Y Combinator

Kalam Labs is a live game streaming platform at the intersection of K-12 learning and multiplayer gaming.

LegionFarm lets gamers pay to play with professional players, helping customers have more fun playing, learn to be a better gamer, and conquer difficult parts of video games. Legionfarm's Pros want to monetize their skills by turning their hobbies into real careers. They are the top 1% of players. They have a massive impact on the success of gaming companies - and we want to allow these top players to hold their dream jobs in virtual worlds. Over the past year, Legionfarm organized over 400,000 gaming sessions with our 8,000 Pros. Legionfarm provides access to unique entertainment on a global scale while creating new jobs in virtual worlds at the same time.

LegionFarm lets gamers pay to play with professional players, helping customers have more fun playing, learn to be a better gamer, and conquer difficult parts of video games. Legionfarm's Pros want to monetize their skills by turning their hobbies into real careers. They are the top 1% of players. They have a massive impact on the success of gaming companies - and we want to allow these top players to hold their dream jobs in virtual worlds. Over the past year, Legionfarm organized over 400,000 gaming sessions with our 8,000 Pros. Legionfarm provides access to unique entertainment on a global scale while creating new jobs in virtual worlds at the same time.

DreamWorld is a creative open-world MMO game with the multiplayer density of real-world cities.

FanPlay Technologies operates as a real-money gaming startup. FanPlay looks to create a unique proposition in Real Money Gaming (RMG) with live video integration and takes social gaming to the next level with high interaction between the hosts of the games and players

Rume is an online video platform designed to facilitate multiple conversations and gaming simultaneously. The platform enables users to engage in private discussions while remaining visible to the group, enhancing communication and social interaction. It also includes features such as a stage for announcements, allowing for organized communication within groups. By combining video conferencing with gaming elements, Rume aims to improve user engagement and create a more dynamic social experience.

Piepacker is a free cloud gaming platform to hangout and plays premium retro games with your friends online. Piepacker combines the video with a series of licensed popular retro-style games that friends can easily play together. It is simpler than organizing a discordant group but more interactive than just streaming. So far, the platform has seen long sessions and participation. It was selected by TechCrunch in their top 12 favorite startups of the YC20 batch.

StartPlaying.Games are a marketplace for hiring hosts for social tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons. DMs for Hire! Meant to help new players learn to play, or help existing players find experienced hosts. Hosts set their own prices. Currently seeing a GMV of over $10k per month.

Glimpse is THE destination to have fun with your friends. On Glimpse, build rooms with your friends and match for spontaneous, quick video calls. Whether it’s with your old best friends or new sports team, Glimpse lets you stay connected to and discover awesome people.

LegionFarm lets gamers pay to play with professional players, helping customers have more fun playing, learn to be a better gamer, and conquer difficult parts of video games. Legionfarm's Pros want to monetize their skills by turning their hobbies into real careers. They are the top 1% of players. They have a massive impact on the success of gaming companies - and we want to allow these top players to hold their dream jobs in virtual worlds. Over the past year, Legionfarm organized over 400,000 gaming sessions with our 8,000 Pros. Legionfarm provides access to unique entertainment on a global scale while creating new jobs in virtual worlds at the same time.

Zelos is a cross-game rewards program that enables gamers to earn points by completing in-game tasks and redeem virtual prizes across multiple games. The company was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

Design and development of computer game software and virtual reality software. Games and online worlds have great potential in shaping how people behave, both positively, and negatively. We are designing and developing software that will allow us to create virtual societies that enable citizens of our virtual worlds to discover themselves. We believe that friendships, positive experiences, and behaviors that are built in VR, will spill over to reality, allowing users to become more fulfilled, happy, and confident individuals. Our vision is to create connected virtual worlds that empower people to be their best, most authentic selves.

Figments Corp. develops an e-sports platform that creates characters with fictional storylines and brings custom voice acting to tailor the characters to different users. The company was incorporated in 2019 and is based in Mountain View, California.

Lowkey enables players to automatically save their best gaming moments as video clips and share them effortlessly with friends & communities. Gamers of all types, from casual friends playing 'Among Us' together, to the top pros in esports like League of Legends and VALORANT, use Lowkey to capture plays or full games and share them Snapchat-style.

DreamCraft Entertainment Inc. develops a game creation and monetization platform that lets video game modders to create and monetize games without programming. Its platform allows game modders to create games without coding or drawing; and reach players across PC and mobile. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in San Mateo, California.

Gamelynx Inc. develops digital gaming platform that allows users to play board games or cards without using physical items. The company is based in Waterloo, Canada.

