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Y Combinator
Acceleratoralso invests · investor profileYC UnspecifiedFounded 2005 · 100 employees · Hiring · 5 known investors
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Y Combinator is a startup accelerator and early-stage investor that runs a three-month program four times a year, investing $500,000 per company via SAFEs and culminating in a Demo Day presentation to investors. It also operates ongoing founder resources such as its alumni network, Bookface community platform, Startup School, Work at a Startup job board, and Hacker News.
Also known as Cambridge Seed · Y Combinator Management, LLC · Y Combinator, LLC · YC
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (Unspecified)
Y Combinator was founded in 2005 by Jessica Livingston, Trevor Blackwell, Paul Graham, and Robert Morris.
Investors · 5
How we know: SLVC's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us
Also in the syndicate · 3
The YC application· Unspecified batch
Y Combinator's Fall 2024 Demo Day: Analyzing the Shift Back to In-Person
The Lobster Talks Podcast - Y Combinator Secrets
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Images
Founder mafia
The Y Combinator mafia →35 people who came through Y Combinator went on to found or lead other companies.
Related companies · 5
Companies working in the same space as Y Combinator.
Timeline · 21
launches, deals, and filingsY Combinator returned to invest alongside Wayfinder Ventures in the $20M USD Series A of Toronto telematics data API company Terminal (YC 2023), led by Battery Ventures with Penske Transportation Solutions and Intact Private Capital.
$20M source ↗
Portfolio company Starcloud raised a $170M Series A at a $1.1B valuation led by Benchmark and EQT Ventures, 17 months after demo day.
$170M source ↗
YC moved from two batches annually to four (winter, spring, summer, fall), each typically 250-300 startups.
YC relocated its headquarters to San Francisco in spring 2023; one source specifies the Dogpatch neighborhood.
Tan succeeded Geoff Ralston; his leadership marked the discontinuation of the YC Continuity growth fund.
Summer 2022 intake was deliberately cut from 414 companies to 250.
New standard deal comprises $125,000 for a 7% equity stake on a post-money SAFE plus $375,000 on an uncapped SAFE with an MFN clause.
$500K source ↗
YC conducted its summer 2020 batch remotely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Former Bing and Baidu executive Qi Lu briefly served as CEO of YC China; in November YC announced Lu's departure and the decision not to pursue a China program. YC China later became MiraclePlus, led by Lu.
A software glitch accepted all 15,000 Startup School applicants, who were told hours later they had been rejected; after the resulting outcry YC accepted all 15,000 companies.
Online courses and personalized coaching for startups; more than 1,500 startups graduated in its first year.
Paul Graham appointed Sam Altman president; Altman introduced a revised standard offer of $150,000 for a 7% stake.
After piloting with Watsi, YC began funding nonprofits accepted into the program; nonprofits receive a $100,000 donation instead of an equity investment.
Yuri Milner and SV Angel offered each YC company a $150,000 convertible note; the amount was later changed to $80,000 when the Start Fund was renewed.
$8.3M source ↗
Enabled YC to increase annual funding to around 60 companies.
$2M source ↗
Operational complexity from running concurrent Cambridge, Massachusetts and Mountain View, California programs led YC to close the Cambridge program and centralize in Silicon Valley.
Paul Graham and Jessica Livingston decided on 11 March 2005 to start their own investment firm; Graham committed $100,000 and Robert Morris and Trevor Blackwell each added $50,000, for $200,000 in starting capital. The firm was briefly called Cambridge Seed before being renamed Y Combinator.
YC launched a summer program funding a batch of startups synchronously; the first batch included Reddit and Sam Altman, and the structure of that first cycle remained largely unchanged.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- The Y Combinator Standard Deal | Y Combinatorycombinator.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Y Combinator do?
- Y Combinator is a startup accelerator and early-stage investor that runs a three-month program four times a year, investing $500,000 per company via SAFEs and culminating in a Demo Day presentation to investors. It also operates ongoing founder resources such as its alumni network, Bookface community platform, Startup School, Work at a Startup job board, and Hacker News.
- Who founded Y Combinator?
- Y Combinator was founded by Jessica Livingston, Trevor Blackwell, Paul Graham, Robert Morris in 2005.
- Who are Y Combinator's investors?
- Y Combinator's investors include SLVC, Sequoia Capital.