Y Combinator is accepting applications from startups for the Winter 2024 funding cycle. It will take place from January–March 2024.
The deadline for on-time applications was October 13, but we continue to accept applications until the batch starts in early January.
The batch will take place in person in San Francisco.
About applying to YC
If you want to apply, please submit your application online. The deadline for on-time applications was October 13. That deadline has passed, but we continue to accept applications until the batch starts.
People who applied before the deadline will hear back by November 17. If you apply after the deadline, we’ll still consider the application but can’t promise exactly when we’ll get back to you.
We encourage you to submit your application as soon as you’re ready to apply. We read applications on a rolling basis and applications that are submitted early may be selected for an early interview. You can also continue to update your application after you’ve submitted it.
If your application is promising, we will invite you to interview with us. Most interviews will be held by video conference from late October to early December. We typically make decisions the same day as your interview, and we give everyone who interviews detailed feedback on our decision.
We invest in companies as soon as they are accepted; we do not wait for the batch to start.
About the batch
The batch will take place in-person in San Francisco. It kicks off with a 3-day, in-person retreat and features weekly meetups in San Francisco. For more information, please read our FAQs.
During the batch, we invite eminent people from the startup world to speak. The founders of Airbnb, Stripe, Doordash, and Ginkgo Bioworks often come back to tell the inside story of what happened in the early days of their startups.
Every company works with a dedicated YC Group Partner, who gets to know them well and can help with a wide range of issues. Every YC Group Partner is a successful startup founder themselves, has advised hundreds of startups, and works closely with a small group of startups they personally hand-select every batch. YC companies are in a direct slack channel with their group partner and meet weekly during the batch.
Similar to how many universities have a house model, each YC batch is actually several small, autonomous groups of companies. You go through YC as part of this small group of companies, have dinner with them each week, and build both personal and professional relationships. Many founders build lifelong friendships with the founders in their group.
During and after the batch, we introduce founders to people who can help with any challenge. Often, this means founders of other YC companies. Today, The YC alumni community is one of the most powerful communities in the world, and its members have a strong commitment to help one another.
Towards the end of the batch, we help companies raise additional funds by introducing them to YC’s extensive network of investors.
YC doesn’t end after 3 months. They continue to help founders for the life of their company, and beyond — and so does the YC alumni community. Read more
The Goal
The overall goal of YC is to help startups really take off. They arrive at YC at all different stages. Some haven’t even started working yet, and others have been launched for a year or more. But whatever stage a startup is at when they arrive, our goal is to help them to be in dramatically better shape 3 months later.
For most startups, better shape translates into two things: to have a better product with more users, and to have more options for raising money.
Startups at all stages benefit from the intensity of YC. That’s probably the best word to describe the atmosphere. For 3 months, it’s all startup, all the time. Everyone around you—us, the other founders in your batch, the alumni, the speakers, the investors—wants to help your startup succeed. In that atmosphere it’s hard not to be highly motivated. And that kind of extraordinary motivation is what one needs to do something as difficult as starting a startup.
Many founders describe the 11 weeks leading up to Demo Day as the most productive period in their lives. Though YC continues after the 3 month cycle, and the alumni community is an increasingly valuable resource, those 11 weeks are still the most important thing. You can’t make people something they’re not, but the right conditions can bring out the best in them. And since most people have way more potential than they realize, they’re often surprised by what they’re capable of.
Funding
YC invests $500,000 in every company on standard terms. Our $500K investment is made on 2 separate safes:
We invest $125,000 on a post-money safe in return for 7% of your company (the “$125k safe”)
We invest $375,000 on an uncapped safe with a Most Favored Nation (“MFN”) provision (the “MFN safe”)
Groups
During the batch, startups are sorted into 4 groups. Each group is led by group partners who advise the founders in one-on-one and group office hours. Each group is split into 12-14 sections (6-10 companies), so that founders get the benefit of an intimate setting within the larger batch.
