# Y Combinator Companies Scraper (`devilscrapes/y-combinator-companies-scraper`) Actor

Search Y Combinator's company directory by query, batch, or industry — and get structured rows with name, batch, status, industry, location, team size, website, one-liner, and YC profile URL. Built on YC's public Algolia search.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/devilscrapes/y-combinator-companies-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [DevilScrapes](https://apify.com/devilscrapes) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

<div align="center">
  <img src=".actor/icon.svg" width="160" alt="Devil Scrapes mark" />

## Y Combinator Companies Scraper

**💰 $3.00 / 1 000 results** &nbsp;·&nbsp; pay only for results &nbsp;·&nbsp; no credit card to try

_We do the dirty work so your dataset stays clean._ 😈

Search Y Combinator's company directory by query, batch, or industry — and get structured rows with name, batch, status, industry, location, team size, website, one-liner, and YC profile URL. Built on YC's public Algolia search.

</div>

---

### 🎯 What this scrapes

Y Combinator publishes every funded company at <code>ycombinator.com/companies</code>. The directory is backed by a public Algolia search index. This Actor wraps that index — search by free text, batch (e.g. <code>W24</code>), industry, or status — and writes one row per company with the YC-curated metadata.

### 🔥 What we handle for you

- 🛡️ **Browser fingerprint rotation** — `curl-cffi` impersonates real Chrome / Firefox / Safari TLS handshakes so the target sees a browser, not Python.
- 🌐 **Residential proxy rotation** via Apify Proxy — fresh session and exit IP on every block.
- 🔁 **Retries with exponential backoff** on `408 / 429 / 5xx` — up to 5 attempts per page, `Retry-After` honoured.
- 🧱 **Rate-limit-aware pacing** — when the target pushes back, we slow down instead of getting banned.
- 🧊 **Clean, typed dataset rows** — Pydantic-validated, ISO-8601 timestamps, stable IDs, JSON / CSV / Excel export straight from the Apify Console.
- 💰 **Pay-Per-Event pricing** — you only pay for results that hit your dataset. No data, no charge.

### 💡 Use cases

- **Lead gen** — pull every `W24` Developer Tools company, enrich with website / contact info downstream.
- **Investor prospecting** — surface YC companies in a given vertical for outreach.
- **Hiring** — track active YC companies in your city.
- **Competitive intel** — daily diff to spot newly-added companies in a batch.

### ⚙️ How to use it

1. Click **Try for free** at the top of the page.
2. Fill in the input form — most fields have sensible defaults.
3. Click **Start**. Output streams into the run's dataset.
4. Export from **Storage → Dataset** as JSON, CSV, or Excel — or fetch via the API.

### 📥 Input

| Field | Type | Required | Default | Notes |
|---|---|:--:|---|---|
| `searchQuery` | `string` | no | '' | Free-text search across company name + one-liner. Leave empty to use filters only. |
| `batch` | `string` | no | '—' | YC batch slug (e.g. <code>W24</code>, <code>S23</code>). Leave empty for all batches. |
| `industry` | `string` | no | '—' | Industry tag exactly as YC uses it (e.g. <code>Developer Tools</code>, <code>B2B</code>, <code>Fintech</code>). |
| `status` | `string` | no | 'any' | YC publishes a status field. Leave on `any` to include all. |
| `maxResults` | `integer` | no | 50 | Max companies to return. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | `object` | no | {'useApifyProxy': False} | Algolia is friendly to direct calls. Proxy optional. |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "batch": "W24",
  "maxResults": 3,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
````

### 📤 Output

Every row is one dataset item.

| Field | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `slug` | `string` | YC slug — used in the directory URL. |
| `name` | `string` | Company name. |
| `one_liner` | `['string', 'null']` | YC-curated one-liner pitch. |
| `long_description` | `['string', 'null']` | Longer YC description if Algolia exposes it. |
| `batch` | `['string', 'null']` | YC batch (e.g. `W24`, `S23`). |
| `status` | `['string', 'null']` | YC status — Active, Acquired, etc. |
| `industries` | `array` | Industry tags. |
| `tags` | `array` | Additional tags from the index. |
| `regions` | `array` | Region tags (e.g. `United States`, `San Francisco`). |
| `location` | `['string', 'null']` | Headquarters string. |
| `team_size` | `['integer', 'null']` | YC-reported team size. |
| `website` | `['string', 'null']` | Company website. |
| `small_logo_url` | `['string', 'null']` | Logo URL (small). |
| `yc_url` | `string` | YC directory profile URL. |
| `yc_team_link` | `['string', 'null']` | YC founders page link (often the YC site itself). |
| `scraped_at` | `string` | When this row was recorded. |

#### Example output

