# Y Combinator Companies Directory Scraper (`logiover/y-combinator-companies-directory-scraper`) Actor Scrape all 5900+ Y Combinator portfolio companies — every batch from 2005 to present. Filter by batch, industry, status, team size, location, tags, or free-text. Returns founders, website, description, industry, location, launch year. Optional per-company enrichment with LinkedIn/Twitter founders. - **URL**: https://apify.com/logiover/y-combinator-companies-directory-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Logiover](https://apify.com/logiover) (community) - **Categories:** Automation, Lead generation, Jobs - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $2.00 / 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 Companies Directory Scraper Scrape **all 5900+ Y Combinator portfolio companies** across every batch from 2005 onward. Returns name, batch, status, founders (with LinkedIn/Twitter), website, descriptions, industry, subindustry, tags, team size, location, launch year, hiring status. Uses a daily-refreshed open data mirror of YC's official directory (no auth, no key) plus optional per-company page scrape for founders + launches. ### Features - Get every YC company in one call (~6000 records, ~3 MB) - Rich filtering: batch, industry, subindustry, status, team size range, country/location, tags, free-text - Optional: enrich each company with founders (name, role, LinkedIn, Twitter, bio) and launch posts - All YC batches: from S05 to W26 - Stable schema across the run — handles YC's occasional field renames ### Input ```json { "filters": { "batch": "W26", "industry": "B2B", "status": "Active", "minTeamSize": 5, "location": "United States", "tags": ["AI"], "isHiring": true }, "searchQuery": "agent", "maxResults": 100, "fetchCompanyPageDetails": false } ```` | Field | Type | Default | Notes | |---|---|---|---| | `filters` | object | `{}` | Combined AND. Empty = all companies | | `searchQuery` | string | "" | Substring match on name + one\_liner + long\_description | | `maxResults` | int | 100 | Cap returned (full directory ~6000) | | `fetchCompanyPageDetails` | bool | false | +1 HTTP req per company for founders & launches | #### Filter fields | Key | Match | Example | |---|---|---| | `batch` | exact | `"W26"`, `"S25"`, `"W24"`, etc. | | `status` | exact | `"Active"`, `"Acquired"`, `"Inactive"` | | `industry` | substring | `"B2B"`, `"Consumer"`, `"Fintech"`, `"Healthcare"` | | `subindustry` | substring | `"Marketing"`, `"Devtools"` | | `location` | substring | `"San Francisco"`, `"London"` | | `country` | substring | `"United States"`, `"India"` | | `minTeamSize` / `maxTeamSize` | range | `5`, `100` | | `tags` | all-required | `["AI", "Productivity"]` | | `isHiring` | exact | `true` | ### Output ```json { "id": 12345, "name": "Acme AI", "slug": "acme-ai", "formerNames": [], "batch": "W26", "status": "Active", "oneLiner": "AI agents for customer support", "longDescription": "Acme AI builds autonomous agents that...", "website": "https://acme.ai", "ycUrl": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/acme-ai", "logoUrl": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/...", "allLocations": "San Francisco, United States", "country": "United States", "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Sales", "tags": ["AI", "Generative AI", "Customer Support"], "tagsHighlighted": ["AI"], "teamSize": 8, "launchedAt": "2026-02-15T00:00:00.000Z", "stage": "Seed", "isHiring": true, "regions": ["America / Canada", "Remote"], "founders": [ { "name": "Jane Doe", "title": "CEO", "bio": "...", "avatarUrl": "...", "linkedinUrl": "https://linkedin.com/in/janedoe", "twitterUrl": null } ], "launches": [ { "id": 99, "slug": "acme-ai", "title": "Acme AI: AI agents for support teams", "tagline": "...", "postedAt": "2026-02-20T...", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/acme-ai" } ], "scrapedAt": "2026-05-18T12:00:00.000Z" } ``` ### Use cases - **VC sourcing:** find recent batches in specific industries (e.g. all W26 fintech with team>5) - **Sales prospecting:** export YC startups in your target market with founder LinkedIn URLs - **Recruiting:** filter `isHiring=true` to find startups currently building teams - **Competitive intel:** track competitors in your YC batch + sub-industry - **Trend research:** count companies per industry/batch over time - **Investor pipeline:** identify Series A candidates by team size + batch age - **Founder outreach:** filter by tag (e.g. "ML Infra") and bulk-email founders ### Notes - **Open data source:** primary source is `yc-oss.github.io/api/companies/all.json` — community-maintained mirror updated daily from YC's official internal API. Reliable for last 24h freshness. - **For fresher data** (intra-day, breaking batch announcements), the actor scrapes individual YC company pages when `fetchCompanyPageDetails=true`. - **No bot detection:** YC's data is intentionally public for founder/funder visibility. - **Founder enrichment** is opt-in because it adds one HTTP request per company — for the full ~6000 directory that's significant. Filter first, enrich after. - **Batch codes:** `W{YY}` = Winter, `S{YY}` = Summer, `F{YY}` = Fall (newer), `IK12` = old Imagine K12 cohort. - **Status values:** `Active` (still operating), `Acquired`, `Inactive` (defunct). *** ### Changelog - **2026-05-20** — Maintenance pass: reviewed the input schema and default values for a smooth one-click start, and rebuilt the Actor on the latest base image. *Last reviewed: 2026-05-20.