# Y Combinator Startup Directory, Past the 1,000 Result Cap (`gubidonius/yc-companies`) Actor

Every company in the Y Combinator directory: batch, industry, status, team size, tags and locations. YC search stops at 1,000 results and reports the stop as an empty page, so a plain scraper returns 1,000 of 6,203 and calls it done. This one slices by batch and gets the rest.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/gubidonius/yc-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

## Y Combinator Startup Directory, Past the 1,000 Result Cap

Reads the whole Y Combinator company directory: batch, industry, status, stage, team size,
tags, regions and locations. No key and no login.

### The problem this solves

The directory is an Algolia index and Algolia will not serve a result past number 1,000. Ask
for hit 1,001 and it does not raise an error. It answers HTTP 200 with an empty result list
and a total of zero, which is exactly what a search that is genuinely finished looks like.

The directory held 6,203 companies on 6 September 2026 and says so in the same response that
hands you the first 1,000. So a tool that pages until a page comes back empty stops at 1,000
and reports it as the whole directory.

This Actor never asks for the page that lies. When a search is bigger than the ceiling it cuts
it into slices on the batch, which is the one field that partitions the directory cleanly:
every company has exactly one batch, the 50 batches add up to the directory total, and the
largest holds 398. Each slice is paged on its own and the rows are joined and deduplicated.

### The filter values are words, not slugs

The batch is `Winter 2024`, not `W24`. The industry is `Fintech`, not `fintech`. Case does not
matter, spelling does, and a value the directory does not use returns zero companies with no
explanation.

So every value you pass is checked against the live list before any search runs. If one is
wrong the run says which, suggests the real spelling, and charges you nothing.

### What one row is

One company. Not one company per filter: a company matched by two of your filters is written
once and charged once, matched on YC's own id.

`isHiring` is YC's flag and it is intent rather than open roles. On a 60-company sample taken
on 6 September 2026, 4 flagged companies had no job posted at all. The sibling Actor
`yc-jobs` reads the postings themselves.

### What a run admits

Every row carries `directoryTotalReported`, the count YC's own search gave for your filter,
in companies, the same unit as the rows. `RUN_SUMMARY` in the key-value store holds every
slice with what it reported, what it returned and why it stopped, plus `complete` and
`limitedBy`.

### Billing

Two events: a start fee charged only once companies are actually returned, and a per-company
fee charged after each company is written. A run that matches nothing costs nothing.

# Actor input Schema

## `batches` (type: `array`):

Batch names exactly as Y Combinator writes them, for example Summer 2026 or Winter 2024. Not W24: a value the directory does not use returns zero companies, so this Actor checks every value against the live list first and tells you the real spelling.

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

Top-level industries, for example B2B, Fintech, Healthcare, Consumer, Industrials. Several values are ORed together and combined with the other filters using AND.

## `subindustries` (type: `array`):

The narrower industry YC records, written as parent then child, for example "Fintech -> Payments" or "Healthcare -> Diagnostics". There are 59 of them.

## `regions` (type: `array`):

Regions as YC groups them, for example United States of America, Europe, South Asia, Remote. A company usually carries several, so this is a wide filter rather than a city.

## `tags` (type: `array`):

Product tags, for example Artificial Intelligence, Developer Tools, Marketplace, Climate. There are 335 of them and the whole list is checked before the search runs.

## `statuses` (type: `array`):

One or more of Active, Inactive, Acquired, Public. Leave empty for all four. Inactive companies stay in the directory, so an unfiltered search includes about 1,000 of them.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Words to search for in names, taglines and descriptions. This is a search and not a filter: it is typo tolerant and ranks by relevance, so it returns more companies than the matching industry filter would.

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

Keep only companies whose directory record says they are hiring. Measured on 6 September 2026: 1,478 companies carry the flag and about 7 percent of them have no job posted, so treat it as intent rather than as open roles.

## `topCompaniesOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Keep only the 91 companies YC marks as top companies.

## `nonprofitOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Keep only companies YC records as nonprofits.

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

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

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "batches": [
    "Summer 2026"
  ],
  "industries": [],
  "subindustries": [],
  "regions": [],
  "tags": [],
  "statuses": [],
  "query": "",
  "hiringOnly": false,
  "topCompaniesOnly": false,
  "nonprofitOnly": false,
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

# 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 = {
    "batches": [
        "Summer 2026"
    ],
    "industries": [],
    "subindustries": [],
    "regions": [],
    "tags": [],
    "statuses": [],
    "query": "",
    "maxResults": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("gubidonius/yc-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 = {
    "batches": ["Summer 2026"],
    "industries": [],
    "subindustries": [],
    "regions": [],
    "tags": [],
    "statuses": [],
    "query": "",
    "maxResults": 50,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("gubidonius/yc-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 '{
  "batches": [
    "Summer 2026"
  ],
  "industries": [],
  "subindustries": [],
  "regions": [],
  "tags": [],
  "statuses": [],
  "query": "",
  "maxResults": 50
}' |
apify call gubidonius/yc-companies --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,gubidonius/yc-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/Vh2tzmMNt98JO1aa7/builds/Oj3qGx4PmjvksZE0e/openapi.json