Y Combinator

Why a Y Combinator startup tackling AI agents for Windows gave up and pivoted

AI /

A startup called Pig.dev that participated in Y Combinator’s Winter 2025 batch was working on a potential revolutionary idea: AI agentic tech to control a Microsoft Windows desktop. But in May, the founder announced he was abandoning the tech and pivoting his company to something entirely different: Muscle Mem, a cache system for AI agents […]

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Y Combinator alum launched a new $34M fund dedicated to YC startups, backed by Garry Tan

Venture /

Investing in Y Combinator startups can lead to significant returns to investors. “If you look at the data: 6% of YC companies become unicorns, and of that 6% a quarter become decacorns,” Kulveer Taggar told TechCrunch. Taggar is a two-time YC alum best known for founding Zeus Living, a property management startup that raised over

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Better Auth, an authentication tool by a self-taught Ethiopian dev, raises $5M from Peak XV, YC

Startups /

It’s rare to see a solo founder building a widely adopted developer infrastructure tool. Even more so if the founder happens to be from Africa. Bereket Engida, a self-taught programmer from Ethiopia, is quietly building what some developers say is the best authentication tool they’ve ever used. Engida’s startup, Better Auth, offers an open source

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Police shut down Cluely’s party, the ‘cheat at everything’ startup

AI /

The latest San Francisco startup culture drama happened on Monday night. And it centered around “the most legendary party that never happened,” Cluely founder and CEO Roy Lee tells TechCrunch. Cluely had hoped to throw an after-party for a Y Combinator event occurring on Monday and Tuesday called AI Startup School. The event drew crowds

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Aspora gets $50M from Sequioa to build remittance and banking solutions for Indian diaspora

Fundraising /

India has been one of the top recipients of remittances in the world for more than a decade. Inward remittances jumped from $55.6 billion in 2010-11 to $118.7 billion in 2023-24, according to data from the country’s central bank. The bank projects that figure will reach $160 billion in 2029. This means there is an

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Tesla sues former Optimus engineer over alleged trade secret theft

AI /

Tesla sued a former engineer for allegedly stealing trade secrets from its humanoid robotics program, Optimus, and using them to launch a rival startup. The lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday and originally reported on by Bloomberg, accuses Zhongjie “Jay” Li of stealing trade secrets regarding Tesla’s development of “advanced robotic hand sensors” to launch

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Hotel management platform Canary nabs $80M Series D from YC, Insight Partners

Venture /

Canary, the hotel guest management platform, announced Thursday the raise of an $80 million Series D in a round led by Brighton Park Capital.  Harman Singh Narula and childhood friend SJ Sawhney launched the company in 2018 to help hotels digitize and automate guest interactions. The company has raised nearly $180 million in funding to

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Y Combinator startup Firecrawl is ready to pay $1M to hire three AI agents as employees

AI /

Y Combinator-backed startup Firecrawl is back on the hunt for AI agent employees. As we reported back in February, its first attempt didn’t yield an AI worth hiring. But it’s now placed three new ads on YC’s job board for “AI agents only” and has set aside a $1 million budget total to make it

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