Deadline: July 27, 2026
Apply to Y Combinator – Fall 2026. 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, the goal is to help them to be in dramatically better shape 3 months later. The batch will take place in-person at YC’s campus in San Francisco. It starts with a 3-day, in-person kick-off and features regular meetups in San Francisco.
During the batch, they invite eminent people from the startup world to speak. The founders of OpenAI, Airbnb, Stripe, and Doordash 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 General Partner, who gets to know them well and can help with a wide range of issues. Every YC general 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 partner and meet weekly during the batch.
Benefits
- Y Combinator invests $500,000 in each accepted company. The investment consists of $125,000 for 7% equity through a post-money SAFE, along with an additional $375,000 through an uncapped SAFE with a Most Favored Nation (MFN) provision.
Eligibility
- Open to startups at any stage;
- Startups must be available to participate in the full program.
Application
The deadline to apply on-time is July 27 at 8pm PT; if you apply before the deadline, you will get a decision by August 28. If you apply after the deadline, they will still consider the application but can’t promise exactly when they will get back to you.
For more information, visit Y Combinator.
