# Y Combinator Founders Scraper (`dadhalfdev/y-combinator-founders-scraper`) Actor Scrape Y Combinator founders by industry, batch, or region. Extracts names, bios, social links, and full company details (size, status, website, socials) into clean structured data for outreach, research, or AI pipelines. - **URL**: https://apify.com/dadhalfdev/y-combinator-founders-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Marco Rodrigues](https://apify.com/dadhalfdev) (community) - **Categories:** Lead generation, Social media - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $2.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## 🚀 Y Combinator Founders Scraper Want to track the brilliant minds behind the world's most successful startups? This **[Y Combinator Founders](https://www.ycombinator.com/founders)** scraper makes it super easy! Just **apply your desired filters** on the YC Founders directory (by industry, batch, region, or gender), copy the resulting URL, and let the scraper extract up to 300 detailed founder profiles, seamlessly packing personal backgrounds, company details, and social media links into a clean CSV or JSON file. ![Y Combinator Founders Directory](https://i.ibb.co/S4VN8SPr/Screenshot-From-2026-04-15-22-17-09.png) ### 💡 Perfect for... - **Investors & VCs:** Build targeted lists of founders in specific industries (e.g., Fintech, AI, Healthcare) or recent batches to track promising startups and reach out directly. - **B2B Sales & Recruiting:** Find verified LinkedIn and X (Twitter) handles for founders to power high-quality outreach campaigns. - **Market Researchers:** Analyze trends in YC's portfolio by extracting team sizes, geographic locations, and industry tags. - **📚 RAG Systems:** Feed rich founder bios and company descriptions into vector stores to let AI agents answer questions like "Who are the YC founders working on AI in London?" ### ✨ Why you'll love this scraper - 🎯 **Total Flexibility:** Instead of rigid categories, you simply paste the URL from your own search on the YC Founders page. The scraper respects any combination of filters you apply. - ⚙️ **Deep Dual Extraction:** Extracts not just the founder's name and bio, but also seamlessly navigates to the associated company page to pull full company metrics, taglines, and descriptions. - 🔗 **Comprehensive Social Links:** Captures the founder's personal LinkedIn and X accounts, plus the company's website, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, GitHub, and Crunchbase profiles (when available). - 👤 **Clean Structured Data:** Returns highly structured data ready for your CRM or spreadsheet, bypassing the need to parse dynamic JavaScript or hidden UI elements manually. ### 📦 What's inside the data? For every single founder, you will get: - **Founder Details:** `id`, `founder_name`, `current_title`, `description` (bio), `avatar_thumb` - **Founder Socials:** `linkedin_url`, `x_url` - **YC Metadata:** `yc_titles`, `batches`, `yc_industries`, `yc_parent_industries`, `yc_subindustries`, `current_region`, `top_company` - **Company Details:** `current_company`, `company_tagline`, `company_description`, `company_founded`, `company_size`, `company_status`, `company_location` - **Company Links:** `ycombinator_company_url` (YC page), `company_website`, `company_linkedin_url`, `company_x_url`, `company_facebook_url`, `company_github_url`, `company_crunchbase_url` ### 🚀 Quick start 1. **Go to the YC Founders page** ([ycombinator.com/founders](https://www.ycombinator.com/founders)) and apply any filters you want. 2. **Copy the URL** from your browser's address bar. 3. **Paste the URL** into the `input_url` field of this actor. 4. **Set `num_founders`** (how many founders you want to scrape, up to 300). 5. **Click Start** and let it run! 🚀 Once it's done, you can export your data as a CSV, Excel spreadsheet, or JSON file. --- #### Tech details for developers 🧑‍💻 **Input Example:** ```json { "num_founders": 200, "input_url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/founders?yc_parent_industries=Education" } ```` **Output Example:** ```json { "id": "967", "founder_name": "Nicholas Bergson-Shilcock", "current_title": "Founder", "description": "Cofounder & CEO of the Recurse Center.", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasbs", "x_url": "https://www.twitter.com/nicholasbs", "avatar_thumb": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/avatars/bdb1f6ec56b4bf7ba6eb4b1150031d502b8efabb.jpg", "current_company": "Recurse Center", "yc_titles": [ "Founder" ], "batches": [ "S10" ], "yc_industries": [ [ "Education" ] ], "yc_parent_industries": [ "Education" ], "yc_subindustries": [ "Education" ], "current_region": "United States of America", "top_company": false, "company_slug": "recurse-center", "ycombinator_company_url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/recurse-center", "company_website": "https://www.recurse.com", "company_linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/recurse-center/", "company_x_url": "https://www.twitter.com/recursecenter", "company_facebook_url": null, "company_github_url": "https://github.com/recursecenter", "company_crunchbase_url": null, "company_founded": 2010, "company_size": 7, "company_status": "Active", "company_location": "New York", "company_tagline": "The retreat where curious programmers recharge and grow", "company_description": "The Recurse Center is a self-directed, educational retreat for people who want to get better at programming, whether they've been programming for three decades or three months.\n\nThe retreat is free for all participants because we run an integrated recruiting agency and provide (optional) personalized recruiting services to anyone in our community considering a new job." } ``` **Parameters:** | Parameter | Type | Required | Description | |-----------|------|----------|-------------| | `input_url` | string | Yes | The URL from the YC Founders directory with your desired filters applied. Default: `https://www.ycombinator.com/founders?yc_parent_industries=Fintech`. | | `num_founders` | integer | No | Target number of founders to scrape. Min 10, max 300, default 100. | # Actor input Schema ## `num_founders` (type: `integer`): The number of founders to be scraped. ## `input_url` (type: `string`): The input URL with the filters applied. ## Actor input object example ```json { "num_founders": 100, "input_url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/founders?yc_parent_industries=Fintech" } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `overview` (type: `string`): Table view using the dataset 'overview' view (founder fields first, then company). ## `results` (type: `string`): All items from the default dataset without view transformation. # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = {}; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("dadhalfdev/y-combinator-founders-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = {} # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("dadhalfdev/y-combinator-founders-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{}' | apify call dadhalfdev/y-combinator-founders-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=dadhalfdev/y-combinator-founders-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Y Combinator Founders Scraper", "description": "Scrape Y Combinator founders by industry, batch, or region. Extracts names, bios, social links, and full company details (size, status, website, socials) into clean structured data for outreach, research, or AI pipelines.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "MbGtkQbH0VLamVmmx" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/dadhalfdev~y-combinator-founders-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-dadhalfdev-y-combinator-founders-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/dadhalfdev~y-combinator-founders-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-dadhalfdev-y-combinator-founders-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/dadhalfdev~y-combinator-founders-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-dadhalfdev-y-combinator-founders-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "num_founders": { "title": "Number of Founders", "minimum": 10, "maximum": 300, "type": "integer", "description": "The number of founders to be scraped.", "default": 100 }, "input_url": { "title": "Input URL", "type": "string", "description": "The input URL with the filters applied.", "default": "https://www.ycombinator.com/founders?yc_parent_industries=Fintech" } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```