[ { "id": 21, "name": "Tap to Learn", "slug": "tap-to-learn", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "/company/thumb/missing.png", "website": "http://taptolearn.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Menlo Park, CA, USA", "long_description": "When we began our first experiments with using Mobile devices a few years ago we were very excited by the possibility of learning in nontraditional manner. The beauty of effectiveness of the iPhone first and the iPad platforms gave shape to our vision of building beautiful apps, designed to build learning for your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad Devices. Each of our apps are extremely easy to use, focus on just one area of learning using interactivity and add an element to fun while learning.", "one_liner": "Games For Education", "team_size": 11, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1322045690, "tags": [ "Education", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2012", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/tap-to-learn", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2012/tap-to-learn.json", "year_founded": null, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": null, "x_url": null, "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/taptolearn", "github_url": null, "logo_url": null, "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 25593, "full_name": "Roby Thomas John", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": null, "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/robytj/", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4984a1b4ed219dad6d044cf156f7deeea2bf4628.jpg" }, { "user_id": 53498, "full_name": "Avinash Pandey", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I was part of YC 2012 winter batch. I am now Co-Founder and CTO at LILA Games. This is my second startup. Building an ambitious extraction shooter for mobile.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/avinash-pandey/", "x_url": "https://x.com/avinashpdy", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/19eb5ebbb0e0f6a97e5da548d5ba55881b848325.jpg" }, { "user_id": 73303, "full_name": "Aamir Poonawalla", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Founder at Orchestra (YC S26). 10 years at Instacart. Built the ads serving and ML infrastructure, auction platform, and experimentation framework. 2nd time YC Founder. MS in Computer Science from Georgia Tech.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/aamir-p-a3575318/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4c9a96d07312de424f0f4d4023f16b6a3238ce54.jpg" }, { "user_id": 73302, "full_name": "Priyanthy Aprain Srampical", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": null, "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": null, "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a01f5e2698ea7951e9af26bc08c5d3ccf6c7bd43.jpg" }, { "user_id": 53499, "full_name": "Sreejit Jayanthan", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": null, "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/sreejitj/", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/040eca20aae9a99f87b573e1cf62fabc3a88d511.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 27, "name": "Minefold", "slug": "minefold", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "/company/thumb/missing.png", "website": "http://minefold.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Simple to set up, on demand game servers.\n\nMinefold runs game servers for popular games such as Minecraft and Team Fortress 2. Servers can be created and running in under 30 seconds and players pay by the hour.", "one_liner": "Simple multiplayer game servers.", "team_size": 2, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Infrastructure", "launched_at": 1322045742, "tags": [ "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2012", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "B2B", "Infrastructure" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/minefold", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2012/minefold.json", "year_founded": null, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": null, "x_url": null, "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/minefold", "github_url": null, "logo_url": null, "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 51833, "full_name": "Dave Newman", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Cofounder and CTO @ howie.com", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-newman-3938522", "x_url": "https://x.com/whatupdave", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/47bd5cfd66fb57fe5803b5ec8dbfff61eda3e840.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3545, "full_name": "Chris Lloyd", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a793305224e07f06d8b432e51247ed3dd7f45351.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 45, "name": "LVL6", "slug": "lvl6", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "/company/thumb/missing.png", "website": "http://lvl6.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Palo Alto, CA, USA", "long_description": "LVL6 creates social mobile games on Android and iOS.", "one_liner": "We make mobile MMOs. ", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1322045890, "tags": [ "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2012", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/lvl6", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2012/lvl6.json", "year_founded": null, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": null, "x_url": null, "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lvl6", "github_url": null, "logo_url": null, "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 29855, "full_name": "Alex Lin", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alin4", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/423eacdbd73a9e43b2c4056de4ea8a87e60028c8.jpg" }, { "user_id": 33427, "full_name": "Conrad Chan", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": null, "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": null, "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/9bf2720d81815994c50edea2ffea6280e362a1b2.jpg" }, { "user_id": 51401, "full_name": "Calvin Tuong", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": null, "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": null, "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "/avatars/thumb/missing.png" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 115, "name": "Launchpad Toys", "slug": "launchpad-toys", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "/company/thumb/missing.png", "website": "http://launchpadtoys.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We're creating digital toys and tools that empower kids to create, learn & share their ideas through play.\r\n\r\nGive a young child a couple of toys or a box of crayons and he or she is likely to play for hours, deeply engrossed in an imaginary world. In both art and dramatic play, children construct settings, create fictional characters, and act out fantastic storylines that would be the envy of many Hollywood scriptwriters. Yet, ask that same child to write out a story in a blank notebook or a word processor and you would be lucky to capture a fraction of the depth and splendor of his or her imagination. Play inspires and scaffolds the creative process from an early age, but there is a persistent gap between the origins of imaginative play (ages 4-5) and kids' adoption of the formal discipline of creative writing (ages 8-10).\r\n\r\nAt Launchpad Toys, we're using mobile devices like the iPad to bridge this gap between informal and formal learning, to harness the power of play to help children capture and share their ideas with other kids around the world. Our first product, Toontastic an app for the iPad, is a creative learning tool that blends constructionist and social development theories to empower young children to create, learn, and share their ideas through play.", "one_liner": "Creativity at Play. Tablet toys. Acquired by Google, 2015.", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1326789510, "tags": [ "Education", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2011", "status": "Acquired", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": [ { "question": "How long have each of you been working on this? How much of that has been full-time? Please explain.\n", "answer": "One year.\r\n29,000+ lines of code (app)\r\n6000+ loc (server/web player)" }, { "question": "What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.\n", "answer": "At Launchpad Toys, we’re building the Adobe Creative Suite for kids – \r\na collection of digital toys and tools that empower children to create, learn, and share their ideas through play. We’re capitalizing on the touchscreen revolution to carve out a new market in Creative Education targeting 5-12 year-olds at the intersection of the kids gaming ($2.8B) and creative play ($3.5B) markets. Launchpad Toys inspire and guide kids’ stories, inventions, fashion designs, 3D models, recipes and more – all while promoting cultural literacy through sharing and collaboration with friends and family around the world." } ], "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/launchpad-toys", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2011/launchpad-toys.json", "year_founded": 2010, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/launchpad-toys", "github_url": null, "logo_url": null, "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 5642, "full_name": "Thushan Amarasiriwardena", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-founder of Launchpad Toys (S11), acquired by Google in 2015. Now lead of product for LLMs on the Google Assistant.", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/thushan", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/7a4135986f3fe29cfbf9d0b1178616bf8e49cea1.jpg" }, { "user_id": 73276, "full_name": "Andy Russell", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": null, "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/aar366/", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/dbdd6bb125d3843242dbadd9a1a888a615d017c2.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 152, "name": "Humble Bundle", "slug": "humble-bundle", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/3871c33f04d1b6b876b0a47537afa6930860bcfa.png", "website": "https://humble.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Humble Bundle is a distribution platform selling games, ebooks, software, and other digital content. Since Humble’s founding in 2010, our mission has been to support charity (“Humble”) while providing awesome content to customers at great prices (“Bundle”). We started by offering only game bundles, but have branched out to include an online storefront, a monthly subscription service, a publishing initiative, and lots more. We have raised over $250 million for charity. And we now have over 500,000 subscribers to our Humble Monthly.