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

Find your way into Hilstart

404 people in our graph share verified history with the Hilstart team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Garry Tanunlockedknows Rahul Bhati · together at Y Combinator (overlapped)

×11knows the team · via Y Combinator

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.

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 inCo-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 inFounder & CTOFounder and CTO of Hilstart, who previously worked as a firmware engineer at Aquila.

Rahul Bhati inCo-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 in 𝕏FounderHis 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.

William A'Court inCo-Founder / CEO

Investors · 1

Y Combinator✓ verifiedSan Francisco · $500K

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.

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.