Who founded Hilstart?

Hilstart was founded by William A'court, Simon Alexander, Rahul Bhati, Josh Schoeman in 2026.

Who are Hilstart's investors?

Hilstart's investors include Y Combinator.

How much funding has Hilstart raised?

Hilstart has disclosed $1.6M raised across 2 rounds.

Where is Hilstart headquartered?

Hilstart is headquartered in San Francisco, US.

Hilstart

YC S26

San Francisco, US · Founded 2026 · 1 known investors

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Hilstart provides an AI agent and a hardware interface device called Tracer that automate electronics board bring-up, firmware development, and design validation on real hardware. It serves hardware engineering teams, generating and running approved test plans, driving instruments, and writing results back to their tracker via API, usable in the cloud or from the user's own environment.

Also known as HILStart, HILstart

Advanced Manufacturing AI & Machine Learning Developer Tools Hardware RoboticsUnited States of AmericaAmerica / Canada

Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (S26)

Hilstart was founded in 2026 by William A'court, Simon Alexander, Rahul Bhati, and Josh Schoeman.

William A'court Co-Founder / CEOFounder and CEO of Hilstart. He was previously Lead Mechatronics Engineer at Aquila, working on laser-based wireless charging for drones, and has also built FSAE race cars and electric jetboats.

Simon Alexander Founder & CTOFounder and CTO of Hilstart, who previously worked as a firmware engineer at Aquila.

Rahul Bhati Co-FounderRahul Bhati is the founder of Hilstart, having previously worked on power and thermal systems at Vessev and test rigs at Halter, and been part of the founding team at the powerbeaming company Aquila, where he contributed to wireless laser energy transmission technology across multiple engineering disciplines.

Josh Schoeman Co-Founder & COOHis background spans mechanical and electrical development, including electric motor design, accelerated lifecycle testing, mechanical structures, cooling systems, hardware test rigs, design for manufacturing, wiring harnesses, race cars, and electronics debugging.

Investors · 1

Y Combinator✓ confirmed by HilstartSan Francisco · $500K

How we know: the company's own site · the Y Combinator directory · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us

Reported raises · per SEC filings

Form D private placements

$1.6M disclosed across 2 rounds · 2026

▶$500KraisedAug 2026 · 2 investors · Other Technology

Rule 506(b)

Officers, directors & promoters on the filing

William A'CourtExecutive Officer, Director
Rahul BhatiExecutive Officer, Director
Simon AlexanderExecutive Officer, Director

Offering amount: $500K
Amount sold: $500K
First sale: Aug 2026
Incorporated: Corporation, Delaware, 2026
Federal exemptions: 06b

Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗

▶$1.1MraisedJul 2026 · 3 investors · Other Technology

Rule 506(b)

Officers, directors & promoters on the filing

William A'CourtExecutive Officer, Director
Rahul BhatiExecutive Officer, Director
Simon AlexanderExecutive Officer, Director

Offering amount: $1.5M
Amount sold: $1.1M
First sale: Jul 2026
Incorporated: Corporation, Delaware, 2026
Federal exemptions: 06b

Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗

Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.

Related companies · 5

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nCompass TechnologiesnCompass Technologies builds an AI agent and VS Code extension that identifies GPU performance bottlenecks and generates optimization code, helping developers reduce GPU system analysis and implementation time from weeks to days.

MobotMobot provides infrastructure-as-a-service that combines human expertise with mechanical robots to automate testing and development processes for engineering teams building software and hardware products.

SimanticSimantic develops hardware simulation software that enables engineers and AI systems to test and debug embedded firmware without physical hardware constraints.

EmbedderEmbedder is an AI platform that automates firmware development for embedded systems and hardware, serving semiconductor, IoT, medical device, automotive, aerospace, and industrial automation teams. The platform reads datasheets, writes and tests firmware, and diagnoses hardware issues to accelerate product development cycles.

Companies working in the same space as Hilstart.

Legal entities · 1

corporate structure

HILstart, Inc.

Frequently asked questions

What does Hilstart do?: Hilstart provides an AI agent and a hardware interface device called Tracer that automate electronics board bring-up, firmware development, and design validation on real hardware. It serves hardware engineering teams, generating and running approved test plans, driving instruments, and writing results back to their tracker via API, usable in the cloud or from the user's own environment.
Who founded Hilstart?: Hilstart was founded by William A'court, Simon Alexander, Rahul Bhati, Josh Schoeman in 2026.
Who are Hilstart's investors?: Hilstart's investors include Y Combinator.
How much funding has Hilstart raised?: Hilstart has disclosed $1.6M raised across 2 rounds.
Where is Hilstart headquartered?: Hilstart is headquartered in San Francisco, US.