\r\n\r\nJoin our award winning team by checking out our careers page at https://jobs.humblebundle.com", "one_liner": "Pay what you want for awesome games and other content while giving to…", "team_size": 100, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1326789841, "tags": [ "Entertainment", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2011", "status": "Acquired", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Growth", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/humble-bundle", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2011/humble-bundle.json", "year_founded": 2011, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/humble-bundle", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/humble", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/humblebundle", "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/humble-bundle", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/3871c33f04d1b6b876b0a47537afa6930860bcfa.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 50009, "full_name": "Jeffrey Rosen", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder of Humble Bundle, now angel investing in YC companies", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreyr/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/dbecee2cc1ff31c8fc6e14c968871018a5c8c1ef.jpg" }, { "user_id": 31815, "full_name": "John Graham", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": null, "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/johngraham83", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f90acb9f1f66ab1f2237a591f50b5e6d847a2530.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 164, "name": "Mino Games", "slug": "mino-games", "former_names": [ "Minomonsters" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/573373ab6401e76024bab0260b4ba1cd64b7a1fe.png", "website": "http://minomonsters.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Montreal, QC, Canada", "long_description": "Top-25 grossing mobile gaming studio. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Y Combinator. ", "one_liner": "Mobile games company", "team_size": 11, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1326789959, "tags": [ "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2011", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "Canada", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Growth", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/mino-games", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2011/mino-games.json", "year_founded": null, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/minomonsters", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/573373ab6401e76024bab0260b4ba1cd64b7a1fe.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 506, "full_name": "Josh Buckley", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder of Mino Games (YC W11). Early investor in Rippling, Flock Safety, Applied Intuition, Figma, Gecko Robotics, Vercel, Athelas, Boom, Solugen, Relativity Space, Mercury, Astranis, ClassDojo, Retool, Lattice and many more. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-buckley-7612284/", "x_url": "https://x.com/joshbuckley", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/1d4b8cc4bc582f7fc1d1fb09192da4a3654b1466.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 16194, "title": "Game Developer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/mino-games/jobs/6Toj1IT1z-game-developer", "location": "Montreal, QC", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "C", "JavaScript" ] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Mino Games raises $15M to create Dimensionals Web3 game | VentureBeat", "url": "https://venturebeat.com/latest-games-reviews/mino-games-raises-15m-to-create-dimensionals-web3-game/", "date": "Feb 09, 2023" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 211, "name": "Koduco", "slug": "koduco", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "/company/thumb/missing.png", "website": "http://koduco.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Koduco makes iPad games that focus on multiplayer collaboration on the same device.", "one_liner": "iPad games.", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1326790324, "tags": [ "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2010", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/koduco", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2010/koduco.json", "year_founded": null, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": null, "x_url": null, "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/koduco", "github_url": null, "logo_url": null, "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 20584, "full_name": "Jonathan Beilin", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": null, "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonbeilin", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "/avatars/thumb/missing.png" }, { "user_id": 32708, "full_name": "Cole Krumbholz", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": null, "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/colekrumbholz/", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ffe0384b5b1b3a438f129ae275e93873050a4953.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 305, "name": "A Thinking Ape", "slug": "a-thinking-ape", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/26789e46d6456ae17e25d6e964c47f65717f0e92.png", "website": "http://athinkingape.com", "all_locations": "Vancouver, BC, Canada; Remote", "long_description": "Proudly recognized as one of CANADA'S TOP SMALL & MEDIUM EMPLOYERS for 2018!\r\n\r\nMission: We build communities.\r\n\r\nSurrounded by mountains and water in beautiful Vancouver, BC, we are smart people who like smart people. We create mobile games with a social core that engage players and provoke us with creative new problems. We value data, informal leadership and keeping it all balanced.\r\n\r\nWhen we set out to make games with massive online communities, we knew that we first had to create the ideal environment for building ambitious things: a place where brilliant and inspiring people come together to build games that make millions of players happy. We realized that we needed to find incredibly talented people and get out of their way. Since then we've paid careful attention to how we like to work together - these are some of our guiding principles: Ownership; Have Wonderful Arguments; The Best Ideas Win; Keep Growing.\r\n\r\nWe are artists, designers, and engineers. We leverage our talent with small, independent teams. 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As attention spans shrink to six seconds, brands can't afford lifeless popups, forms, or landing pages. We replace them with gamified conversion layers—quizzes, swipe games, stackers—that perform like performance marketing.\r\n\r\nAt Unity, our founding team helped personalize gameplay and ads for over 2 billion users. Now, we're bringing that behavioral insight to brand engagement, building a no-code platform where anyone can launch PlayAbly experiences in minutes. Think: instead of a \"Spin to Win,\" a match-3 game that sells your product, segments your audience, and gets 4× the opt-ins.\r\n\r\nWhy now? Retargeting costs are up. Email/SMS open rates are down. And today’s customers are conditioned by the dopamine loops of TikTok and mobile games. Generic funnels can’t compete—but interactive ones can.\r\n\r\nPlayAbly is already driving results:\r\n\r\nClasskick (B2B): 5× ROI, 3× higher email open rates\r\n\r\nSkout Snacks (DTC): 7× ROI, 20% higher AOV, 4× opt-in rates\r\n\r\n89% of previously lost sessions re-engaged through PlayAbly games\r\n\r\nWe monetize on a usage + performance model, enabling fast adoption and deep long-term value. We're building a new category: AI-powered gamification that converts attention into intent, on any surface where customers meet brands.\r\n\r\nhttps://www.playably.ai", "one_liner": "We build games to help brands engage, convert, and retain customers ", "team_size": 5, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B", "launched_at": 1750288819, "tags": [ "B2B", "Gaming", "Personalization", "E-commerce", "Marketing" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2019", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "B2B" ], "regions": [ "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": [ { "question": "How did your company get started? (i.e., How did the founders meet? How did you come up with the idea? How did you decide to be a founder?)", "answer": "We started PlayAbly because we saw the problem from the inside.John and Angelo met while working at **Unity Technologies**, where we helped scale ads and gameplay personalization to billions of users across mobile games. We saw firsthand how **interactive experiences and behavioral data could drive attention, trust, and action**—all in under six seconds.But outside of games? That magic was missing. We watched friends in **eCommerce and B2B** spend heavily on ads, only to lose users to static websites, generic forms, and boring popups. Every marketing funnel looked the same—and underperformed.We asked: _What if we brought the mechanics of play to commerce, sales, and brand storytelling?_So we built PlayAbly: a gamified engagement layer that turns any passive touchpoint—landing page, QR code, email popup—into a fun, branded, data-rich experience. We didn’t just want to optimize clickthroughs; we wanted to **make customer interaction feel like something people actually wanted to do**.We chose to be founders because we couldn’t unsee the gap—and we knew we had the technical and behavioral playbook to fill it." }, { "question": "What is the core problem you are solving? Why is this a big problem? What made you decide to work on it?", "answer": "**The Problem:**\\Brands spend billions to drive traffic—but lose most of it in the first 6 seconds. Today’s customer experience is passive, generic, and forgettable. Popups are ignored. Forms are abandoned. Retargeting is expensive. And brands don’t know _why_ visitors bounce or _who_ they really are.**Why it matters:**\\Whether it’s eCommerce, B2B, or in-store, **the attention funnel is broken**. Customers are trained by TikTok and games to expect interactivity and dopamine—yet most brand experiences still feel like static brochures. This leads to poor conversion rates, bloated CAC, weak data, and missed revenue. In a post-cookie world, brands need ways to engage and personalize without relying on surveillance or guesswork.**Why we’re working on it:**\\At Unity, we personalized gameplay for 2B+ users. We saw how **interactivity + real-time data** could drive deep engagement and monetization in milliseconds. But when we looked outside of gaming—at Shopify sites, SaaS landing pages, QR flows in restaurants—it was clear: brands had _no tools_ to make those touchpoints dynamic, fun, or behavior-aware.We built PlayAbly to fix that. Because **capturing attention shouldn’t feel like a chore**—and because we believe brand experiences should be just as interactive and addictive as the games people play every day." }, { "question": "What is your long-term vision? If you truly succeed, what will be different about the world?", "answer": "Our long-term vision is to replace passive brand touchpoints with **a new standard for interactive, personalized engagement—powered by play.**If we truly succeed, **every ad, popup, QR code, and landing page will become a game—one that captures attention, reveals intent, and feels native to the brand.