Y Combinator Companies | YC Startup Database | $0.6 / 1K

A startup database of every Y Combinator company as a flat dataset: batch, industry, team size, hiring status, description, website and launch date. No login, no browser, no API key.

This Actor reads the same public search index that the official YC directory page (ycombinator.com/companies) uses for its own search box, and returns one row per company. Filter by batch, industry, hiring status or free text, then export to CSV, JSON, Excel or Google Sheets. Turn on incremental mode and every run after the first returns only companies that are new since your last run.

What you can do with this YC startups list

• Build a list of Y Combinator companies by batch (for example "Winter 2026") or industry (for example "Fintech") for prospecting, research or investing.
• Find YC startups that are hiring. Filter on hiring status for recruiting and job-board feeds.
• Track new YC companies with incremental mode on a schedule, for example after each batch is announced.
• Create a startup database for sales or market maps. Name, one-liner, description, website, location, team size, tags and stage in one table.
• Feed an AI or analytics workflow with structured descriptions and tags.

Input

Input	Default	What it does
searchQuery	blank	Free-text search across company name and description
batch	blank	For example Summer 2013 or Winter 2026
industry	blank	For example Fintech or Healthcare
isHiring	any	any, hiring or not hiring
mode	all	all = every match; changes = only companies new since your last run
maxItems	see note	Cost cap. You are billed once per row saved. Maximum 10,000
firstRunSince	90 days	changes mode only: how far back the first run looks. all backfills the full directory

Set maxItems explicitly. The form shows 500 as the default, but if the field is left out of API input the Actor uses 200.

Example input: YC fintech startups that are hiring

{
  "searchQuery": "fintech",
  "isHiring": "hiring",
  "maxItems": 100
}

Example input: new YC companies since your last run

{
  "mode": "changes",
  "firstRunSince": "90 days"
}

Output

One row per company. Real row from a test run (long description shortened):

{
  "ycId": 12064,
  "name": "Deel",
  "slug": "deel",
  "website": "https://www.deel.com/",
  "oneLiner": "The all-in-one HR and payroll platform for global teams",
  "longDescription": "Deel is the all-in-one payroll and HR platform for global teams...",
  "location": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Remote",
  "teamSize": 5000,
  "industry": "B2B",
  "industries": ["B2B", "Finance and Accounting"],
  "subindustry": "B2B -> Finance and Accounting",
  "tags": ["Fintech", "SaaS", "B2B", "HR Tech", "Payroll"],
  "batch": "Winter 2019",
  "status": "Active",
  "stage": "Growth",
  "isHiring": true,
  "topCompany": true,
  "nonprofit": false,
  "launchedAtIso": "2018-11-08T02:34:18.000Z",
  "ycUrl": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/deel"
}

Also included: launchedAtUtc and smallLogoUrl.

Not included: founder names, emails and social profiles. Those live on each company's own profile page and are not part of the directory search index this Actor reads. If you need founders, see the related Actors below.

Incremental mode

Incremental mode uses the directory's by-launch-date index, which returns companies newest first, so paging stops as soon as it reaches a company you already have. The bookmark is stored in a key-value store in your own Apify account, one per filter combination.

Pricing

Pay per event: $0.0006 per company row ($0.60 per 1,000). No start fee.

Run	Rows	Cost
500 companies	500	$0.30
5,000 companies	5,000	$3.00
Maximum per run	10,000	$6.00

Set maxItems as your cost cap.

Integrations and scheduling

• Apify Schedules: run after each YC batch in changes mode for a feed of new companies.
• Webhooks: call your endpoint when a run finishes.
• Make, n8n, Zapier: push companies to Slack, Airtable, a CRM or a spreadsheet.
• Google Sheets: export the dataset or sync it with the Apify integration.
• API and MCP: call the Actor from code or an AI agent and read the dataset as JSON.

Limits worth knowing

• Data is what YC's public directory shows. This Actor does not add to it or verify it.
• No founders, emails or funding data.
• industry and batch are matched against the directory's own names, so use spellings as they appear on ycombinator.com/companies.

FAQ

Is there a Y Combinator API?

YC does not offer a documented public API for its company directory. This Actor reads the public search index behind the directory page and returns it as a dataset with an Apify API.

How do I get a list of all YC companies?

Run the Actor with no filters and a high maxItems, or filter by batch or industry to get a slice.

How do I find YC startups that are hiring?

Set isHiring to hiring. The flag reflects what the directory shows at the moment of the run.

Can I get founders and their emails?

No. Use one of the related Actors that read founder data.

Is this allowed?

The data is the public directory that any visitor sees. You are responsible for how you use it, including outreach rules.

How is this different from other YC scrapers?

It is a plain-HTTP read of the directory index, priced at $0.60 per 1,000 rows, with an incremental mode. It does not collect founders or jobs.

Related Actors

• Y Combinator Scraper by michael.g (third party): another YC directory Actor.
• Y Combinator Scraper with Founders by clearpath (third party): companies plus founder data.
• YC Jobs Scraper by parsebird (third party): Y Combinator job listings.
• SEC EDGAR Filings API (by this developer): filings, including S-1s, for companies that go public.
• Grants.gov Scraper (by this developer): federal grants, including SBIR-style programs.