# Y Combinator Companies and Their Open Jobs (`usta/yc-companies`) Actor

For recruiters and market researchers: pull public Y Combinator company profiles and their listed open jobs as one row per company, from the slugs or URLs you paste.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/usta/yc-companies.md
- **Developed by:** [US Tech Automations](https://apify.com/usta) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Jobs
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$4.00 / 1,000 result rows

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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Y Combinator Companies and Their Open Jobs

Y Combinator scraper — YC companies scraper, YC startup list, YC jobs.

Paste one or more YC company slugs or `ycombinator.com/companies/<slug>`
page URLs. Each becomes one row: profile fields (one-liner, description,
batch, status, industry, team size, location, website, year founded) plus
its currently listed open jobs. Founders' public display names shown on the
page are read as part of the page, but a founder's personal social link or
email is never put on the row — only the company's own LinkedIn/Twitter
links.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Company slugs or URLs** | One or more YC company slugs (e.g. `airbnb`) or full page URLs (e.g. `https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/airbnb`). Leave blank to try the public sitemap for a list; as of this build no public sitemap lists individual company pages (see `SOURCE_TERMS.md`), so a blank list returns zero rows and says why. |
| **Batches** | Optional list of batch names, e.g. `Summer 2025`. Leave blank for all batches. |
| **Only companies that are hiring** | Off by default. When on, a company whose page shows no open jobs is left out. |
| **Include open jobs** | On by default. When off, `open_jobs` is `null` and only the profile fields are filled. |
| **Maximum rows** | Hard ceiling on rows returned, and therefore on the cost of the run. Default 100, maximum 6,000. |
| **Proxy configuration** | Optional Apify proxy. Off by default, including on a local run. |

### Pricing

**Pay per result. $0.004 per company row.** No start fee. Every dataset row
bills from row one, including an error row for an entry that could not be
read. A run that returns no rows costs nothing. **Maximum rows** is the
spend cap.

### Output (one row per company)

One example row from a real local run on 2026-09-21 against
`https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/whatnot` (`open_jobs` trimmed to 2
of the 143 the page listed that day):

```json
{
  "yc_url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/whatnot",
  "name": "Whatnot",
  "one_liner": "Whatnot is the largest livestream shopping platform in the U.S.",
  "long_description": "Whatnot is the largest livestream shopping platform in the U.S., connecting buyers and sellers in real-time across any category – from collectibles like trading cards to comics, fashion, sneakers, and more.",
  "batch": "Winter 2020",
  "status": "Active",
  "industry": null,
  "subindustry": null,
  "tags": ["Marketplace", "E-commerce"],
  "team_size": 1500,
  "location": "Los Angeles, CA",
  "country": "US",
  "website": "https://www.whatnot.com/careers/discover",
  "year_founded": 2019,
  "is_hiring": true,
  "open_jobs": [
    {
      "title": "Account Executive",
      "location": "San Francisco, CA / New York, NY / Los Angeles, CA / Remote (US)",
      "type": "Full-time",
      "salary_range": null,
      "equity_range": null,
      "job_url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/whatnot/jobs/kQEqWHN-account-executive"
    },
    {
      "title": "Account Executive, UK",
      "location": "London, UK / Remote (US)",
      "type": "Full-time",
      "salary_range": null,
      "equity_range": null,
      "job_url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/whatnot/jobs/nfB7rqn-account-executive-uk"
    }
  ],
  "linkedin_company_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/whatnot-inc/",
  "twitter_company_url": "https://twitter.com/whatnot",
  "fetched_at": "2026-09-21T17:19:44Z",
  "error": null
}
```

| Field | What it holds |
|---|---|
| `yc_url` | Canonical company page URL, no query string |
| `name` / `one_liner` / `long_description` | From the company profile. `long_description` is capped at 1,500 characters. |
| `batch` / `status` | YC batch (e.g. `Winter 2020`) and current status (e.g. `Active`, `Public`) |
| `industry` / `subindustry` / `tags` | Category fields shown on the page, when published |
| `team_size` / `location` / `country` | As shown on the page |
| `website` | Company's own site link |
| `year_founded` | Whole-number year, when published |
| `is_hiring` | `true` when the page lists at least one open job, else `false`; `null` if job data could not be read |
| `open_jobs` | List of `{title, location, type, salary_range, equity_range, job_url}`; `null` when **Include open jobs** is off |
| `linkedin_company_url` / `twitter_company_url` | The **company's** social links only, never a founder's personal profile |
| `fetched_at` | When this run read the page, in UTC |
| `error` | `null` on success; otherwise a short reason (e.g. `HTTP 404 not found`) and every other field on the row is `null` |

### What this does not do

- It does not discover a company list on its own today: no public YC
  sitemap lists individual company pages as of 2026-09-21 (checked live;
  see `SOURCE_TERMS.md`). You supply the slugs or URLs.
- It does not call the site's search backend (Algolia). It reads only the
  page you named.
- It does not output a founder's personal social link, email, or phone
  number — only public display names/titles and the company's own social
  links.
- It does not log in, use cookies, or solve a CAPTCHA. A block becomes one
  error row, not a bypass attempt.
- It does not invent a field it could not read; an unreadable field is
  `null`, never guessed.
- It does not resolve the conflict between `robots.txt` (which technically
  allows the page path) and Y Combinator's Terms of Use (which forbid
  scraping outright). Read `SOURCE_TERMS.md` before you run this against
  the live site — that document does not soften what the Terms say.

### Limits

- `Maximum rows` is 1–6,000 (default 100). The run stops there.
- One request per second against `ycombinator.com`, sequential, no
  concurrency.
- A blocked or missing company page becomes one error row for that entry;
  a hard block (HTTP 401/403/429/451/503, or a CAPTCHA page) stops the run
  rather than continuing to hammer the site.

### Refunds and support

Refunds: if a run returns zero rows for a valid input, email
operations@ustechautomations.com within 7 days and we refund that run.
Support: same address, replies within 2 business days.

# Actor input Schema

## `companySlugsOrUrls` (type: `array`):

Optional. One or more YC company slugs (e.g. airbnb) or full page URLs (e.g. https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/airbnb). Leave blank to try the public sitemap for a list; if the sitemap does not list company pages, the run returns zero rows and says so rather than inventing a list.

## `batches` (type: `array`):

Optional. Restrict results to one or more YC batch names, e.g. 'Summer 2025'. Leave blank for all batches.

## `onlyHiring` (type: `boolean`):

When on, a company with no open job postings on its page is left out of the results.

## `includeJobs` (type: `boolean`):

When on, each row's open\_jobs list holds the job postings shown on that company's page. When off, open\_jobs is null and only the company profile fields are filled.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Hard ceiling on rows returned, and therefore on the cost of the run. Every row bills at the listed price from row one; there is no start fee.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional Apify proxy. Leave off for a local run. Every request is an ordinary HTTPS GET to a public ycombinator.com page.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "companySlugsOrUrls": [
    "airbnb"
  ],
  "batches": [],
  "onlyHiring": false,
  "includeJobs": true,
  "maxItems": 100,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `companies` (type: `string`):

No description

## `csv` (type: `string`):

No description

## `report` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "companySlugsOrUrls": [
        "airbnb"
    ],
    "maxItems": 100
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("usta/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 = {
    "companySlugsOrUrls": ["airbnb"],
    "maxItems": 100,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("usta/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 '{
  "companySlugsOrUrls": [
    "airbnb"
  ],
  "maxItems": 100
}' |
apify call usta/yc-companies --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,usta/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/KzWmtJeFIpEM45cu2/builds/hTS2DPErfdwWU7fFl/openapi.json