** Just like TikTok rewired content discovery, PlayAbly will rewire how people experience commerce, lead funnels, and brand storytelling.But that’s just the start. As our experiences spread across eCommerce, B2B, retail, and hospitality, we’re building the foundation for a **first-party engagement network**—a permission-based, gamified layer where brands can acquire, qualify, and retain customers through interactive journeys, not invasive ads.Instead of renting attention from Meta or Google, brands will use PlayAbly to **own the moment of interaction**, gather usable zero-party data, and re-market through personalized games and offers that people actually want to play. And instead of interruptive ads, our long-term vision is to launch a **PlayAbly Ad Network**, where top-performing game experiences can be distributed across partner sites, apps, and displays—with performance economics and behavioral data baked in from the start.Imagine:* A DTC brand acquiring new customers not through banner ads, but through a mini-game embedded in a partner brand’s checkout page.* A restaurant upselling via a playful quiz shown on smart menus or receipts.* A SaaS company qualifying leads with an interactive diagnostic game built into someone else's onboarding flow.**We’re building the infrastructure for the gamified internet—where every touchpoint is playable, personal, and performant.**That’s the world we want to live in. And that’s the world PlayAbly will help create." } ], "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/playably", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2019/playably.json", "year_founded": 2022, "city": null, "country": null, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/playably", "x_url": "", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/PlayAbly/", "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/7b91c99b08fe6d4b5f8a1cf9542969f8f9ad14f6.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 330775, "full_name": "Michael Birk", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Michael Birk is a founder at Baotris", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbirk/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/155cb5f89de7e08bae4f4f2af1288217670a3995.jpg" }, { "user_id": 330167, "full_name": "John Cheng", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "John Cheng is the Founder and CEO of PlayAbly, a gamification platform transforming how brands engage and build loyalty with their customers. With a strong foundation in gaming, John co-founded Playnomics, an AI-driven platform designed to predict player behavior. Following its acquisition by Unity Technologies, John joined Unity's executive team to lead Unity Analytics, providing data and machine learning solutions to over 20,000 game developers and reaching more than a billion players", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnccheng/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/100c51ff1ce841f8a042f7db6ed79593c022010e.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 91780, "title": "PlayAbly - the confluence of shopping and entertainment", "tagline": "Introducing PlayAbly – Your customer engagement sucks. Try this instead.", "body": "Hey YC 👋 We’re John and Angelo — former Unity Technologies ads, analytics, and data leads — and we’re building **PlayAbly**: the AI-powered gamification layer that turns website traffic into high-intent, high-converting journeys. The confluence of shopping and entertainment.  \n\n🧠 At Unity, we personalized gameplay for 2B+ users across thousands of titles. Now we’re bringing that same behavioral insight to B2B brands and ecommerce — where most sites still feel too generic, not an engaging experience\n\n🎯 We saw it firsthand: brands burning cash on top-of-funnel, only to leak it through lifeless landing pages, collection pages, and generic lead forms. So we built PlayAbly — a conversion layer that feels like fun but performs like performance marketing.\n\n🌍 Used by both B2B and DTC:\n\n* **Classkick (B2B tool for teachers)**: to qualify and convert education leads via smart quiz games.\n* **Skout (DTC Kid’s Snacks)**: to increase AOV and conversion rates with fun product discovery\n\n🧨 TL;DR: Replace \"Spin to Win\" with a game your online customer _actually_ wants to play.\n\n---\n\n### **❌ The Problem**\n\nBrands spend on Meta, TikTok, SEO — but don’t _retain_ attention once shoppers land. Today’s customers ignore pop-ups, abandon forms, and bounce from even the best-looking sites. Why?\n\nBecause passive web experiences can’t compete with the dopamine drip of social and mobile gaming. And standard segmentation flows — quizzes, email captures — are too slow, too boring, or too static to convert attention into action.\n\nRetargeting is expensive, email/SMS open rates are tanking, and most stores don’t know who their customers really are.\n\n🕳️ Most marketing funnels are:\n\n* Bland → no interaction, no retention\n* Blind → poor data on why visitors bounce\n* Bloated → costly retargeting with low ROAS\n\n### **✅ Our Solution**\n\n**PlayAbly** creates opportunities for engagement —online, in-store, and everywhere in between.\n\nWe help brands turn passive moments into active engagement—whether that’s on a website, at a retail display, with a QR code at a restaurant, or in a B2B lead funnel. From quizzes to mini-games, our interactive layers boost attention, capture data, and drive action—bridging consumption and entertainment to make every brand moment more memorable and more effective.\n\n**Playable funnels**: Games that _feel native to your brand_ and drive:\n\n* 📈 Higher engagement\n* 💬 Useable first-party data\n* 💸 Measurable revenue lift - conversions up to 3x, 2x more email/SMS opt-ins than the leading popup, recover 89% of lost engagement\n\n🎯 How it works:\n\n* Choose from our library of high-performing game templates (e.g. match-3, swipe, scratch, stack)\n* Customize it to your brand’s look, products, and tone\n* Integrate via Shopify, Klaviyo, Hubspot, or embed directly\n* Launch in minutes — no dev required\n* OR - if you’re looking for a more custom game, let us know what you’re looking for\n\n🧠 Behind the scenes: AI + behavioral data personalize the game, questions, and post-game flow based on real-time signals.\n\n---\n\n### **🚀 Why It Works**\n\nOur games don’t just entertain — they segment, educate, and convert:\n\n* **DTC: Skout Results: 7X ROI, 4X Email Opt-ins, 20% Higher AOV** \n\n ![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=91780&key=user_uploads/330167/3f68a566-f189-489f-b637-08595f1985f3)\n\n* **B2B: Classkick Results: 5X ROI, 3X Email Open Rates** \n\n ![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=91780&key=user_uploads/330167/570759ec-4110-4bd6-bc39-ad002047c964)\n\n\nRetention’s better too: PlayAbly games collect data that actually gets used — building better lists, sequences, and personalization downstream.\n\n---\n\n### **💡 Why We Built It**\n\nAt Unity, we pioneered user-level personalization through gameplay — optimizing ads and UX with real-time behavioral signals. We saw firsthand how play builds trust, surfaces intent, and creates emotional stickiness.\n\nWe asked: what if B2B sales and ecommerce wasn’t just functional, but _fun_?\n\nSo we built PlayAbly:\n\n* To help brands personalize authentically — not creepily\n* To make every site visit feel like a VIP concierge interaction\n* To let brands build relationships, not just retargeting funnels\n\nWe believe AI should act like the best in-store rep: observant, empathetic, memorable — not a template engine.\n\n---\n\n### **🕹️ Want to Try?**\n\nWe’re working with DTC and B2B brands who want:\n\n* Better conversion/retention without more ad spend\n* Higher-quality customer data, captured playfully\n* Personalization built around _actual_ shopper behavior\n\n🕹️ Try a PlayAbly game: \n\n* [Skout Cookie Rush](https://playably-game-uploads.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/1747846715251/game/index.html)\n* [Replacements Matching Game](https://playably-game-uploads.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/1745836341267/game/index.html)\n* [Playfield Dog Days of Winter Advent Calendar](https://advent-calendar.ourplayfield.com/)\n* [PlayAbly Spinner Hunt](https://playably-game-uploads.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/1746022904086/game/index.html)\n* [Harmony 783](https://playably-game-uploads.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/1747054636675/game/index.html)\n\n\\\n[Book a Demo ](https://calendly.com/john-baotris/playably-demo-kf?)\n\n**Offer: Mention YC and get 20% off your first game** \n\nWhether you're selling skincare, classrooms, or courseware — let’s make it fun, data-rich, and wildly effective.\n\n#ai #ecommerce #gamification #dtc #b2b #retention #personalization #zero_party_data", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/NsK-playably-the-confluence-of-shopping-and-entertainment", "votes": 5, "created_at": "2025-07-02T15:10:48.916Z" } ] }, { "id": 12768, "name": "Ramen VR", "slug": "ramen-vr", "former_names": [ "RamenVR", "Ramen VR", "Zenith" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a7c073a2ccf01b410c9d549753dd965b8febee93.png", "website": "https://ramenvr.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; El Cerrito, CA, USA", "long_description": "XR + AI are the most fundamental computing shifts of the past century.\r\nWe're using XR and AI to build products that empower creators of online games and virtual worlds.\r\n\r\nMeaningful games can change lives, and every game starts with its developers. We believe that game devs can change the world.\r\n‍\r\nWe're a team of devs working on solving the hardest problems in game development. We previously built the #1 VR game Zenith: The Last City on Steam and Quest.\r\n\r\nWe've raised $40m+ to date and have been working in stealth on our next game as well as tools that will shape the future of game development.", "one_liner": "Ramen VR is transforming game development with advanced XR + AI tools.", "team_size": 15, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1557843718, "tags": [ "Virtual Reality", "Gaming", "Social", "AI", "AR" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2019", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Growth", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/ramen-vr", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2019/ramen-vr.json", "year_founded": 2019, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/ramen-vr", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/RamenVROfficial", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ramen-vr", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a7c073a2ccf01b410c9d549753dd965b8febee93.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 54091, "full_name": "Andy Tsen", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "CEO/Co-founder of Ramen VR. Product/Engineering/Game Development.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=62805976&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/816ca047f6b76772396ec6e9d29b7824acd3147d.