# Y Combinator Scraper with Founders & Emails (`scrapers-hub/y-combinator-scraper-with-founders-emails`) Actor Y Combinator scraper extracts startup profiles, founder names, company details, websites, publicly available emails, industries, batch information, and locations 🚀📧 Perfect for startup research, investor sourcing, B2B outreach, competitor analysis, and lead generation. - **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapers-hub/y-combinator-scraper-with-founders-emails.md - **Developed by:** [Scrapers Hub](https://apify.com/scrapers-hub) (community) - **Categories:** Lead generation, Developer tools, Automation - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $1.99 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage. 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 & Founders Scraper Apify actor that scrapes the [YC company directory](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies) with full company details, founders, founder emails, open jobs and news. ### How it works | Data | Source | Library | |------|--------|---------| | Company **list** (with filters) | YC public **Algolia** index (`YCCompany_By_Launch_Date_production`) | `requests` | | Company **detail**, founders, jobs, news | Each company page's `data-page` Inertia JSON, read with a CSS selector | `parsel` | | Anti-bot fallback | Automatic escalation on `403/429/503` | `cloudscraper` | | Founder **emails** | `first.last@domain` permutations + MX / best-effort SMTP verification | `dnspython`, `smtplib` | The HTTP layer (`src/http_client.py`) tries plain `requests` first and transparently retries through `cloudscraper` if a request is blocked. ### Input ```json { "limit": 10, "get_founders": true, "getEmails": true, "includeRiskyEmails": true, "isHiring": false, "topCompanies": false, "nonprofit": false, "batches": ["All Batches"], "industries": ["All industries"], "regions": ["Anywhere"], "minEmployeeSize": "1+", "maxEmployeeSize": "1000+" } ```` - `batches` / `industries` / `regions` — use the sentinel values `"All Batches"`, `"All industries"`, `"Anywhere"` to mean *no filter*. Otherwise pass exact YC facet values, e.g. `["Fall 2024"]`, `["Healthcare","Fintech"]`, `["Europe"]`. - `minEmployeeSize` / `maxEmployeeSize` — any string with a number (e.g. `"11+"`, `"51-200"`). `"1000+"` as the max means no upper bound. - `includeRiskyEmails` — when `false`, only positively **verified** addresses are kept. - `smtpVerify` (optional, default `true`) — set `false` to skip the SMTP RCPT check and mark every mail-capable domain as `risky` (much faster). ### Output One dataset item per company, matching the shape in the task spec: `company_details`, `location`, `links`, `source_context`, `founders[]` (with `email` / `email_status`), `jobs[]`, `news[]` and `data_quality.completeness_flags`. ### Run locally ```bash pip install -r requirements.txt ## reads storage/key_value_stores/default/INPUT.json (Apify) or ./input.json python -m src ``` > **Emails.** YC does not publish founder emails, so addresses are *generated* > from the founder's name + company domain and verified where possible. A domain > with no mail server yields no address; a mailbox we cannot positively confirm is > returned as `risky`. # Actor input Schema ## `topCompanies` (type: `boolean`): Restrict the results to companies YC has flagged as top companies. ## `isHiring` (type: `boolean`): Restrict the results to companies that are currently hiring. ## `nonprofit` (type: `boolean`): Restrict the results to nonprofit companies. ## `queries` (type: `array`): Enter one or more keywords such as a product category, market, technology, or location. Each keyword runs its own search; more keywords broaden discovery, fewer keep output easier to review. Leave empty to browse by filters only (recommended when using Top Companies / batch / industry filters). ## `batches` (type: `array`): Narrow results to one or more Y Combinator batches. Leave empty to include every batch. ## `industries` (type: `array`): Narrow results by YC industry classification. Leave empty to include every industry. ## `regions` (type: `array`): Narrow results by company region. Leave empty to include companies from anywhere. ## `minEmployeeSize` (type: `string`): Only include companies with at least this many employees. ## `maxEmployeeSize` (type: `string`): Only include companies with at most this many employees. ## `get_founders` (type: `boolean`): Fetch each company's detail page to include founders (bio, title, LinkedIn/X), jobs and news. ## `getEmails` (type: `boolean`): Discover a likely founder email (first.last@company-domain) for each founder. ## `includeRiskyEmails` (type: `boolean`): Keep emails that could not be positively verified (status = risky). Turn off to keep only verified addresses. ## `smtpVerify` (type: `boolean`): Actively probe each mailbox over SMTP (port 25). Apify blocks port 25, so leave OFF on the platform — emails then come back as 'risky'. Only enable where port 25 is open. ## `limit` (type: `integer`): Stop saving records after this many companies are collected for each configured search path. Broad directory searches are internally partitioned (by batch and subindustry) to work past YC's 1000-hit search window. