# Y Combinator Companies Scraper (`benthepythondev/y-combinator-companies-scraper`) Actor

Scrape YC Startup Directory companies with batch, industry, hiring, region, website and profile data.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/benthepythondev/y-combinator-companies-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Ben](https://apify.com/benthepythondev) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Lead generation, Jobs
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.40 / 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.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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 Scraper - Startup Directory Data

Scrape the public Y Combinator Startup Directory into a clean company dataset. The actor searches YC companies by keyword, batch, hiring status, industry, and region, then returns company name, website, YC profile URL, one-liner, long description, batch, status, industry, tags, team size, locations, hiring flag, logo, and launch metadata. Export to JSON/CSV/Excel, run on a schedule, call via API, or connect to Make, Zapier or n8n.

### What is the Y Combinator Companies Scraper?

Y Combinator is one of the most watched startup accelerators in the world. Its public directory is a valuable source for founder research, venture scouting, B2B prospecting, recruiting, startup market maps, and account-based sales. This actor turns that directory into structured data that can be filtered, exported, monitored, and combined with contact enrichment workflows.

The actor reads YC's public company search data through the same public search infrastructure used by the directory page. It does not require a login, browser, cookie, or private API key. The default input targets the current `Summer 2026` batch so daily runs return fresh, non-empty data, but you can change the batch, search all companies, or filter to companies marked as hiring.

#### What data does it extract?

- YC company ID and slug
- Company name
- YC profile URL
- Website
- One-line summary
- Long description
- YC batch
- Status
- Industry and subindustry
- Industry and region arrays
- Stage
- Team size
- Locations
- Hiring flag
- Top company flag
- Nonprofit flag
- Tags
- Logo URL
- Launch timestamp

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `query` | string | Optional keyword search across companies. |
| `batch` | string | YC batch filter such as `Summer 2026`; use `all` to disable. |
| `isHiring` | boolean | Return only companies marked as hiring. |
| `industry` | string | Optional exact YC industry filter. |
| `region` | string | Optional exact YC region filter. |
| `maxResults` | integer | Maximum companies to return. |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "query": "AI",
  "batch": "Summer 2026",
  "isHiring": false,
  "maxResults": 50
}
```

To search all hiring YC companies:

```json
{
  "batch": "all",
  "isHiring": true,
  "maxResults": 200
}
```

### Output

```json
{
  "id": 29312,
  "name": "Example Startup",
  "slug": "example-startup",
  "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/example-startup",
  "website": "https://example.com",
  "one_liner": "AI workflow automation for finance teams.",
  "long_description": "Example Startup helps finance teams...",
  "batch": "Summer 2026",
  "status": "Active",
  "industry": "B2B",
  "subindustry": "Finance and Accounting",
  "industries": ["B2B"],
  "regions": ["United States of America"],
  "stage": "Early",
  "team_size": 4,
  "locations": "San Francisco",
  "is_hiring": true,
  "top_company": false,
  "nonprofit": false,
  "tags": ["Fintech", "AI"],
  "logo": "https://...",
  "launched_at": 1780000000,
  "source": "ycombinator",
  "query": "AI",
  "filters": "batch:\"Summer 2026\""
}
```

### Use cases

- B2B lead generation: find newly funded startups by industry, batch, region, or hiring status.
- Investor research: build startup market maps from YC cohorts and categories.
- Recruiting intelligence: monitor YC companies that are actively hiring.
- Sales triggers: identify fast-growing companies with new teams, websites, and business descriptions.

### Practical tips

Use `batch` for cohort-based research and `batch: all` for broader prospecting. For current startup discovery, the latest batch is usually the most useful. For mature-account research, search all companies and filter by industry, region, or hiring status. The `is_hiring` flag is especially useful for vendors selling recruiting tools, HR software, office services, developer tooling, cloud infrastructure, or growth services.

For prospecting workflows, export the dataset and enrich the `website` field with contact, email, LinkedIn, or technology-stack actors. For investment workflows, group by `industry`, `subindustry`, `stage`, and `batch`. For content and SEO work, use the company descriptions to build market maps or identify category trends.

### Reliability and performance

The actor uses direct HTTP requests and YC's public search index. It fetches the current search configuration from the public directory page at runtime, so it is less brittle than hardcoding a static key. Runs are fast, low-memory, and suitable for scheduled monitoring. If a query returns no companies, broaden the batch or remove exact filters.

### FAQ

**Does it require a YC account?** No. It uses public directory data.

**Can I scrape all YC companies?** Yes. Set `batch` to `all` and choose a suitable `maxResults`.

**Can I filter by current hiring status?** Yes. Enable `isHiring`.

**Does it return emails?** No. It returns company and website data. Use a contact enrichment actor for emails.

**Does it include founder names?** The public search result focuses on company fields. Founder enrichment can be added separately.

**Can I schedule cohort monitoring?** Yes. Create a task and run it daily or weekly.

**Is it legal?** The actor reads public directory data. You are responsible for complying with website terms and applicable laws.

**How is billing calculated?** Pay-per-event billing charges per company result pushed to the dataset.

**Can I export to spreadsheets?** Yes. Apify datasets export to JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, and RSS.

**Why does the default batch change over time?** The code default can be updated as YC launches new batches; users can always override it in input.

### You might also like

- HiringCafe Scraper
- Jobvite Jobs Scraper
- Website Contact Extractor
- Email Finder Verifier
- Google Maps Email Scraper

**Keywords:** Y Combinator scraper, YC companies scraper, startup directory scraper, startup leads, YC batch data, startup database, founder research, venture scouting, B2B lead generation, hiring startups, startup market map, company enrichment, Apify startup scraper, YC directory API, startup prospecting

### Support and feedback

If this Actor saves time in your workflow, please leave a short Apify Store review. Reviews help other users evaluate the tool and help prioritize maintenance. If a source changes or a field stops populating, open an Actor issue with the run ID, public input, and expected field. Never include passwords, private cookies, or confidential data.

# Actor input Schema

## `query` (type: `string`):

Optional company, product, industry or keyword search.

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

YC batch filter, e.g. Summer 2026, Spring 2026, Winter 2025. Use all to disable the batch filter.

## `isHiring` (type: `boolean`):

Return only companies marked as hiring.

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

Optional exact YC industry filter, e.g. B2B, Consumer, Healthcare.

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

Optional exact YC region filter.

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

Maximum number of companies to return.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "AI",
  "batch": "Summer 2026",
  "isHiring": false,
  "maxResults": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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 = {
    "query": "AI",
    "batch": "Summer 2026",
    "maxResults": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("benthepythondev/y-combinator-companies-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 '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "query": "AI",
    "batch": "Summer 2026",
    "maxResults": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("benthepythondev/y-combinator-companies-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 '{
  "query": "AI",
  "batch": "Summer 2026",
  "maxResults": 10
}' |
apify call benthepythondev/y-combinator-companies-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=benthepythondev/y-combinator-companies-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/3g2D8utlLUn6JNhaA/builds/eZtGAjr5yusG6u60z/openapi.json