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "VR MMO 'Zenith' Releases Final Content Update & Drops Price Amid Development Halt", "url": "https://www.roadtovr.com/ramen-vr-stops-work-on-zenith/", "date": "Aug 29, 2024" }, { "title": "VR MMO 'Zenith' Releases F2P Mode Open Beta on Quest & PC VR", "url": "https://www.roadtovr.com/vr-mmo-zenith-free-to-play-quest-steam/", "date": "Feb 19, 2024" }, { "title": "Zenith Studio Ramen VR Welcomes New World Creative Director To The Team - MMOs.com", "url": "https://mmos.com/news/zenith-ramen-vr-new-hire-developers", "date": "Feb 04, 2023" }, { "title": "Zenith: the Last City Marks a Year Since Launch, Talks Next Patch and PSVR2 | MMORPG.com", "url": "https://www.mmorpg.com/news/zenith-the-last-city-marks-a-year-since-launch-talks-next-patch-and-psvr2-2000127180", "date": "Jan 27, 2023" }, { "title": "Zenith developers Ramen VR Raise $35M In Series B Funding", "url": "https://uploadvr.com/zenith-series-b-funding/", "date": "Mar 19, 2022" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 13111, "name": "Pantheon", "slug": "pantheon", "former_names": [ "Simplata", "BlitzBowl (was Simplata)", "BlitzBowl", "Jostle" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/49e5ca6976b0b3c7b5f57410296411904fbbd0fd.png", "website": "https://www.joinpantheon.io/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Pantheon is an online competitive community of the brightest students in the world. High school and middle school students match with each other based on skill level and compete head-to-head in real-time to see who can answer questions fastest, much like offline competitions such as Science Bowl.", "one_liner": "A competitive community of the brightest students in the world", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Education", "subindustry": "Education", "launched_at": 1584056598, "tags": [ "Education", "Gaming", "Social" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2020", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "Education" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/pantheon", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2020/pantheon.json", "year_founded": 2020, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/joinpantheon", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/joinpantheon", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/49e5ca6976b0b3c7b5f57410296411904fbbd0fd.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 424044, "full_name": "Ali Ahmed", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "CEO @ Revenue Operations, Inc\nPrev. co-founder @ Brev.dev (acq NVIDIA)", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-aka-ahmed", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/ali_aka_ahmed", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/76ae3c04ac474fcbf69f8e15e1b60b0c7b1eb4e4.jpg" }, { "user_id": 318039, "full_name": "Akshath Sivaprasad", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "interested in AI-driven edtech, cross-chain infrastructure, and autoimmune therapies", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/akshathsivaprasad", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/heyitaki", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/50a6638ab7fe7c5a8306576fbbe97ba86663ce41.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 13223, "name": "Multiverse", "slug": "multiverse", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/2c465bc9ae3c4776b9138c232b0b6b94184936fa.png", "website": "http://www.playmultiverse.com", "all_locations": "Boston, MA, USA; Remote", "long_description": "Multiverse is a web-based game creation system inspired by Dungeons & Dragons and Roblox with a marketplace for assets from A-list creators. 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Illustrator of comics and children's books and Art Director. ", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-alfa/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/SaraAlfageeh", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/95b4ffd9ac16246468b93c0dd5397ef4675a2dd2.jpg" }, { "user_id": 420706, "full_name": "Hisham Bedri", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Hisham is a serial inventor and dev. 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That's when I found that my strength and passion lie in journeying with an idea to a finished product and see it flourish.\n\nI have the objective of creating and managing excellent products that are not only the answers to all questions customers pose but also a delight to have in their lives. 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We're on a mission to build the leading fitness entertainment experience, motivating our community through game psychology, engaging content, and innovative technology.", "one_liner": "Aviron transforms workouts with game-based exercise machines, making…", "team_size": 90, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Home and Personal", "launched_at": 1610575224, "tags": [ "Sports Tech", "Consumer Health Services", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2021", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Home and Personal" ], "regions": [ "Canada", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/aviron-interactive", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2021/aviron-interactive.json", "year_founded": 2018, "city": "Toronto", "country": "CA", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/aviron-interactive", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/avironactive", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/avironactive", "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/8d1b859d99f654a1c205c27880e536814118b5c7.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 374261, "full_name": "Andy Hoang", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "A third-generation entrepreneur and self-described “tech nerd”, who believes in the power of using fitness and technology to better people’s lives.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-hoang-93067226/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/avironandy", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4bf2b96087f6e286baa6fe393fb0915e338e1944.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Gamified home rowing machine Aviron raises $4.5M – TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/11/gamified-home-rowing-machine-aviron-raises-4-5m/", "date": "Aug 11, 2021" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 23185, "name": "Mythia", "slug": "mythia", "former_names": [ "Empathize.com", "Mythra.com", "Mythra", "Mythia", "In Stealth" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/33e2217a30ebcdb9fa4d5c067a1c1826d7c3b0f1.png", "website": "", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Remote", "long_description": "", "one_liner": "Rewards card for gamers", "team_size": 0, "industry": "Fintech", "subindustry": "Fintech", "launched_at": 1616601392, "tags": [ "Fintech", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2021", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "Fintech" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/mythia", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2021/mythia.json", "year_founded": 2018, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/33e2217a30ebcdb9fa4d5c067a1c1826d7c3b0f1.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 163191, "full_name": "Derek (Pankaew) Wild", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Currently working on Listening.com. We turn academic papers into audio, so grad students & researchers can listen on the go. \n\n-- Previously at Mythia (W21). Rewards card for gamers, then crypto analytics. We raised ~$2.2 million, and had $500,000+ in revenue.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/dpankaew/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/33fe5b4369c26199e60fdf15b3eb961488285528.jpg" }, { "user_id": 392043, "full_name": "Eric Lafleche", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Currently working on Listening.com. We turn academic papers into audio, so grad students & researchers can listen on the go. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericlafleche/", "x_url": "https://x.com/ericlafleche", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/676fe30c72902de58a67412a4cfa9d060e729a68.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 23305, "name": "Galaxy", "slug": "galaxy", "former_names": [ "Lucky Card", "Galaxy", "Lucky Card", "Blade", "Galaxy", "Blade", "GalaxySDK", "Galaxy", "Swizzle" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0da58d4ab6362afcfb9c0b023f7f423544c6a7e7.png", "website": "https://launchpointhq.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "", "one_liner": "", "team_size": 2, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Infrastructure", "launched_at": 1617697652, "tags": [ "Developer Tools", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2021", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "B2B", "Infrastructure" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/galaxy", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2021/galaxy.json", "year_founded": 2020, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0da58d4ab6362afcfb9c0b023f7f423544c6a7e7.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Harj Taggar", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/harj-taggar" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 263116, "full_name": "Adam Neuwirth", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-founder at https://launchpointhq.com", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/adambn/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4c0864f90d5b0d9c2400139ff59dbd81083ea44b.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 70127, "title": "Galaxy 🕹️ - Social multiplayer for games", "tagline": "Add clans & community to any game in under an hour.", "body": "**The Problem:** Mobile games are fun for a while, but players get bored quickly (especially when it’s singleplayer)\n\n**The Solution:** Competing with friends makes games way more interesting\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=70127&key=user_uploads/263116/31b26d16-89c8-4088-80a4-8d47611a6919)\n\nGalaxy is a free SDK that adds **community** to any single or multiplayer game (in less than an hour). \n\n* _Clans_: Players can create, join, and recruit teams. They compete against other teams and can chat with the group.\n* _Real Friends_: Players can sync their contacts and easily see/interact with their friends on leaderboards.\n* _Avatars_: Demonstrating the authenticity of opponents amplifies the feeling of winning. It also provides an optional revenue stream to games who want to sell cosmetics.\n* _Powerful Leaderboards:_ Configure & manage leaderboards from a dashboard. Set up automatic prizes, repeating tournaments, ban users, customize UI, and more.\n\nPlayers love it. Session length increases by \\~1m55s and D7 retention rises by as much as 37%. Additionally, teams encourage players to invite their friends who don’t already play the game - leading to free user growth as well. Here’s a graph from one of our customers after they added Clan leaderboards: \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=70127&key=user_uploads/263116/a21e9395-7c8f-4bdd-b6bf-48c1949b33a9)\n\nBut what about implementation? We’ve worked hard to make it as simple as possible to implement. Here’s the steps:\n\n1. Call ReportScore()\n2. Call ShowLeaderboard()\n\nThat’s it! The UI is customizable, localized and works on mobile or web.