* # Actor input Schema ## `filters` (type: `object`): Combined filters applied to the YC directory. All conditions are AND'd together. Leave empty to return all 5900+ companies. ## `searchQuery` (type: `string`): Optional. Substring search across name + one-liner + long description. ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): Cap returned companies. The full directory has ~6000. ## `fetchCompanyPageDetails` (type: `boolean`): When enabled, scrapes the individual YC company page for founders (name, role, LinkedIn, Twitter, email if shown) and full launch posts. Adds one HTTP request per company. ## Actor input object example ```json { "filters": { "batch": "S25", "industry": "Consumer", "tags": [ "AI", "Productivity" ], "minTeamSize": 5, "location": "United States" }, "searchQuery": "", "maxResults": 100, "fetchCompanyPageDetails": false } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `name` (type: `string`): Company name ## `batch` (type: `string`): YC batch (e.g. W26, S25) ## `status` (type: `string`): Active/Acquired/Inactive ## `industry` (type: `string`): Top-level industry ## `teamSize` (type: `string`): Employees ## `allLocations` (type: `string`): City/country list ## `website` (type: `string`): Company website ## `ycUrl` (type: `string`): YC profile URL ## `scrapedAt` (type: `string`): ISO timestamp # 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 = { "filters": { "batch": "W26", "industry": "B2B", "status": "Active" } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("logiover/y-combinator-companies-directory-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 = { "filters": { "batch": "W26", "industry": "B2B", "status": "Active", } } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("logiover/y-combinator-companies-directory-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 '{ "filters": { "batch": "W26", "industry": "B2B", "status": "Active" } }' | apify call logiover/y-combinator-companies-directory-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=logiover/y-combinator-companies-directory-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Y Combinator Companies Directory Scraper", "description": "Scrape all 5900+ Y Combinator portfolio companies — every batch from 2005 to present. Filter by batch, industry, status, team size, location, tags, or free-text. Returns founders, website, description, industry, location, launch year. Optional per-company enrichment with LinkedIn/Twitter founders.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "jbUfEh3OEJwogchq2" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/logiover~y-combinator-companies-directory-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-logiover-y-combinator-companies-directory-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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/logiover~y-combinator-companies-directory-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-logiover-y-combinator-companies-directory-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/logiover~y-combinator-companies-directory-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-logiover-y-combinator-companies-directory-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "filters": { "title": "Filters", "type": "object", "description": "Combined filters applied to the YC directory. All conditions are AND'd together. Leave empty to return all 5900+ companies." }, "searchQuery": { "title": "Free-text Search", "type": "string", "description": "Optional. Substring search across name + one-liner + long description.", "default": "" }, "maxResults": { "title": "Max Results", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 10000, "type": "integer", "description": "Cap returned companies. The full directory has ~6000.", "default": 100 }, "fetchCompanyPageDetails": { "title": "Fetch Company Page Details (founders, socials)", "type": "boolean", "description": "When enabled, scrapes the individual YC company page for founders (name, role, LinkedIn, Twitter, email if shown) and full launch posts. Adds one HTTP request per company.", "default": 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 } } } } } } } } } } ```