Y Combinator is accepting applications for the Winter 2018 funding cycle. It will take place in Mountain View, CA from January--March 2018.
If you want to apply, please submit your application online by 8 pm PT on October 3. Groups that submit early have a small advantage because we have more time to read their applications.
On October 24, by 10PM, we’ll invite the groups that seem most promising to meet us in Mountain View in early November. We’ll reimburse reasonable travel expenses.
We decide who to fund after each day of interviews.
If we invest in you, your group is expected to move to the Bay Area for January--March 2018. You can of course leave afterward if you want, but it's a good place for a startup to be.
After you're accepted, we'll immediately get to work helping you set up your company, if it isn't already. As soon as your company exists, we'll write a check to it for the investment. You can spend the money however you want.
Y Combinator doesn't supply office space. We have space you can use if you need to, but we expect you to work out of wherever you find to live. It is no coincidence that so many successful startups have started this way; it's the ideal setup for the initial phase.
During the 3 month cycle we'll have dinners every Tuesday for all the founders. At each dinner we'll invite an expert in some aspect of startups to speak.
We have regular office hours year round for startups who want to talk about what they're building, or get advice on dealing with investors. We also have occasional events at YC.
During and after the 3 months we introduce startups individually to people who could help them. The founders of other YC-funded companies tend to be especially helpful. There are now about 2000 of them, and they're usually very willing to give advice or make introductions.
About 11 weeks in, we organize an event called Demo Day at which the startups present their business plans to a carefully selected, invite-only audience.
YC doesn't really end after 3 months; only the dinners do. We continue to give advice and make introductions as long as founders need—-and so does the informal network of YC-funded companies.
Who We Fund
How do we choose who to fund? The people in your group are what matter most to us.
We look for brains, motivation, and a sense of design. Experience is helpful but not critical.
Your idea is important too, but mainly as evidence that you can have good ideas. Most successful startups change their idea substantially.
The ideal company would have two or three founders. We'll consider those with four or five. We're reluctant to accept one-person companies, though we have funded many of them now.
International founders, please note: if your company is a non-United States entity (corporation, limited liability company, etc.), your participation in YC is conditional on conversion of your foreign company into a United States corporation.
We can only offer minimal help with the conversion process and unfortunately it must be complete before the batch begins.
You must have at least 10% equity in the startup to be considered a founder by Y Combinator. Only founders can come to interviews if invited or attend batch events if accepted. Ideally the equity would be divided more or less equally among the founders.