\n\nWe’re already working with 115 games and serving over 250,000 end users. You can [sign up](https://galaxysdk.com) for free or [book a call](https://calendly.com/adambn/galaxy-sdk) if you’re interested.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/IF5-galaxy-social-multiplayer-for-games", "votes": 49, "created_at": "2023-03-10T02:32:14.148Z" } ] }, { "id": 24235, "name": "SenpAI.GG", "slug": "senpai-gg", "former_names": [ "FalconAI Technologies", "Inc." ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a6c8258727ded9f770fd8c876b78d8e1cb257385.png", "website": "https://senpai.gg/", "all_locations": "Boston, MA, USA", "long_description": "SenpAI.gg is a gaming coach for the 1.4 billion PC gamers globally. SenpAI.gg’s desktop application makes personalized recommendations in the game and provides post-game feedback to help gamers improve faster. It is the most comprehensive assistant that supports gamers before and during the game via Voice Assistant, or an overlay that uses computer vision. The company is Boston-based and founded by Olcay Yilmazcoban (MIT researcher & gamer) and Berk Ozer (engineer & gamer). We raised $3M seed funding (ACT Venture Partners) and we are in the Summer 2021 Batch of Y Combinator. https://senpai.gg/", "one_liner": "Personal gaming coach for PC gamers globally ", "team_size": 12, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1626116127, "tags": [ "Assistive Tech", "Gaming", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2021", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/senpai-gg", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2021/senpai-gg.json", "year_founded": 2017, "city": "Boston", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/senpaigg/mycompany/?viewAsMember=true", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/senpai-gg", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a6c8258727ded9f770fd8c876b78d8e1cb257385.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 397392, "full_name": "Olcay Yilmazcoban", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I'm 3x founder (also a Y Combinator founder) and a former VC investor with an engineering background. ", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/olcay-yilmazcoban/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/be62c45ed3ad822928cbc85716485c8cc9732a3c.jpg" }, { "user_id": 397410, "full_name": "Berk Ozer", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I’m a 2-time entrepreneur (also a Y Combinator founder), a former management consultant at Deloitte, and a former software developer", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozerberk/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/berkbuilds", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/161226e893708ccddf44db03cbb3bfef9f6fbfff.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "SenpAI.GG wants to be your AI-powered video game coach – TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/06/senpai-gg-wants-to-be-your-ai-powered-video-game-coach/", "date": "Aug 06, 2021" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 24830, "name": "GamerPay", "slug": "gamerpay", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f8dc7e6411f0e24078034824dc1838738dc806d3.png", "website": "https://gamerpay.gg", "all_locations": "Copenhagen, Denmark", "long_description": "GamerPay is a marketplace for trading gaming skins and assets without scams. We do this by integrating with games to instantly validate all trades.\r\n\r\nWe launched 3 months ago and transacted 245.000 dollars growing 30% MoM. \r\n\r\nTalking to 5.000 gamers we learned that 46% have been scammed more than once. Over half are minors, who are stuck trading for cash on social media due to their age. \r\n\r\nWe are the first to build a fully compliant system for parental consent, enabling the majority of gamers to trade legally and giving the parents peace of mind.\r\n\r\nThere are 215 million trades annually in games we support. We make 7 dollars on average per trade. So a $1.5B initial market, growing fast alongside gaming and blockchain game economies. \r\n\r\nThe team behind previously co-founded the largest transactional marketplace for secondhand high end clothes in Denmark, with 1 million users and a yearly transacted GMV north of $40 million.", "one_liner": "We are the marketplace for trading gaming skins & assets without scams", "team_size": 6, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1624993690, "tags": [ "Fintech", "Marketplace", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2021", "status": "Acquired", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "Denmark", "Europe" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/gamerpay", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2021/gamerpay.json", "year_founded": 2020, "city": "Copenhagen", "country": "DK", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/gamerpayio/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/GamerPayGG", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/gamerpay.gg", "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/gamerpay", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f8dc7e6411f0e24078034824dc1838738dc806d3.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 717748, "full_name": "Martin Lykke Suhr", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Generalist, coder, head of growth, paid marketing - Co-founder of GamerPay, ex. ultrarunner, farther of two.\n\nPreviously co-founded Denmarks largest transactional marketplace Trendsales. Grew it from 0 to 1 mio. users and a GMV north of 40mill dollars.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/martingeorgesuhrmadsen/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/1a102d47116ff281c703eeed6fdcb512946c53c2.jpg" }, { "user_id": 149477, "full_name": "Morten Byskov", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-founder @ GamerPay and Product Lead. \nI love winning, especially peoples hearts. I'm double black belt in Karate, I never quit and I'm always on the lookout for that next challenge. My career consist of 5 years as a broker @ Maersk, 2 years as a PO @ SumUp along with a few startup failures. I'm also graduate of YC's first online Startup School (2017). Winner of Net’s Fintech Challenge, and winner of Startup Weekend. \n\nAll this has lead to you reading these lines.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/mortenbyskov", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/zukwizCS", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ded0710bedff2e6b3f5278ffd54858105f5f7b02.jpg" }, { "user_id": 721484, "full_name": "Peter Haldbæk", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-founder at GamerPay.\n\nMore than 20 years of development experience ranging from traditional web applications, backend development, fat desktop clients and native mobile apps in both corporate and startup settings.\n\nIndustry experience ranges from banking, shipping and the public sector to marketplaces in the startup space along with consulting jobs as a contractor.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterhaldbaek/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/phaldbaek", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ce4b968ab33b6d34a3d8207d7669c5b1c7f4eae4.jpg" }, { "user_id": 725797, "full_name": "Mathias Hermansen", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-founder & CEO of GamerPay. Been working on marketplaces since 2013 covering various business & Product mgmt roles. Held roles as COO and most recently as CPO building Denmarks largest transactional marketplace going from 0 til $40 mio GMV. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathias-hermansen-34b1b88/ ", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e3482ea0087c6a977f9c5f75f627df96a5af1979.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "GamerPay In-Game Ev.io NFTs Crypto Can’t Buy | Hypemoon", "url": "https://hypemoon.com/2022/12/gamerpay-to-release-in-game-nft-assets-for-ev-io-that-crypto-cant-buy", "date": "Dec 14, 2022" }, { "title": "GamerPay Raises $2 Million and Enters Partnership With Esport Team Ninjas in Pyjamas to Fight Scamming for Millions of Dollars", "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gamerpay-raises-2-million-enters-080000750.html", "date": "Oct 27, 2021" }, { "title": "GamerPay accepted in Y Combinator, so what is next?", "url": "https://www.computerworld.dk/art/257387/dansk-e-sportsplatform-faar-plads-i-det-eftertragtede-y-combinator-vores-foerste-maal-er-at-naa-en-aarlig-omsaetning-paa-100-millioner-dollar", "date": "Aug 02, 2021" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 25363, "name": "Gym Class", "slug": "gym-class", "former_names": [ "IRL Studios Inc.", "Gym Class (by IRL Studios).", "Gym Class - by IRL Studios" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e438633e05de663b191967c5704ad238e1070ea1.png", "website": "https://gymclass.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Remote", "long_description": "Gym Class is a social platform where you can play games, make friends, and create and share your own experiences. Join a community of millions across virtual reality and mobile.", "one_liner": "Connecting the world by simulating it", "team_size": 20, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Social", "launched_at": 1642203216, "tags": [ "Virtual Reality", "Consumer", "Gaming", "Social", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Social" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Growth", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/gym-class", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/gym-class.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/gymclassvr/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/gymclassvr", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/p/Gym-Class-VR-100083405955655/", "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e438633e05de663b191967c5704ad238e1070ea1.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 674643, "full_name": "Justin Hubert", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "3D artist specializing in virtual reality (VR) production. Based in Long Beach, CA.\n\nCofounder Gym Class by IRL Studios Inc. W22. Previously led VR art development at Insperience ( Walmart's Store No. 8 )", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-hubert-971153104/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/Juicebox775", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/9c737411a290e2c446517c4fd83a6576141731e1.jpg" }, { "user_id": 41410, "full_name": "Paul Katsen", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Cofounder Gym Class (W22) and cofounded Blockspring (S14) which exited to Coinbase. Led Product for Twitter's Home feed, the company's largest surface with ~200M daily active users. Shipped consumer crypto products at Coinbase - like USDC Interest, Coinbase Card, instant debit withdrawals, instant deposit, global send/receive, and more.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulkatsen", "x_url": "https://www.twitter.com/pavtalk", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/3bdcdfd8bb70c4e41a70b210bbae0d8af85d22b0.