplynkD, LLC, sued Yellin, CILA Labs, CILA Incubator, Project 10K, and 10X Tech Angels on January 31, 2023, also as a contract dispute. It too was reassigned to Judge Chesler in late April 2025 and ended with a consent order of dismissal on April 30, 2025.7PACER Monitor. Osteen et al v. Yellin et al
SJA TD Holdings v. Yellin
Sean R. Callagy and SJA TD Holdings, LLC sued Yellin, 10X Incubator, CILA Labs, Synduit LLC, Synduit Holdings, Project 10K, and unnamed defendants for breach of contract. The case was originally filed in Bergen County Superior Court and removed to federal court. It was initially terminated in November 2023 but reopened in May 2024. As of mid-2026 it remains active, with ongoing discovery disputes and amended counterclaims filed by Yellin and Synduit Holdings.8PACER Monitor. SJA TD Holdings, LLC et al v. Yellin et al
The 2020 Unblinded Case Where Yellin Was the Plaintiff
Not every Yellin lawsuit is against him. On June 19, 2020, Yellin sued Sean Callagy and Adam Gugino in the District of New Jersey, alleging minority shareholder oppression at a company called Unblinded in which he held a 24% stake. According to the complaint, Callagy and Gugino fired Yellin as CEO on May 27, 2020, and then offered to buy his equity for $25,000, which Yellin called arbitrary for a business with seven-figure revenue. He alleged they froze him out, authorized a $125,000 salary increase for Gugino, and failed to pay him for $200,000 in creative services. The suit asked for a court-ordered buyout at fair market value.9Law.com. Yellin v. Callagy, Complaint
The case ended fast. On July 6, 2020, 17 days after filing, Yellin filed a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice and Judge Esther Salas signed the order the same day. Terms were not disclosed.10CourtListener. Yellin v. Callagy, Docket
What the Cases Had in Common
The lawsuits brought against Yellin share a pattern. Outside entrepreneurs or investors put money into partnerships with his companies to develop software products, then alleged the software was never finished or delivered as promised. In private messages quoted in the Dill case, the plaintiffs called the arrangement a “Ponzi scheme.” A July 2023 HuffPost article, which became a flashpoint in that litigation, described lawsuits accusing Yellin of “charging [entrepreneurs] to have their pitches heard and then billing them for software development projects that were never completed.”5GovInfo. Dill v. Yellin, Civil Action No. 22-6116, March 2024 Opinion and Order
Yellin and his companies contested those characterizations throughout the litigation. His counterclaims in the Dill case framed the plaintiffs as the wrongdoers, alleging a coordinated campaign to defame him and interfere with his business relationships in violation of the agreement they had signed. Those counterclaims survived to the settlement table. With the Dill, Ghafoor, and Osteen cases all resolved in spring 2025 and the SJA TD Holdings case still open, the full picture of Yellin’s legal exposure is still being written.