Co-Founder, Co-founder, or cofounder?

Perhaps you helped found a business or a group. You want to make business cards, or to publish this news officially on a website. You go to title yourself as a cofounder, but then you second guess yourself – is it cofounder? Or Co-founder? Or, even yet, is it Co-Founder?

The truth is any of these spellings are grammatically acceptable for spelling “cofounder”. There may be a preference regionally, such as British English generally preferring the “Co-founder” or “Co-Founder” alternatives, but that does not make those options incorrect in American English. Likewise, the more favored “cofounder” in American English is just as correct in British English. Cofounder is not the only word like this, either. Some people might prefer to hyphen words like “land-owner” which others would deem as unnecessary punctuation.

In the even that “cofounder” is being used as a title, however, there are some rules that make it more consistent and professional. Since titles are capitalized, the spelling of “Cofounder” would also need to be capitalized. If using a hyphenated spelling of the word, it is generally recommended to use “Co-founder” rather than “Co-Founder”. When not attempting to start a sentence or identify a title, however, the word can just be spelled as “cofounder” or “co-founder”. Like many words in the English language, there are several correct variations to say the same thing, the only variation being in preference or regional popularity. Spell “cofounder” however you want and your message will still be successfully delivered to your audience.