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 81226, "title": "Design Engineer (Senior / Staff / Principal)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/gym-class/jobs/ywXHGBv-design-engineer-senior-staff-principal", "location": "US / CA / MX / Remote (US; CA; MX)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Design", "role_type": "Mobile design", "salary_range": "$170K - $240K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "6+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "CSS", "Node.js", "React", "Design systems", "Figma" ] } ], "news": [ { "title": "‘Gym Class’ Gets Official MLB Bundle and NBA Playoffs 2025 Pass | Meta Quest Blog | Meta Store (en-gb)", "url": "https://www.meta.com/blog/gym-class-mlb-bundle-nba-playoffs-2025/", "date": "Jun 02, 2025" }, { "title": "Gym Class VR inks MLB licensing deal, all 30 clubs added to game", "url": "https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/06/03/gym-class-vr-game-adds-mlb-licensing/", "date": "Jun 02, 2025" }, { "title": "NBA Fans to Soon Play on All 30 Team Courts in Gym Class Vr Video Game for Meta Quest | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report", "url": "https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10065863-nba-fans-can-play-on-all-30-team-courts-in-gym-class-vr-video-game-for-meta-quest", "date": "Feb 16, 2023" }, { "title": "Play Basketball On NBA Courts In VR With Gym Class - VRScout", "url": "https://vrscout.com/news/play-basketball-on-nba-courts-in-vr-with-gym-class/", "date": "Feb 14, 2023" }, { "title": "Gym Class VR, NBA Join Forces With New Licensing Deal", "url": "https://boardroom.tv/gym-class-vr-nba-partnership/", "date": "Feb 09, 2023" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 25417, "name": "Koala", "slug": "koala", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b5d5c67d898170e24a0111b4d2de9a5cffb5ca25.png", "website": "https://www.teachwithkoala.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Remote", "long_description": "PROBLEM 😩\r\n\r\nZoom is great for adults, not ideal to engage an 8 year old online.\r\n\r\nSOLUTION 🔥\r\n\r\nKoala Go, the award-winning interactive platform for online teaching businesses.\r\n\r\nLearn more at https://teachwithkoala.com/", "one_liner": "Minecraft for Teachers", "team_size": 11, "industry": "Education", "subindustry": "Education", "launched_at": 1641252061, "tags": [ "Education", "Marketplace", "Gaming", "Metaverse" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Education" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/koala", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/koala.json", "year_founded": 2020, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/teachwithkoala", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/studioseinstein?s=11", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/TeachWithKoala", "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/einstein-studios", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b5d5c67d898170e24a0111b4d2de9a5cffb5ca25.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 722547, "full_name": "Xavier Lesage Moretti", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Xavier was born and raised in Paris, France. \nWhen he turned 21, he got an internship at Apple in California and never came back to France.\nXavier currently lives in San Francisco with his fiancée.\nHe would not trade his entrepreneurial life for anything.\nXavier's favorite TV show are West Wing and Friends.\nHe's a decent skier, basketball player and plays real time strategy games. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/xavier-lesage-moretti/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/eafb746db7a37a1d2100eef4fc1b842468d24901.jpg" }, { "user_id": 856511, "full_name": "Benjamin Roux", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-roux-3b224237", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/cf9871fad2ced856ec18dc7b522ba09a94d34831.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 68181, "title": "🐨 Learn with Koala", "tagline": "Igniting a love of learning in every child", "body": "**Tl;dr Dear parents, fun live online classes made for kids now exist.** [**Koala**](https://www.learnwithkoala.com) **is a fun alternative to Zoom for kids’ online classes. 🌅**\\\n\\\nHi 👋🏽, we’re [Xavier](https://www.linkedin.com/in/xavier-lesage-moretti/) (left) and [Ben](https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-roux-3b224237) (right). \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=68181&key=user_uploads/722547/644eec02-04f8-439b-809a-65eaa5f4a36f)\n\nWe’re ex-Apple engineers, raised by teachers. We were also each other’s best men 🤵🏽\n\n—\n\n# 🧠 “Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning.”\n\nRight?\n\nBut for kids, live online classes feel like\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=68181&key=user_uploads/89898/db10a76d-b9d8-4c59-bb13-bc6ddde51086)\n\n**That’s why we co-founded** [**Koala**](https://www.learnwithkoala.com/)**.**\n\nA fun alternative to Zoom for kids’ online classes. It looks like this:\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=68181&key=user_uploads/722547/6602212c-2b53-4dab-87b3-84df77568cc2)\n\nInspired by Minecraft, Koala quickly attracted thousands of teachers and their students. Kids and teachers loved it.\n\n💚 Our community of teachers helped us iterate fast on our MVP\\\n🥳 We got into YC W22\\\n🥇 Koala won awards\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=68181&key=user_uploads/89898/4fae7fb1-f415-4ed3-8eec-6434a98caac5)\n\n# \n\n# **🔥 Today, we’re launching our new product: Learn with Koala**\n\nFun live online classes you can book for your kids with the best teachers.\n\nOur 3 favorite classes:\n\n* [**Introduction to Chinese** by an ex-startup exec \\[5 - 8 years old\\]](https://www.learnwithkoala.com/classes/52e67bd4-baad-4c4c-b245-dac23504aed0?utm_source=Launch+YC&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=top+3+classes)\n* [**Code a video game** with a Y Combinator CTO \\[10 - 14 years old\\]](https://www.learnwithkoala.com/classes/0d21c80a-0453-4d0d-bf6c-913cf9040c7b?utm_source=Launch+YC&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=top+3+classes)\n* [**English for non-native speakers** by Mrs Emily \\[4 - 9 years old\\]](https://www.learnwithkoala.com/classes/8cc956fb-21df-4cb6-8c88-934b98b5911f?utm_source=Launch+YC&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=top+3+classes)\n\n—\n\n# ❤️ Want to support us?\n\nBook one of the 3 classes above or any class at and **let us know how we can make our product better** 🙏🏼\n\nDon’t go easy on us! 😉\n\nMuch love\n\nThe Koala founders 🐨", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Hjh-learn-with-koala", "votes": 305, "created_at": "2023-01-04T16:48:00.266Z" } ] }, { "id": 25603, "name": "Reforged Labs", "slug": "reforged-labs", "former_names": [ "Nook" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4d777f64a6f8aa21e8a0f44f260c8cb87a5ac203.png", "website": "https://reforgedlabs.com/", "all_locations": "Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam", "long_description": "Reforged Labs Boa is the AI creative intelligence agent that answers all your questions about what ads are performing, why they work, and what to create next.", "one_liner": "Turn intuition into insights, in minutes", "team_size": 19, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Marketing", "launched_at": 1644566628, "tags": [ "B2B", "Gaming", "Marketing", "Advertising", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Marketing" ], "regions": [ "Vietnam", "Southeast Asia", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/reforged-labs", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/reforged-labs.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": null, "country": "VN", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/reforged-labs", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/reforged-labs", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4d777f64a6f8aa21e8a0f44f260c8cb87a5ac203.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/7f89b8d94799a64ab0b9d98288bb73afc4fd725c.png" ], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 844410, "full_name": "Robert Huynh", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Robert is the co-founder and CEO of Reforged Labs. Previously, he was at some of the world's largest tech companies (X the moonshot lab/Google/Microsoft) before starting his MBA at Harvard Business School.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/huynhrobert/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/c88a0761aa24dc466370fd06c8ea85e7c022001f.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 92614, "title": "Software Engineer, AI Systems", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/reforged-labs/jobs/MNhGZV1-software-engineer-ai-systems", "location": "Ho Chi Minh, Viet Nam", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$1 - $100", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [] }, { "id": 92615, "title": "Product Manager, Enterprise", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/reforged-labs/jobs/EUk5TFZ-product-manager-enterprise", "location": "San Francisco, United States / SG / Remote (US; VN; SG)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Product", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$1 - $100", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Reforged Labs begins open beta for generative AI-created mobile game ads following $3.9m investment | PocketGamer.biz", "url": "https://www.pocketgamer.biz/reforged-labs-begins-open-beta-for-generative-ai-created-mobile-game-ads-following-39m-investment/", "date": "Nov 19, 2024" }, { "title": "Reforged Labs launches AI ad-creation service for mobile games in open beta | VentureBeat", "url": "https://venturebeat.com/games/reforged-labs-launches-ai-ad-creation-service-for-mobile-games-in-open-beta/", "date": "Nov 15, 2024" }, { "title": "Reforged Labs secures $3.9 million for gaming ads with GenAI | PocketGamer.biz", "url": "https://www.pocketgamer.biz/reforged-labs-secures-39-million-for-gaming-ads-with-genai/", "date": "Aug 18, 2024" }, { "title": "You can’t spell gaming without AI | Tech in Asia", "url": "https://www.techinasia.com/spell-gaming-ai", "date": "Aug 13, 2024" }, { "title": "Reforged Labs Raises $3.9 Million", "url": "https://reforgedlabs.com/blog/reforged-labs-raises-3-9-million-to-transform-gaming-ads-with-genai", "date": "Aug 09, 2024" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 78942, "title": "Reforged Labs - Generate and optimize video ad campaigns", "tagline": "Generate and optimize video ad campaigns at superhuman speed", "body": "![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=78942&key=user_uploads/844410/a67b3219-3d42-44ad-b0fc-77040bc0eb90)\n\n**TL;DR:** [Reforged Labs](https://reforgedlabs.com/) is automating the full marketing cycle for mobile game studios with GenAI. Our text-to-ad creation and campaign performance solutions will slash time spent on ad creatives and help game developers get more mileage out of their game ad budgets.