# Wellfound Startup Directory with Stage and Hiring Counts (`gubidonius/wellfound-companies`) Actor

Company profiles from the Wellfound startup index: size, stage, industries, locations, open job counts and Glassdoor scores. An industry slug Wellfound does not know returns its whole 10,000-company index with a 200, so this reads the filter the page applied and skips the search.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/gubidonius/wellfound-companies.md
- **Developed by:** [Gregory Bolshakov](https://apify.com/gubidonius) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Business, Jobs
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

## Wellfound Startup Directory with Stage and Hiring Counts

Reads company profiles from the Wellfound startup index. Size, stage, industries, locations,
how many jobs each company has open, and the Glassdoor scores Wellfound shows on the card. No
key and no login.

### The problem this solves

Wellfound filters its index by one industry, one location or one technology, and the filter
lives in the URL path. If you ask for a slug it does not know, it does not say so. It answers
with HTTP 200 and its whole index, about 10,000 companies, and the page looks perfect.

The real slug for fintech is `fintech-2`. Ask for `fintech` and you get every company on
Wellfound, billed per row, presented to you as fintech companies. Page 2 of that same URL
returns page 1 again, so a tool that keeps paging buys the same ten rows over and over.

Every Wellfound page states the filter it actually applied. This Actor reads that, compares it
with what you asked for, and drops the whole search when they differ. It tells you in the run
summary and it charges you nothing for it.

### Paging

Wellfound's page count is not a stop signal. Page 1 of the index says 1,037 pages of 10. Page
1,037 says 1,155 pages of 9. Page 5,000 says 5,196 pages of 2 and still returns two real
companies. The page size shrinks and the page count grows as you go, and pages overlap.

So paging stops on a page that holds no company you do not already have. Companies are matched
on their Wellfound id across every page and every filter, and duplicates are dropped before
you are charged.

### The ratings are Glassdoor's

The card shows a bare number next to "Highly rated". That number comes from Glassdoor, which
only the tooltip says. The columns are called `glassdoorRating`, `glassdoorWorkLifeBalance`
and `glassdoorLeadership` so nobody has to guess.

Empty is not a zero and not "unrated". Wellfound only shows the badge above its own threshold,
so the column is filled for well rated companies and empty for everyone else.

### What one row is

One company. Not one company per filter. If two of your filters both return a company, you get
it once, and `filterRequested` names the first filter that reached it. The company's own
`industrySlugs` and `locationSlugs` are on the row, so you can see which of your filters it
really matches.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| `industries` | Industry slugs from the dropdown on wellfound.com/startups |
| `locations` | Location slugs, for example san-francisco, london, remote-friendly |
| `technologies` | Tech slugs, for example python, react |
| `hiringOnly` | Keep only companies with the Actively Hiring badge |
| `maxResults` | Upper bound for the whole run, across every filter |
| `maxPagesPerFilter` | Ceiling on pages. Paging stops early on its own |

Each filter is a separate search. Wellfound cannot combine two, so an industry and a location
together give you the union, not the intersection.

### Output

One row per company with `companyId`, `name`, `slug`, `websiteUrl`, `companySize`,
`employeesMin`, `employeesMax`, `stage`, `yCombinator`, `topInvestors`, `valuationOver1B`,
`b2b`, `b2c`, `activelyHiring`, `openJobs`, `openJobsByRole`, `industries`, `locations` and the
three Glassdoor columns.

`openJobs` empty means Wellfound printed no count, which is not the same as zero open jobs.

`RUN_SUMMARY` in the key value store holds, per filter, how many pages were read, how many
companies were seen and kept, what the source said the total was, and why the walk stopped.

### What it does not do

It does not open company profile pages. Wellfound serves `/company/<slug>` behind a Cloudflare
security check to every automated client, browser included, so this Actor works from the index
and says so rather than pretending.

It does not give exact headcount, because Wellfound publishes a band. It does not give investor
names, because the index carries only a Top Investors flag.

### Price

0.002 dollars per run and 0.003 dollars per company. Both are charged after the rows exist, so
a run that finds nothing costs nothing. A filter Wellfound does not recognise costs nothing.

# Actor input Schema

## `industries` (type: `array`):

Wellfound industry slugs, taken from the Industry dropdown on wellfound.com/startups. Use the slug exactly: the FinTech one is fintech-2, not fintech. A slug Wellfound does not know is skipped and reported, never billed as the whole index.

## `locations` (type: `array`):

Wellfound location slugs, for example san-francisco, london, bangalore, remote-friendly. Each one is a separate search: Wellfound cannot combine a location with an industry.

## `technologies` (type: `array`):

Wellfound tech slugs, for example python, react, kubernetes. Each one is a separate search.

## `hiringOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Keep only companies carrying Wellfound's Actively Hiring badge. Filtered-out companies are counted in the run summary, so you can see how many were dropped.

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

Upper bound on companies for the WHOLE run, across every filter. You are never charged for more than this.

## `maxPagesPerFilter` (type: `integer`):

A ceiling on work, not on rows. Paging stops early when a page returns only companies already collected, which is the only honest end on this source.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "industries": [
    "artificial-intelligence"
  ],
  "locations": [],
  "technologies": [],
  "hiringOnly": false,
  "maxResults": 50,
  "maxPagesPerFilter": 20
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "industries": [
        "artificial-intelligence"
    ],
    "locations": [],
    "technologies": [],
    "maxResults": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("gubidonius/wellfound-companies").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 = {
    "industries": ["artificial-intelligence"],
    "locations": [],
    "technologies": [],
    "maxResults": 50,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("gubidonius/wellfound-companies").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "industries": [
    "artificial-intelligence"
  ],
  "locations": [],
  "technologies": [],
  "maxResults": 50
}' |
apify call gubidonius/wellfound-companies --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,gubidonius/wellfound-companies"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/a8p7CQSaTCc2RBacE/builds/lzOVtbWsTox2YiEXj/openapi.json