Winter 2027, January to March · 2-Nov-26
Y Combinator (YC) is an American seed-stage startup accelerator and venture capital firm founded in March 2005 by Paul Graham, Jessica Livingston, Robert Tappan Morris, and Trevor Blackwell. Widely regarded as the most prestigious startup accelerator in the world, it pioneered the modern accelerator model: a fixed, standardized investment, a structured cohort-based program, and a Demo Day culminating event. In 2013, YC created the SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity), which has since become an industry-standard fundraising instrument well beyond its own portfolio. YC invests $500,000 in each company it accepts, $125,000 on a post-money SAFE for 7% equity plus $375,000 on an uncapped SAFE with a Most Favored Nation provision, and funds companies at any stage, including pre-product, pre-revenue, or pre-fully-formed ideas. Each company is paired with a dedicated YC General Partner for the 3-month, in-person batch at YC’s San Francisco campus. Beyond the core batch, YC runs a Series A Program, a Growth Program, and YC Continuity, a growth-stage fund that exercises pro-rata rights to keep investing in its most successful portfolio companies as they scale. Since 2005, YC has funded 5,668+ companies, including Airbnb, Stripe, Coinbase, DoorDash, Dropbox, Reddit, Instacart, and OpenAI. The combined valuation of YC alumni companies exceeds $600 billion, with over 100 unicorns and an 87% five-year survival rate. In 2026, Time magazine ranked YC 4th on its list of America’s best incubators and accelerators.
Frequency
4x/year
Duration
3 months
Investment
$500,000 total: $125,000 for 7% on a post-money SAFE, plus $375,000 on an uncapped MFN SAFE; non-profits receive $100,000 instead.
Equity
7% equity (for the $125,000 portion via post-money SAFE)
Program fees
None
Where
USA
Sectors
Sector Agnostic
Stages
Idea/Pre-Team, Pre-Seed, Seed
Eligibility
• Both solo founders and founding teams may apply; a technical co-founder is generally expected
• Funds companies at any stage — including pre-product, pre-revenue, or even pre-fully-baked-idea
• Founders may apply while working or studying, but must commit full-time if accepted
• Early Decision: founders not ready for the upcoming batch (e.g. students finishing school) can apply now for a future Spring, Summer, or Fall batch
• Companies do not need to be incorporated before applying; non-US/Canada/Singapore/Cayman Islands companies must set up a parent entity in one of those jurisdictions to participate
Selection process
• Optional Paxel builder report (AI-based analysis of real coding sessions) can be linked for extra signal, with no penalty for not using it
• Promising applications invited to interview with YC partners
• Decisions communicated by a set date after the application deadline
• Accepted companies organized into groups led by a General Partner, further split into sections of roughly 6-10 companies for the batch
Benefits
• Dedicated YC General Partner working closely with each startup throughout the batch, within a group of companies further split into sections of 6-10
• 3-day in-person kick-off plus regular meetups in San Francisco
• Weekly talks from successful founders and Silicon Valley figures (e.g. founders of OpenAI, Airbnb, Stripe, DoorDash)
• $12M+ in free credits and deals from partners including OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, and Stripe, plus discounts on 100+ other products
• Visa and immigration attorney support for accepted international founders
• Investor introductions toward the end of the batch to help raise follow-on funding
• Lifelong access to the YC alumni network (6,000+ domain experts) and continued support beyond Demo Day
• Access to Bookface, YC’s internal founder network and deal directory
Network
Each company is paired with a dedicated YC General Partner (all successful startup founders themselves); guest speakers throughout the batch have included founders of OpenAI, Airbnb, Stripe, and DoorDash.
Portfolio
5,668+ companies funded since 2005
Funds raised
Combined valuation of YC alumni companies exceeds $600 billion; over 100 companies have reached unicorn status ($1B+ valuation); 87% survival rate reported (vs. ~50% industry average at 5 years)
🕐 Sep 2026
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