\n\n😤 **THE PROBLEM**:\n\nMarketing games is expensive and challenging. Mobile game studios spend >50% of their budgets on marketing - more than on development itself - to acquire and retain players. Today, your marketing workflow likely consists of this:\n\n* Design up to thousands of image, video, and playable ad units per campaign - for multiple campaigns across multiple ad networks\n* Analyze how each ad unit performs - then try your best to figure out which aspects of your ads made them hit or miss (because your reporting tools won’t be giving you that data)\n* Revise your ads and design new ones based on your best guess on what makes your players tick, without knowing whether your experimentation will pay off\n* Manually replace old and low-performing ads with new ones, and repeat the process across all your ad channels\n\n🤩 **THE SOLUTION**:\n\nWe make marketing campaigns substantially faster to run + deliver higher returns on your ad spend. Upload your game images and footage, enter simple text prompts for the ads you’d like to see, and we’ll extract the relevant visual assets and create your ads using a proprietary combination of LLMs, machine perception, and computer vision. Automatically resize finished creatives to fit multi-platform specs and export them as campaign-ready ad units.\n\nReduce your ad development time from days / weeks / months to minutes.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=78942&key=user_uploads/844410/179c886c-ad78-41b9-bc44-f9c4d354a183)\n\nOnce your campaign is up and running, our models analyze and identify which attributes likely made certain ads more effective. Our self-improving models will\n\n🎨 Improve your existing ads by adjusting visual elements to include performance-lifting attributes\n\n🌟 Create new & original ads based on re-scanning your uploaded assets\n\n🚀 Automatically push new & improved ads to your x-channel campaigns and retire low-performers\n\nIncrease the ROI on your biggest expense with continuous, data-driven optimization.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=78942&key=user_uploads/844410/03f5587d-e3e3-4796-88f5-5b8aa2871c30)\n\n🎮 **OUR STORY**:\n\n[**Oscar**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscarxingluo) and I ([**Robert**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/huynhrobert/)) met over two years ago as serial founders who shared a love for gaming (and countless hours of duo-queuing in League of Legends). We wanted to put our data science and GenAI/deep learning backgrounds to work on solving one of the biggest problems in a space we’re deeply passionate about - and that’s how Reforged Labs was founded six months ago. We’ve since formed a guild of ex-Googlers, ex-Rioters, ex-Microsofties, and a rolodex of indie and multinational clients, to join us on our journey to innovate game marketing!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=78942&key=user_uploads/844410/d5a46d9b-d785-4a88-aea3-c26aa725589a)\n\n🙏 OUR ASK:\n\n* **Warm intros!** Share our post with mobile game developers, publishers, agencies, or marketers who’d like to explore what GenAI can do for them - we’d love to connect! Our waitlist is [**here**](https://reforgedlabs.com/) and our inbox is always open at [**founders@reforgedlabs.com**](mailto:robert@reforgedlabs.com)\n* **Ideas and feedback!** We’re constantly looking to connect with people with expertise in gaming, martech, and AI. Hit us up through our [**Calendly**](https://calendly.com/reforged/meet-robert) to let us know what would make you want to use a product like Reforged, or just to chat!\n\n**Meet with us in person at GDC March 18-22.** We’ll be around the corner of the Moscone Center and ready to mingle!", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/KXG-reforged-labs-generate-and-optimize-video-ad-campaigns", "votes": 28, "created_at": "2024-03-01T14:10:59.180Z" } ] }, { "id": 25820, "name": "Fello", "slug": "fello", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/5217735d0eee015e36414930d3f8d9c1c25f207e.png", "website": "https://fello.in", "all_locations": "Bengaluru, KA, India", "long_description": "Fello is a game-based savings and investment application for the gen-z and young millennials of India to save play and earn returns more than a traditional savings bank account. We are merging the worlds of gaming and finance to make finance fun, easy and rewarding!\r\n\r\nUsers can save and invest in financial assets and for every rupee they save they get one gaming token using which they can play daily and weekly games and if they win in these games they get to win Rs.1 lakh every week!\r\n\r\nJust within a short span of 12 weeks of launch, we onboarded 250,000 users with 92% of them being referred users, 88% of them being first-time investors who are spending over 12 minutes on an average per day on the app saving and playing games together!", "one_liner": "Grow money and win $1000 every week by saving and playing games", "team_size": 24, "industry": "Fintech", "subindustry": "Fintech", "launched_at": 1644430130, "tags": [ "Fintech", "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "Fintech" ], "regions": [ "India", "South Asia", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fello", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/fello.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "Bengaluru", "country": "IN", "linkedin_url": "https://in.linkedin.com/company/fellofinance", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/TheFelloApp", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/fellofinance/", "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/fello-3331", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/5217735d0eee015e36414930d3f8d9c1c25f207e.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Aaron Epstein", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/aaron-epstein" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 696055, "full_name": "Manish Maryada", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I am Manish, Founder & CEO of Fello where we are building India's first gaming and finance application. I come with experience of working in traditional finance and early-stage fintech startups and scaling them. My skillset in Product Management, Growth, Operations, and Strategy are some of the key strengths developed out of working in a corporate and startup environment. All of this is complemented by a Master’s Degree focused in Finance from Texas A&M University - Mays Business School.", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/manish-maryada/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/maryadamanishi", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/612ecc536d15a1d059d74c18e06862cfbce59835.jpg" }, { "user_id": 517544, "full_name": "Shourya Lala", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Shourya Lala is the Founder and CTO of Third Chair. He previously founded game-based investments startup Fello (YC W22), scaling it to 2mn users and tens of millions in investments. ex-ODF, ex-BlackRock, 2x YC", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/shouryalala/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/atShourya", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/fd06dec4b566846e43ecc54c2a938e8e4bdd8542.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Gamified Fintech Startup Fello Secures Funding To Help Youth Learn Savings", "url": "https://inc42.com/buzz/gamified-fintech-startup-fello-secures-funding-to-help-youth-learn-savings/", "date": "Jan 04, 2023" }, { "title": "Here’s How Fello Is Making Saving & Investment Fun", "url": "https://inc42.com/startups/heres-how-y-combinator-backed-fello-is-making-saving-investment-fun/", "date": "Jun 21, 2022" }, { "title": "India's First Game-Based Investment Start-Up Fello Raises 1 Million USD In Seed ", "url": "https://www.startupcityindia.com/business-express?for=N&Value=n7xP594MZN59MH48NwebVwgMkU25XLk1Xwiw%2b%2fey22qGUghle5Rbd6paJQI%3d", "date": "Jan 05, 2022" }, { "title": "Game-based investment startup Fello raises $1 mn in Seed funding | VCCircle", "url": "https://www.vccircle.com/game-based-investment-startup-fello-raises-1-mn-in-seed-funding", "date": "Jan 05, 2022" }, { "title": "Fello gets $1 mn in seed round led by Entrepreneur First", "url": "https://www.cnbctv18.com/startup/funding-rundownbessemers-220-mn-india-dedicated-fund-adda247-raises-20-mn-in-series-b-funding-round-eduncle-secures-750k-from-mumbai-angels-network-11650892.htm", "date": "Nov 30, 2021" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 25915, "name": "UNISON", "slug": "unison", "former_names": [ "Unai" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/09ab5845988fe864a93c53a882f44a773a84fbfd.png", "website": "https://www.in-unison.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "UNISON is building a unified reality headset to dive in and resurface from virtual worlds with new-found value.\r\n\r\nUNISON is a small team of passionate people from companies like Meta, Sony, Apple and research labs like the IARAI, based in the SF Bay Area and backed by some of the world’s best investors. Learn more about us, our product, and team here: in-unison.com.", "one_liner": "Live between worlds, in UNISON, using the headset we're building!", "team_size": 15, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Virtual and Augmented Reality", "launched_at": 1647175973, "tags": [ "Hardware", "Virtual Reality", "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Virtual and Augmented Reality" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/unison", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/unison.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/unisoninc", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/unison___inc", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/09ab5845988fe864a93c53a882f44a773a84fbfd.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 25924, "name": "Better Opinions", "slug": "better-opinions", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f6ae65ec2d1ccb8f2c368690d2013dc58fcdf2be.png", "website": "https://betteropinions.in/", "all_locations": "Bengaluru, KA, India; Gurugram, HR, India; Remote", "long_description": "Better Opinions is a prediction market of India which allows users to trade their opinion on everyday topics. For example, If you think India Covid cases will decrease by 10% this week, you can trade this insight and win money if correct.\r\n\r\nOur aim is to make the app inclusive for all. The stock market unfortunately can be very technical and opaque and therefore isn’t always accessible for all. However, when we start allowing trading in categories such as cricket, politics and entertainment, not only do we make trading more relatable, but we also help improve their financial literacy.", "one_liner": "Prediction market of India", "team_size": 12, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1642667483, "tags": [ "Fintech", "Consumer", "B2B", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "India", "South Asia", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/better-opinions", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/better-opinions.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "Bengaluru", "country": "IN", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/better-app-india/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/Better_Opinions", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/Betterappindia", "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/better-opinions", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f6ae65ec2d1ccb8f2c368690d2013dc58fcdf2be.