Y Combinator Companies Scraper

Extract structured company data from the Y Combinator directory in a fast, reliable format. Collect startup profiles, locations, batches, hiring signals, and optional founder/job details for research and analysis.

Features

• Dynamic listing extraction — Collect companies from YC listing pages with pagination support.
• Richer company fields — Enrich records with Algolia-backed fields such as industries, regions, stage, and launch date.
• Optional detail depth — Enable founder and open-jobs scraping only when needed.
• Flexible scope control — Use results limit, max pages, or scrape-all mode.
• Clean dataset output — Ready for BI tools, spreadsheets, APIs, and automations.

Use Cases

Startup Market Research

Build a current dataset of YC companies to analyze sectors, company stages, and geography.

Talent and Hiring Intelligence

Track companies that are actively hiring and collect optional open role details.

Founder and Ecosystem Mapping

Enable founder extraction to map founder profiles and ecosystem relationships.

Batch and Cohort Analysis

Compare YC cohorts over time using batch, launch timing, and growth indicators.

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
url	String	No	https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/industry/all	YC listing URL to start from.
scrape_all_companies	Boolean	No	false	Ignore result limit and scrape all available listings (bounded by max pages).
results_wanted	Integer	No	20	Maximum records to save when scrape-all is disabled.
max_pages	Integer	No	5	Safety cap for listing pagination.
proxyConfiguration	Object	No	Apify Proxy Residential	Proxy settings for reliability.

Output Data

Each dataset item includes:

Field	Type	Description
company_id	String	YC company ID
slug	String	Company slug
company_name	String	Company name
url	String	Absolute YC company profile URL
short_description	String	One-liner description
long_description	String	Detailed company description
batch	String	YC batch label
status	String	Company status
company_location	String	Main location
website	String	Company website
company_linkedin	String	LinkedIn URL
company_x	String	X/Twitter URL
team_size	String	Team size
market	String	Market/industry
industries	Array	Industry taxonomy
regions	Array	Region taxonomy
stage	String	Company stage
top_company	Boolean	Top-company marker
is_hiring	Boolean	Hiring signal
nonprofit	Boolean	Nonprofit flag
launched_at	String	Launch timestamp (ISO)
founders	Array	Always empty array in current simplified mode
open_jobs	Array	Always empty array in current simplified mode
algolia_raw	Object/null	Internal field currently set to null

Usage Examples

Basic Run

{
  "results_wanted": 20,
  "max_pages": 1
}

Batch Filter Run

{
  "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/industry/all?batch=w2024",
  "results_wanted": 50,
  "max_pages": 3
}

Full Directory Scan

{
  "scrape_all_companies": true,
  "max_pages": 50
}

Sample Output

{
  "company_id": "271",
  "slug": "airbnb",
  "company_name": "Airbnb",
  "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/airbnb",
  "short_description": "Book accommodations around the world.",
  "long_description": "Founded in August of 2008 and based in San Francisco...",
  "batch": "Winter 2009",
  "status": "Public",
  "company_location": "San Francisco, CA, USA",
  "website": "http://airbnb.com",
  "team_size": "6132",
  "market": "Consumer",
  "industries": ["Consumer", "Travel, Leisure and Tourism"],
  "regions": ["United States of America", "America / Canada"],
  "stage": "Growth",
  "top_company": true,
  "is_hiring": false,
  "nonprofit": false,
  "launched_at": "2012-01-17T22:34:16.000Z",
  "founders": [],
  "open_jobs": [],
  "algolia_raw": null
}

Tips for Best Results

Start Small

• Test with results_wanted: 20 and max_pages: 1.

Use Proxy for Stability

• Residential proxy helps maintain reliable extraction on larger runs.

Integrations

• Google Sheets — Export for quick analysis
• Airtable — Build filtered company tables
• Make / Zapier — Trigger downstream automations
• Webhooks — Push fresh records into your systems

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are some fields null?

Some companies do not publish every field publicly. Partner and founding metadata may be missing for some records.

Is the Algolia key hardcoded?

No. The actor reads current Algolia credentials dynamically from YC page bootstrap on each run.

Can I scrape all companies?

Yes. Enable scrape_all_companies and set a suitable max_pages value.

Does it support batch-filter URLs?

Yes. You can pass YC listing URLs with query parameters and the actor will follow them.

Support

For bug reports or feature requests, use the Actor page issue/support channel.

Legal Notice

Use this actor responsibly and ensure your usage complies with applicable laws and the source website terms.