Y Combinator

Y Combinator is a startup accelerator based in Mountain View, California, founded in 2005. It has pioneered a new funding model for early-stage startups by investing a modest amount of capital, typically around $150,000, in a large number of companies twice a year. Over a three-month program, Y Combinator collaborates closely with these startups to prepare them for investor pitches and enhance their business strategies. Each funding cycle concludes with Demo Day, where startups present to an exclusive audience of investors. Y Combinator focuses on various sectors, including business software, education, healthcare, and financial technology, among others. In addition to initial funding, it offers ongoing support through its extensive alumni network. Since its inception, Y Combinator has funded over 630 startups, contributing significantly to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Silicon Valley and beyond.

Gustaf Alstromer

Group Partner

Matt Bogrand

Associate, YC Continuity Fund

Timothy Brady

Partner

Craig R. Cannon

Director of Marketing

Adora Cheung

Partner

Nic Dardenne

Principal

Aaron Epstein

Group Partner

Brad Flora

Group Partner

Jared Friedman

Managing Director, Software and Group Partner

Aaron Harris

Partner

Carolynn Levy

Partner

Bradford (Brad) Lightcap

Associate, YC Continuity

Kat Manalac

Managing Partner

Eric Migicovsky

Partner

Kirsty Nathoo

Partner

Verena Prescher

Director of Finance

Geoff Ralston

president

Ali Rowghani

Managing Partner

Arnav Sahu

Principal

Michael Seibel

Managing Director

Harj Taggar

Partner

Past deals in Industrial Automation

KorrAI

Seed Round in 2022
Korrai Technologies Ltd. is a digital technology company based in Delta, Canada, founded in 2020. It specializes in developing artificial intelligence software tailored for the natural resources and environmental sectors. The company's software interprets air and lidar imagery to provide contextual insights, enabling precision mapping for applications in mining and environmental monitoring. Its AI tools generate pre-trained footprint features and learner solutions, facilitating assessments in various areas such as quarries, mines, waterbodies, forestry, and infrastructure. Korrai's platform also offers satellite-based ground motion monitoring, allowing clients to detect minute changes in the earth's surface and create accurate risk maps. This technology aids businesses in making informed decisions regarding environmental impacts and resource management, addressing challenges related to climate change and land use.

Prefix

Seed Round in 2021
Prefix builds powerful computer automation software that organizations without dedicated automation teams can manage effectively. We offer a no-code tool for automating most processes, and an execution platform for running them.

GreaseBoss

Seed Round in 2021
GreaseBoss offers hardware and software products that help machinery owners track and verify their machines are being greased which prevents equipment failure and reduces maintenance costs.

Teleo

Seed Round in 2020
Teleo specializes in converting existing fleet into remote-controlled robots. It enables operators to control machines from miles away, instantly switching between machines and across job sites. Teleo increases the operator's productivity, enhances crew safety, and features advanced Jobsite insights.

Overview

Seed Round in 2019
Overview.ai provides real time fault detection that uses cameras and AI to monitor manufacturing robots, shutting them down if something goes wrong. Its smart camera automatically learns normal machine routines to detect any deviations, crashes or anomalies. Its system catches misalignments, breakage, and out-of-sequence behavior before significant damage occurs to product or machine.

Four Growers

Funding Round in 2018
Four Growers is an industrial automation platform that develops harvesting robots for greenhouses, starting with the harvesting of tomatoes. However, their solution is not only capable of harvesting the tomatoes, but also of performing a quality check and of packaging.

iLabService

Seed Round in 2018
iLabService specializes in laboratory monitoring, management, and automation through the application of Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Shanghai, China, with additional offices in Hangzhou, Silicon Valley, and New Jersey, the company offers subscription-based services that simplify lab operations in biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors. iLabService designs and manufactures sensor-based devices known as INTELAB DAQ, which monitor laboratory equipment and provide alerts when issues arise. Additionally, the company develops software that transforms lab data into actionable insights through analytics, ensuring that equipment operates within specified parameters and enhancing overall lab efficiency.

Shone

Seed Round in 2018
Shone, Automation Inc. is a San Francisco-based company founded in 2017 that specializes in developing and manufacturing autonomous sensors for container ships. Its innovative platform utilizes artificial intelligence to create a digital co-pilot system, which analyzes the surroundings of a ship and predicts the behavior of nearby vessels. This technology aims to enhance safety in ocean trade while also contributing to fuel savings. By automating existing cargo ships, Shone seeks to reduce risks for shipowners, protect personnel, and promote environmentally friendly practices in the shipping industry.

Modular Science

Seed Round in 2017
Modular Science aims to automate ninety nine percent of the processes involved in vegetable farming with modular machines for agriculture.

Iris Automation

Seed Round in 2016
Iris Automation Inc. develops collision avoidance systems for operating industrial drones. The company offers an artificial intelligence computer that blends real-time images and 3D maps to track incoming objects. Its onboard software tracks and avoids dynamic and static objects on the ground and in the air at short-range and long-range. The company’s system is built to process visual data in real-time holding the capability to see structures that suddenly appear, such as a plane, flock of birds, and another drone. It serves the avionics industry worldwide. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in San Francisco, California with an additional operation in Reno, Nevada.

Assembly

Seed Round in 2015
Assembly offers high quality Chinese manufacturers an automated recording of factory production to document effectiveness, win new foreign business, and solve production quality problems.

Iris Automation

Pre Seed Round in 2015
Iris Automation Inc. develops collision avoidance systems for operating industrial drones. The company offers an artificial intelligence computer that blends real-time images and 3D maps to track incoming objects. Its onboard software tracks and avoids dynamic and static objects on the ground and in the air at short-range and long-range. The company’s system is built to process visual data in real-time holding the capability to see structures that suddenly appear, such as a plane, flock of birds, and another drone. It serves the avionics industry worldwide. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in San Francisco, California with an additional operation in Reno, Nevada.