# Y Combinator Startup Directory Scraper (`elegant_economy/ycombinator-startup-scraper`) Actor Extract recently funded startup data directly from the Y Combinator public directory. Lightning-fast extraction for daily automated B2B lead enrichment. - **URL**: https://apify.com/elegant\_economy/ycombinator-startup-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Devyanshu Negi](https://apify.com/elegant_economy) (community) - **Categories:** Lead generation, News, Jobs - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 1 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $5.00 / 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. 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 Startup Directory Scraper Extract rich dataset on recently funded YC startups with zero browser overhead. ### How to scrape Y Combinator companies? This Apify actor provides an API-first approach to scraping the Y Combinator startup directory. Instead of rendering heavy headless browsers (like Puppeteer or Playwright), this tool performs lightning-fast HTTP queries directly against YC's internal infrastructure. This architecture ensures unmatched speed, lower compute costs, and a highly reliable data pipeline. ### B2B Startup Lead Generation Are you looking for high-quality **B2B sales leads** or **founder contacts**? VC funded startups are some of the fastest-growing and best-capitalized new businesses on the planet. Using this scraper as a **Crunchbase alternative** allows you to continuously enrich your CRM with top-tier startup data. It hits raw JSON endpoints for lightning-fast extraction, making it the perfect tool for daily automated lead enrichment. #### Key Features - **Lightning-fast API Extraction:** Bypasses DOM rendering for speed. - **Detailed Founder Data:** Scrapes founder names and their **LinkedIn URLs** directly from their individual startup profiles. - **Complete Company Details:** Extracts locations, websites, long descriptions, arrays of industries, and more. - **Pay Per Result:** Cost-effective extraction, paying only for successful records. #### Why us vs competitors? | Feature | This Actor | Standard Web Scrapers | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | **Speed** | ⚡ Extremely Fast (Direct API) | 🐌 Slow (DOM Parsing) | | **Compute Cost** | 💰 Minimal | 💸 High RAM/CPU Usage | | **Data Quality** | 🎯 Clean & Structured JSON | ⚠️ Brittle HTML Selectors | | **Founder Contacts**| ✅ Included (Names + LinkedIn) | ❌ Often missing | ### Input Configuration You can pass the following properties to configure the extraction: | Field | Type | Description | | ----- | ---- | ----------- | | `batches` | `Array` | Define which YC batch to extract (e.g., `["W25", "S24"]`). Leave empty to scrape all. | | `industry` | `String` | Filter by industry (e.g. `B2B`, `Consumer`, `Fintech`). | | `maxItems` | `Integer` | Max startups to extract. | ### JSON Example Output ```json { "company_name": "DoorDash", "yc_batch": "Summer 2013", "industry": "Consumer -> Food and Beverage", "short_description": "Restaurant delivery.", "long_description": "Founded in 2013, DoorDash is a San Francisco-based technology company...", "website_url": "http://doordash.com", "location": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "founders": [ { "name": "Tony Xu", "title": "CEO", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-xu-373b544/", "twitter_url": null } ] } ```` # Actor input Schema ## `batches` (type: `array`): An array of YC batches to scrape (e.g. \["W25", "S24"]). If empty, scrapes all batches. ## `industry` (type: `string`): Optional filter by industry (e.g. "B2B", "Consumer", "Healthcare"). Left empty for all industries. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of startups to extract. Left empty to extract all. ## Actor input object example ```json { "batches": [ "W25" ] } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `dataset` (type: `string`): Dataset containing all scraped YC startups # 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("elegant_economy/ycombinator-startup-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("elegant_economy/ycombinator-startup-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 elegant_economy/ycombinator-startup-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=elegant_economy/ycombinator-startup-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Y Combinator Startup Directory Scraper", "description": "Extract recently funded startup data directly from the Y Combinator public directory. Lightning-fast extraction for daily automated B2B lead enrichment.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "08QjIupNKtu86Lwqs" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/elegant_economy~ycombinator-startup-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-elegant_economy-ycombinator-startup-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/elegant_economy~ycombinator-startup-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-elegant_economy-ycombinator-startup-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/elegant_economy~ycombinator-startup-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-elegant_economy-ycombinator-startup-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": { "batches": { "title": "YC Batches", "type": "array", "description": "An array of YC batches to scrape (e.g. [\"W25\", \"S24\"]). If empty, scrapes all batches.", "default": [ "W25" ], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "industry": { "title": "Industry", "type": "string", "description": "Optional filter by industry (e.g. \"B2B\", \"Consumer\", \"Healthcare\"). Left empty for all industries." }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max Items", "minimum": 1, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of startups to extract. Left empty to extract all." } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```