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Optional connection settings to improve reliability on larger runs. Apify Proxy is used by default. ## Actor input object example ```json { "topCompanies": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "queries": [], "batches": [], "industries": [], "regions": [], "minEmployeeSize": "1+", "maxEmployeeSize": "1000+", "get_founders": true, "getEmails": true, "includeRiskyEmails": true, "smtpVerify": false, "limit": 50000, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [] } } ``` # 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("scrapers-hub/y-combinator-scraper-with-founders-emails").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("scrapers-hub/y-combinator-scraper-with-founders-emails").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 scrapers-hub/y-combinator-scraper-with-founders-emails --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scrapers-hub/y-combinator-scraper-with-founders-emails", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Y Combinator Scraper with Founders & Emails", "description": "Y Combinator scraper extracts startup profiles, founder names, company details, websites, publicly available emails, industries, batch information, and locations 🚀📧 Perfect for startup research, investor sourcing, B2B outreach, competitor analysis, and lead generation.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "Sbj5va8Xb0i3IcuIn" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/scrapers-hub~y-combinator-scraper-with-founders-emails/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-scrapers-hub-y-combinator-scraper-with-founders-emails", "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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/scrapers-hub~y-combinator-scraper-with-founders-emails/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-scrapers-hub-y-combinator-scraper-with-founders-emails", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/scrapers-hub~y-combinator-scraper-with-founders-emails/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-scrapers-hub-y-combinator-scraper-with-founders-emails", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$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": { "topCompanies": { "title": "Include Top Companies Only", "type": "boolean", "description": "Restrict the results to companies YC has flagged as top companies.", "default": false }, "isHiring": { "title": "Include Hiring Companies Only", "type": "boolean", "description": "Restrict the results to companies that are currently hiring.", "default": false }, "nonprofit": { "title": "Include Nonprofit Companies Only", "type": "boolean", "description": "Restrict the results to nonprofit companies.", "default": false }, "queries": { "title": "Add Company Search Keywords", "type": "array", "description": "Enter one or more keywords such as a product category, market, technology, or location. Each keyword runs its own search; more keywords broaden discovery, fewer keep output easier to review. Leave empty to browse by filters only (recommended when using Top Companies / batch / industry filters).", "default": [], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "batches": { "title": "Choose YC Batches", "type": "array", "description": "Narrow results to one or more Y Combinator batches. Leave empty to include every batch.", "items": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "Winter 2027", "Fall 2026", "Summer 2026", "Spring 2026", "Winter 2026", "Fall 2025", "Summer 2025", "Spring 2025", "Winter 2025", "Fall 2024", "Summer 2024", "Winter 2024", "Summer 2023", "Winter 2023", "Summer 2022", "Winter 2022", "Summer 2021", "Winter 2021", "Summer 2020", "Winter 2020", "Summer 2019", "Winter 2019", "Summer 2018", "Winter 2018", "Summer 2017", "Winter 2017", "Summer 2016", "Winter 2016", "Summer 2015", "Winter 2015", "Summer 2014", "Winter 2014", "Summer 2013", "Winter 2013", "Summer 2012", "Winter 2012", "Summer 2011", "Winter 2011", "Summer 2010", "Winter 2010", "Summer 2009", "Winter 