Players' Lounge Inc., also known as Players' Lounge Online, is an online platform that enables gamers to compete for cash and prizes through e-sports competitions. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in New York, the company caters primarily to casual gamers by allowing them to find opponents willing to wager on their favorite video games or participate in tournaments. Players' Lounge aims to provide a gaming experience that offers financial opportunities to the vast majority of gamers, as opposed to just the small percentage of professional players who earn substantial incomes. By facilitating social gaming tournaments that can be played both in-person and online, Players' Lounge fosters a competitive but accessible environment for gamers looking to enhance their gaming experience while potentially earning rewards.

Guilded, Inc. designs and develops a chat platform and application for competitive gaming and esports for keeping gamers organized and connected with their teams. It offers Guilded that enables gamers to upgrade group chat and equips servers with integrated event calendars, forums, and more. The company’s Guilded is also used to create events, docs, and more; and organize servers with groups. Guilded, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

Gamelynx Inc. develops digital gaming platform that allows users to play board games or cards without using physical items. The company is based in Waterloo, Canada.

Guilded, Inc. designs and develops a chat platform and application for competitive gaming and esports for keeping gamers organized and connected with their teams. It offers Guilded that enables gamers to upgrade group chat and equips servers with integrated event calendars, forums, and more. The company’s Guilded is also used to create events, docs, and more; and organize servers with groups. Guilded, Inc. was incorporated in 2016 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

Pantheon is a virtual reality app that allows anyone to create and share their own VR games.

Unnyhog FZ-LLC, founded in 2015 and based in Ukhta, Russia, develops a gaming platform that caters to both mobile and desktop users with fast-paced games. The company was established by a group of gaming enthusiasts who identified various shortcomings in existing mobile games, motivating them to create their own. To date, Unnyhog has developed three games, which have collectively garnered over 4 million downloads, demonstrating their appeal and success in the gaming market.

Blitz Esports is a tech and media startup focused on bridging the gap between esports fandom and personal gameplay. We're one of the premier media publications in esports, specializing in educational video content for League of Legends, CS:GO and Overwatch. We've also developed the first fully automatic League of Legends coaching app, which uses computer vision and data-driven insights to proactively help gamers make better decisions at each step of their gameplay experience. A month into open beta, the Blitz app is now used in over a million games each week.

Think Gaming operates as a mobile advertising data cooperative, offering a platform that enables mobile game developers to collaborate by sharing advertising data. This approach assists developers in identifying high-value users and optimizing their marketing strategies. By addressing common challenges in the industry, such as inefficient targeting and reliance on ineffective middlemen, Think Gaming levels the playing field for smaller developers, granting them access to valuable insights typically reserved for those with larger marketing budgets. The platform provides an extensive database that includes metrics such as volume, cost per install, and install quality across over 400 publishers and ad networks. Additionally, it supplies analytical data on various aspects of the mobile gaming sector, including revenue estimates, download statistics, and user retention rates, thereby facilitating connections with potential investors and distribution partners.

CodeCombat Inc. provides coding process learning services through Web based gamification method. The company operates an online multiplayer live strategy game to teach rudimentary JavaScript fundamentals. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

SpinPunch makes infrastructure for high performance browser games to rival PC and consoles. Our first titles, Mars Frontier, Thunder Run, and War Star Empire are massively multi-player real time strategy game built in HTML5. Our backgrounds range from creating Emmy-winning computer graphics and working with Disney, IMAX and NASA, to building world class software in Microsoft Office. In our spare time, we contribute to the open source community (Linux kernel, ffmpeg video compression), develop visual effects software (used in BattleStar Galactica and Firefly) and avidly play games. We’re founded by alumni from Stanford, Cornell and Waterloo.

Flypad turns your iPhone into a motion-sensing game controller for PC, Steam, & indie games.

Gamador is a social game developer that has released three games so far. The company says that it differentiates itself from other developers by releasing quick, smart games at a very rapid pace (they can develop a game in about a week. The company has built its own analytics platform for social games called Rankador, which they liken to a ‘PageRank for social games’.

Blue Frog Gaming is a small software company located in Akron, Ohio. It started in May of 2007 and participated in the Y Combinator summer session. It has created the following products: Draftmix, Football Tycoon, Baseball Tycoon, Samurai Warrior, Starfleet Commander.

Twitch is a leading social video platform dedicated to gamers, with over 100 million users engaging monthly to broadcast, watch, and discuss video games. It serves as a crucial hub for the video game ecosystem, connecting game developers, publishers, media outlets, esports events, and user-generated content. By facilitating both live and on-demand video distribution, Twitch has established itself as a central player in the gaming community and entertainment industry. Its popularity is underscored by recognition as one of the largest websites in terms of peak internet traffic, solidifying its role as the epicenter of social video for gamers.

OMGPOP is a leading developer of social games for facebook, iphone and the open web. With games on multiple social networks as well as its own destination site, the company is recognized as a leader in creating real-time game experiences.