# Y Combinator Companies — Full Startup Directory (`straightforward_hydra/yc-companies`) Actor

Structured data on every Y Combinator company (~6,000): batch, industry, status, team size, location, tags, description & website. Filter or export the whole directory. No key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/straightforward\_hydra/yc-companies.md
- **Developed by:** [Dev D](https://apify.com/straightforward_hydra) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Lead generation, Other
- **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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#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 Companies — Full Startup Directory 🚀

**Every Y Combinator company (~6,000) as clean, structured rows — batch, industry, status, stage, team size, location, tags, description and website. Search, filter, or export the whole directory. No API key.**

Y Combinator has funded the startups behind Airbnb, Stripe, DoorDash, Coinbase, Instacart and thousands more. This Actor turns YC's public company directory into a structured dataset you can query, filter, or pull in full — ideal for sourcing, competitive research, recruiting, market maps and lead lists.

***

### Three modes

| Mode | What you get |
|---|---|
| **search** | Companies matching a free-text query and/or filters — full profile per company. Leave the query empty to export the entire directory (optionally narrowed by filters). |
| **batch** | Every company from a single batch, e.g. `W24` or `Summer 2021`. |
| **digest** | One aggregate row: company counts by batch, industry, sub-industry, status, stage, region and tag — a snapshot of the whole YC portfolio. |

### Each company row

`name` · `batch` · `status` (Active / Inactive / Acquired / Public) · `stage` · `industry` · `subindustry` · `tags` · `team_size` · `location` · `regions` · `one_liner` · `long_description` · `website` · `yc_url` · `is_hiring` · `top_company` · `nonprofit` · `former_names` · `launched_at` · `logo`.

### Examples

**AI startups from the latest batch**

```json
{ "mode": "search", "batch": "W24", "tag": "Artificial Intelligence" }
```

**All fintech companies, active only**

```json
{ "mode": "search", "industry": "Fintech", "status": "Active", "maxResults": 2000 }
```

**Everyone hiring in a batch**

```json
{ "mode": "batch", "batch": "Summer 2021" }
```

**Growth-stage companies with 100+ people**

```json
{ "mode": "search", "stage": "Growth", "minTeamSize": 100 }
```

**Portfolio snapshot**

```json
{ "mode": "digest" }
```

**Export the entire directory**

```json
{ "mode": "search", "maxResults": 10000 }
```

### Filters (search mode)

`batch` · `industry` · `subindustry` · `status` · `stage` · `region` · `tag` · `hiringOnly` · `topCompaniesOnly` · `nonprofit` · `minTeamSize` / `maxTeamSize`. Combine any of them; they're AND-ed together.

### Run it on a schedule

Schedule a run to catch each new YC batch the day it's announced, keep a live lead list of companies that are hiring, or track status changes (which startups got acquired or went public) over time.

### Notes

- **No API key.** Reads the same public directory endpoint the YC website itself uses.
- Batch shorthand is accepted: `W24` → *Winter 2024*, `S21` → *Summer 2021*.
- Large pulls (e.g. a whole industry, or the full directory) are fetched batch-by-batch automatically so you always get the complete set, not just the first page.
- Data source: [Y Combinator company directory](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies) — public, non-personal company information.

***

#### Keywords

Y Combinator, YC, YC companies, startup directory, startup database, YC batch, startup data, venture capital, VC data, startup leads, founder leads, tech companies, accelerator, seed startups, startup research, competitive intelligence, market mapping, sourcing, recruiting, sales prospecting, company enrichment, no API key.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

search = query/filter companies; batch = all companies from one batch; digest = aggregate counts.

## `search` (type: `string`):

Free-text query — company name, product or keywords, e.g. "developer tools", "fintech Africa", "Airbnb". Leave empty to list everything (optionally narrowed by the filters below).

## `batch` (type: `string`):

YC batch. Accepts shorthand ("W24", "S21") or full form ("Winter 2024", "Summer 2021"). Required for batch mode; also usable as a filter in search mode.

## `industry` (type: `string`):

e.g. "B2B", "Consumer", "Fintech", "Healthcare", "Industrials", "Education", "Real Estate and Construction", "Government".

## `subindustry` (type: `string`):

Exact sub-industry facet, e.g. "B2B -> Engineering, Product and Design", "Consumer -> Food and Beverage".

## `status` (type: `string`):

Company status.

## `stage` (type: `string`):

e.g. "Seed", "Early", "Growth".

## `region` (type: `string`):

Region facet, e.g. "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Europe", "India", "Latin America", "Southeast Asia".

## `tag` (type: `string`):

Company tag, e.g. "Artificial Intelligence", "Marketplace", "SaaS", "Developer Tools", "Fintech", "Climate".

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

Only companies currently marked as hiring.

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

Only YC's flagged "top companies".

## `nonprofit` (type: `boolean`):

Only non-profit companies.

## `minTeamSize` (type: `integer`):

Only companies with at least this many people.

## `maxTeamSize` (type: `integer`):

Only companies with at most this many people.

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

Cap on companies returned (search/batch modes). The full directory is ~6,000.

## `appId` (type: `string`):

Optional override if YC rotates its public Algolia application id.

## `searchKey` (type: `string`):

Optional override if YC rotates its public Algolia search-only key.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "search",
  "status": "",
  "hiringOnly": false,
  "topCompaniesOnly": false,
  "nonprofit": false,
  "maxResults": 200
}
```

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("straightforward_hydra/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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("straightforward_hydra/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 '{}' |
apify call straightforward_hydra/yc-companies --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,straightforward_hydra/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/8EabEcc3EBE9JD3y4/builds/BaBBqAbKTqpUQBCLh/openapi.json