2009", "Summer 2008", "Winter 2008", "Summer 2007", "Winter 2007", "Summer 2006", "Winter 2006", "Summer 2005" ], "enumTitles": [ "Winter 2027 batch", "Fall 2026 batch", "Summer 2026 batch", "Spring 2026 batch", "Winter 2026 batch", "Fall 2025 batch", "Summer 2025 batch", "Spring 2025 batch", "Winter 2025 batch", "Fall 2024 batch", "Summer 2024 batch", "Winter 2024 batch", "Summer 2023 batch", "Winter 2023 batch", "Summer 2022 batch", "Winter 2022 batch", "Summer 2021 batch", "Winter 2021 batch", "Summer 2020 batch", "Winter 2020 batch", "Summer 2019 batch", "Winter 2019 batch", "Summer 2018 batch", "Winter 2018 batch", "Summer 2017 batch", "Winter 2017 batch", "Summer 2016 batch", "Winter 2016 batch", "Summer 2015 batch", "Winter 2015 batch", "Summer 2014 batch", "Winter 2014 batch", "Summer 2013 batch", "Winter 2013 batch", "Summer 2012 batch", "Winter 2012 batch", "Summer 2011 batch", "Winter 2011 batch", "Summer 2010 batch", "Winter 2010 batch", "Summer 2009 batch", "Winter 2009 batch", "Summer 2008 batch", "Winter 2008 batch", "Summer 2007 batch", "Winter 2007 batch", "Summer 2006 batch", "Winter 2006 batch", "Summer 2005 batch" ] }, "default": [] }, "industries": { "title": "Choose Industries", "type": "array", "description": "Narrow results by YC industry classification. Leave empty to include every industry.", "items": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "B2B", "Consumer", "Fintech", "Healthcare", "Education", "Industrials", "Real Estate and Construction", "Government", "Unspecified" ], "enumTitles": [ "B2B (enterprise and business tools)", "Consumer (consumer products and services)", "Fintech (financial technology)", "Healthcare (health and life sciences)", "Education (edtech and learning)", "Industrials (manufacturing and logistics)", "Real estate and construction", "Government (govtech and public sector)", "Unspecified / other" ] }, "default": [] }, "regions": { "title": "Choose Company Regions", "type": "array", "description": "Narrow results by company region. Leave empty to include companies from anywhere.", "items": { "type": "string", "enum": [ "America / Canada", "Europe", "Asia", "South Asia", "Southeast Asia", "East Asia", "Latin America", "Middle East and North Africa", "Africa", "Oceania", "Australia", "United Kingdom", "India", "Remote", "Fully Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "enumTitles": [ "America / Canada", "Europe", "Asia", "South Asia", "Southeast Asia", "East Asia", "Latin America", "Middle East and North Africa", "Africa", "Oceania", "Australia", "United Kingdom", "India", "Remote", "Fully Remote", "Partly Remote" ] }, "default": [] }, "minEmployeeSize": { "title": "Set Minimum Employee Size", "enum": [ "1+", "5+", "10+", "25+", "50+", "100+", "250+", "500+", "1000+" ], "type": "string", "description": "Only include companies with at least this many employees.", "default": "1+" }, "maxEmployeeSize": { "title": "Set Maximum Employee Size", "enum": [ "5", "10", "25", "50", "100", "250", "500", "1000+" ], "type": "string", "description": "Only include companies with at most this many employees.", "default": "1000+" }, "get_founders": { "title": "Include Founder Details", "type": "boolean", "description": "Fetch each company's detail page to include founders (bio, title, LinkedIn/X), jobs and news.", "default": true }, "getEmails": { "title": "Find Founder Email Addresses", "type": "boolean", "description": "Discover a likely founder email (first.last@company-domain) for each founder.", "default": true }, "includeRiskyEmails": { "title": "Include Lower-Confidence Email Matches", "type": "boolean", "description": "Keep emails that could not be positively verified (status = risky). Turn off to keep only verified addresses.", "default": true }, "smtpVerify": { "title": "Verify Emails Over SMTP (advanced)", "type": "boolean", "description": "Actively probe each mailbox over SMTP (port 25). Apify blocks port 25, so leave OFF on the platform — emails then come back as 'risky'. Only enable where port 25 is open.", "default": false }, "limit": { "title": "Set Maximum Companies to Save", "minimum": 10, "type": "integer", "description": "Stop saving records after this many companies are collected for each configured search path. Broad directory searches are internally partitioned (by batch and subindustry) to work past YC's 1000-hit search window.", "default": 50000 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Optional connection settings to improve reliability on larger runs. Apify Proxy is used by default.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [] } } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```