```json
{
  "slug": "example-startup",
  "name": "Example",
  "one_liner": "AI-powered example builder.",
  "batch": "W24",
  "status": "Active",
  "industries": [
    "B2B",
    "Developer Tools"
  ],
  "team_size": 4,
  "website": "https://example.com",
  "yc_url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/example-startup"
}
```

### 💰 Pricing

Pay-Per-Event — you pay only when these events fire:

| Event | USD | What it is |
|---|---:|---|
| `actor-start` | $0.005 | One-off warm-up charge per run |
| `result` | $0.003 | Per dataset item |

Example: 1 000 results at the rates above ≈ **$3.00**. No subscription, no minimum, no card to start — Apify gives every new account $5 of free credit.

### 🚧 Limitations

Algolia search ranks results — the order is YC's. Founder bios, full team rosters, and revenue figures are not in the directory and not in scope.

### ❓ FAQ

**Does this need login?**

No — YC's directory uses a public Algolia search index. We hit the same endpoint the website uses.

**Are founder names included?**

Not in the directory index — they're on the individual profile page. Use a follow-up Actor if needed.

**Why are some fields null?**

YC doesn't fill every field for every company. We surface `null`, never fabricate.

**Can I filter by city?**

Use `regions` post-filter. Index search by city isn't reliable.

### 💬 Your feedback

Spotted a bug, hit a weird edge case, or need a new field? Open an
issue on the Actor's **Issues** tab on Apify Console — we ship
fixes weekly and we read every report.

***

<div align="center">

Built by **[Devil Scrapes](https://apify.com/DevilScrapes)** 😈 — a small fleet of
opinionated public-data Actors. Honest pricing, real engineering, zero fine print.

</div>

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Free-text search across company name + one-liner. Leave empty to use filters only.

## `batch` (type: `string`):

YC batch slug (e.g. <code>W24</code>, <code>S23</code>). Leave empty for all batches.

## `industry` (type: `string`):

Industry tag exactly as YC uses it (e.g. <code>Developer Tools</code>, <code>B2B</code>, <code>Fintech</code>).

## `status` (type: `string`):

YC publishes a status field. Leave on `any` to include all.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Max companies to return.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Algolia is friendly to direct calls. Proxy optional.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQuery": "ai infrastructure",
  "batch": "W24",
  "industry": "Developer Tools",
  "status": "any",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `datasetItems` (type: `string`):

All dataset items as JSON.

## `datasetItemsCsv` (type: `string`):

Same data exported to CSV.

## `datasetView` (type: `string`):

Open the run dataset in the Console.

# 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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchQuery": "",
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("devilscrapes/y-combinator-companies-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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "searchQuery": "",
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("devilscrapes/y-combinator-companies-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 '{
  "searchQuery": "",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call devilscrapes/y-combinator-companies-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=devilscrapes/y-combinator-companies-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Y Combinator Companies Scraper",
        "description": "Search Y Combinator's company directory by query, batch, or industry — and get structured rows with name, batch, status, industry, location, team size, website, one-liner, and YC profile URL. Built on YC's public Algolia search.",
        "version": "0.4",
        "x-build-id": "0NHnXfT76dAhc7RyG"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/devilscrapes~y-combinator-companies-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-devilscrapes-y-combinator-companies-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": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/devilscrapes~y-combinator-companies-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-devilscrapes-y-combinator-companies-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/devilscrapes~y-combinator-companies-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-devilscrapes-y-combinator-companies-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$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": {
                    "searchQuery": {
                        "title": "Free-text query",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Free-text search across company name + one-liner. Leave empty to use filters only."
                    },
                    "batch": {
                        "title": "YC batch filter",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "YC batch slug (e.g. <code>W24</code>, <code>S23</code>). Leave empty for all batches."
                    },
                    "industry": {
                        "title": "Industry filter",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Industry tag exactly as YC uses it (e.g. <code>Developer Tools</code>, <code>B2B</code>, <code>Fintech</code>)."
                    },
                    "status": {
                        "title": "Status filter",
                        "enum": [
                            "any",
                            "active",
                            "acquired",
                            "inactive",
                            "public"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "YC publishes a status field. Leave on `any` to include all.",
                        "default": "any"
                    },
                    "maxResults": {
                        "title": "Max companies",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 2000,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Max companies to return.",
                        "default": 50
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "Proxy configuration",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "Algolia is friendly to direct calls. Proxy optional.",
                        "default": {
                            "useApifyProxy": false
                        }
                    }
                }
            },
            "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
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```