What is Y Combinator?
Y Combinator
Y Combinator (YC) is the world's premiere startup accelerator, providing seed funding, intensive mentorship, and access to a global founder network for early-stage companies.
Why It Matters for Startups
Pioneered the modern seed accelerator framework and birthed hundreds of tech unicorns shaping the global economy.
Detailed Deep Dive
Y Combinator (YC) is the world's premiere startup accelerator, providing seed funding, intensive mentorship, and access to a global founder network for early-stage companies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q:What is the standard YC deal structure?
YC invests $500,000 using two SAFEs: $125,000 for 7% equity and $375,000 on an uncapped MFN (Most Favored Nation) SAFE.
Q:What notable companies graduated from Y Combinator?
Airbnb, Stripe, Coinbase, Reddit, Dropbox, DoorDash, Scale AI, and Instacart.
Quick Facts
- CategoryEcosystem & Players
- Key ApplicationAccelerating early-stage startup validation, perfecting founder pitches, and raising seed capital at YC Demo Day.
Coverage Trend12 Weeks
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Y Combinator Media Coverage & Intelligence
Y Combinator Still Busiest Startup Investor In August As Nvidia Ramps Up Its Dealmaking Pace
We ranked August's most active startup investors across several categories, including lead backers, prolific venture dealmakers, highest spenders and seed...
Blacksmith raises $45M to aid AI code validation as agentic development grows
Blacksmith Software Inc. today announced it has raised $45 million in new funding for its continuous integration service, which combines code development with cloud-based testing instead of on the developer's computer. Peak XV Partners led the Series B round, with existing investors Y Combinator...
HappyRobot raises $150M at $1.2B valuation to bring AI agents to critical enterprise work
HappyRobot Inc., a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup that automates enterprise operations, said today it raised $150 million, led by Prysm Capital and co-led by Eurazeo, bringing the company's post-money valuation to $1.2 billion. Existing investors a16z, Base10, Y Combinator...
Dili Raises $21.7M to Bring AI Compliance to the Infrastructure Boom
The Series A was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Allianz, Rebel Fund, Brick and Mortar Ventures' Darren Bechtel, and Y Combinator's Garry Tan.
Together AI and Y Combinator partner to launch the first dedicated GPU cluster for the YC community
No more two-year compute contracts. Together AI and YC just gave YC startups a faster way to get GPU.
Open-source AI developer tool Ollama raises $65M to grow its platform
Ollama Inc., the largest artificial intelligence platform connecting developers to open models, today announced it has raised $65 million in a new funding round led by Theory Ventures. Benchmark, 8VC, Y Combinator, Pace Capital, 49 Palms, GTMFund, and other investors and angels also participated...
SpaceX's $60B Cursor deal and 3 coding AI startups worth watching
Below, we break down some of tech's biggest stories, with perspectives from our analysts on the moves that matter the most: SpaceX gets serious about coding AI Meta invests $900M in Cred Y Combinator's energy infrastructure bet This brief is ... The post SpaceX's $60B Cursor deal and 3 coding AI...
Corgi, the buzzy Y Combinator-backed insurance tech startup, says it didn't steal an open source product
Corgi became embroiled in controversy when Papermark accused it of stealing its software. Corgi says it did not, raising new questions about vibe coding.
Robotaxis drive miles just to get cleaned and charged; this new startup wants to fix that
Aseon Labs, which came out of Y Combinator's 2026 spring cohort, has raised $10 million from Crane Venture Partner and others.
Prosper AI nabs $30M to help healthcare providers streamline patient interactions
Prosper AI Inc., a provider of artificial intelligence software for healthcare organizations, today announced that it has raised $30 million in funding. The Series A round was led by Andreessen Horowitz. Y Combinator, Base10, Emergence Capital and Company Ventures chipped in as well. The raise...
Y Combinator's Winter 2026 batch is its most technically complex cohort yet - here's what it signals about physical AI
Y Combinator's Winter 2026 batch reflects a growing bet on physical AI. With 199 companies spanning 15 categories, 1 in 8 companies are building something physical. Robots, drones, wearables, and space hardware represent a concentration of hard-tech bets that stands ... The post Y Combinator's...
Diana Hu Is YC's Newest Managing Partner
We're thrilled to announce that Diana Hu has been promoted to Managing Partner at Y Combinator. Few people have built a startup from zero and also shipped...