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 902793, "full_name": "SAMAY JAIN", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I am an IIT Kharagpur graduate who worked with Gojek as a Product Lead for over 2 years. I have a penchant for trading, and has been an active trader in the markets for over 3 years now. It was this passion for trading that I wanted to make trading more accessible, and with this in mind, Better Opinions was born.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/samay-jain-1849616b/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/c0e6874eeb7aaf1366c60c734844e5cf7ac2ff6b.jpg" }, { "user_id": 910093, "full_name": "Soumyajit Das", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I am Co-Founder of Better Opinions. Previously I had stints with Gojek, PayTm, Meesho, Decathlon.\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/soumyajit-das-71208179/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/db3c1cd62f111fa45a1ab6fe005a3b8366fa473a.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Better Opinions Raises Funds To Add Social Media On Its Platform", "url": "https://inc42.com/buzz/y-combinator-backed-better-opinions-raises-funding-to-add-social-media-feature-on-its-platform/", "date": "Jul 25, 2022" }, { "title": "YC-backed Better Opinions raises over $1 Mn pre-seed round", "url": "https://entrackr.com/2022/02/yc-backed-better-opinions-raises-pre-seed-round/", "date": "Mar 20, 2022" }, { "title": "Better Opinions Funding: YC backed Better Opinions raises over $1 million in pre-seed round from Java Capital and Soma Capital - The Economic Times", "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/funding/yc-backed-better-opinions-raises-over-1-million-in-pre-seed-round-from-java-capital-and-soma-capital/articleshow/89476868.cms", "date": "Feb 14, 2022" }, { "title": "Event trading platform Better Opinions raises over $1 million pre-seed funding - The Hindu BusinessLine", "url": "https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/event-trading-platform-better-opinions-raises-over-1-million-pre-seed-funding/article65001452.ece", "date": "Feb 11, 2022" }, { "title": "Better Opinions Funding: YC backed Better Opinions raises over $1 million in pre-seed round from Java Capital and Soma Capital - The Economic Times", "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/funding/yc-backed-better-opinions-raises-over-1-million-in-pre-seed-round-from-java-capital-and-soma-capital/articleshow/89476868.cms", "date": "Feb 10, 2022" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 70970, "title": "🚀 Better Opinions: Prediction market of India", "tagline": "We are a Prediction Market for India which allows users to trade their opinions on everyday topics.", "body": "### **TL;DR**\n\nIf you have an insight on the current trends and interesting in trading then we have an asset for you. For example, if you believe that `Mr beast` new video will reach 10Mn views you can trade your insight and make money if you are correct.\n\n### **Problem & The Solution**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=70970&key=user_uploads/902793/b6924985-68a0-4997-92d5-b06c818210a5)\n\n### **Progress**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=70970&key=user_uploads/902793/28698676-04b3-49a8-a14a-2fc7c0cadd92)\n\n* GMV: $25Mn Annualised GMV run rate, Growing 30% MOM\n* Revenue: \\~$0.4Mn Annualised, Growing 30% MOM\n* Users: 1.8Mn signups, 250K MAU\n* CM1= +0.2% , Cm2 : -0.8% \n* M1 GMV Retention= 110% ; M1 User Retention = 40%\n\n### **Team**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=70970&key=user_uploads/902793/7636677b-0c4e-40fa-85c6-4769a3e55f76)\n\n**Our Ask**\n\n* Check [Better Opinions](https://www.betteropinions.in/) out! Schedule a chat with us [here](https://calendly.com/samay-2/30min).\n* If you are an expert/investor in the field of skill based gaming, creator economy or gaming/gambling please reach out [here](https://calendly.com/samay-2/30min).", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/ISg-better-opinions-prediction-market-of-india", "votes": 42, "created_at": "2023-04-14T13:59:20.387Z" } ] }, { "id": 25954, "name": "Status", "slug": "status", "former_names": [ "WishRoll" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/66b261d06ec27d85efae10b1912e47d9eb0ee4c6.png", "website": "https://www.statusai.com/", "all_locations": "New York City, NY, USA", "long_description": "Status allows users to live in immersive fantasy worlds through the familiar lens of social media. Over 3 million users worldwide. \r\n", "one_liner": "Sims but Social Media", "team_size": 9, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Social", "launched_at": 1648151808, "tags": [ "Consumer", "Gaming", "Social", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Social" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/status", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/status.json", "year_founded": 2022, "city": "New York City", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/statusgamexyz", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/66b261d06ec27d85efae10b1912e47d9eb0ee4c6.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Brad Flora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/brad-flora" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 472222, "full_name": "Fai Nur", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "CEO and co-founder of WishRoll. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/fainur/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/17e79465039668b68cb667faea631d0ad199ae95.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Forget the feed: Status AI raises $17M to turn social media into interactive entertainment | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/19/gamified-social-media-network-status-announces-17m-funding-to-help-usher-in-new-era-of-social-networking/", "date": "May 19, 2026" }, { "title": "AI's 'Second Wave' Redefines Startups With New Products - Business Insider", "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-second-wave-redefines-startups-new-products-2026-2", "date": "Feb 15, 2026" }, { "title": "19 Startups to Watch in Social, Dating, and AI, According to VCs - Business Insider", "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/consumer-startups-watch-social-dating-ai-according-to-vc-investors-2025-6", "date": "Jun 23, 2025" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 26109, "name": "Poko", "slug": "poko", "former_names": [ "Shoppa" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e9223cea998383ca05659ccb9f8a005d117395d4.png", "website": "http://www.pokoapp.xyz", "all_locations": "Singapore, Singapore", "long_description": "Poko enables seamless transfers from local payment rails to web3 infrastructure enabling web3 wallets, marketplaces, games and DApps to acquire more users. With Poko’s SDK, web3 builders can easily enable fiat-to-crypto onramping with 100+ common local payment methods or easily pay for NFTs with local payment methods. Poko's fiat-to-cryptoonramp aggregator reduces onramping costs by up to 70% and increases transaction success rates by up to 5x through a smart routing logic and a single integration to multiple onramps. It's Direct Checkout solution enables one step purchasing from fiat payment rails from any smart contract for 79% higher user conversion. The co-founders’ experience includes being chief strategy officer of a $2.4B coincap protocol, leading technical implementation of Singapore’s central bank’s experiment in cross-border payments on blockchain rails, policy experience as payments task force member at the World Economic Forum, ex-Ethereum Foundation Fellow, and CTO of a 2M+ user play to earn game.", "one_liner": "Seamless Fiat Payments for Web3", "team_size": 10, "industry": "Fintech", "subindustry": "Fintech", "launched_at": 1641453325, "tags": [ "Developer Tools", "Crypto / Web3", "Payments", "Gaming", "Creator Economy" ], "tags_highlighted": [ "Crypto / Web3" ], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Fintech" ], "regions": [ "Singapore", "Southeast Asia", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": [ { "question": "How did your company get started? (i.e., How did the founders meet? How did you come up with the idea? How did you decide to be a founder?)", "answer": "Geoffrey See was CSO and founding team member of a $2.4B coin-cap protocol in 2018-2019. He led technical implementation for Singapore’s central bank’s experiment with cross-border payment settlement on blockchain rails and was a taskforce member on Cross-Border Digital Payments and the Digital Currency Governance Consortium at the World Economic Forum. Van Tran headed growth and strategy for Netflix in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Taiwan with $1B+ in annual revenue. Daniel Le was a banking and payments engineer at a YC unicorn before becoming CTO of a Play to Earn game, scaling it to 2M gamers and a 100+ team within 1 year. They met in Vietnam through their common interest in cross-border payment problem in the gaming and entertainment sector and have worked together for over 2 years." }, { "question": "What's the history of your company from getting started until the present day? What were the big inflection points?", "answer": "We went through a pivot post-YC demo day from building DAO tooling to focusing on frictionless payments for web3. We saw that this was a pain point as more web3 products and services tried to reach a wider audience. We also had to navigate significant industry turmoil (Terra, FTX, Silvergate, Signature, Celsius…etc.) and were glad that we were able to do so with no direct impact on us or our finances." }, { "question": "What is the core problem you are solving? Why is this a big problem? What made you decide to work on it?", "answer": "Enabling cross-border payments that is cheap, fast and efficient on blockchain rails is a multi-trillion dollar industry with high take rates. We believe crypto wallets will be the financial infrastructure of the future - especially for a global community." }, { "question": "What is your long-term vision? If you truly succeed, what will be different about the world?", "answer": "The internet of money will be the financial infrastructure Gen Z and beyond grow up with. It will be democratic, accessible and deeply integrated into core internet infrastructure." } ], "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/poko", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/poko.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "Singapore", "country": "SG", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/pokoapp/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/poko_app", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e9223cea998383ca05659ccb9f8a005d117395d4.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 855612, "full_name": "Geoffrey See", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Chief Strategy Officer and founding team of $2.4B coin cap (at peak) protocol Zilliqa. Launched a digital identity product and onboarded 20M users in India/Vietnam in 1 year. I am a former Ethereum Foundation Fellow, World Economic Forum Council member for Cross-Border Digital Payments and Digital Currency, and a Kauffman Fellow. At Bain & Co., I worked on private equity, technology and retail. I graduated from Wharton and Yale.", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreysee/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/9c6b3f176e34b4c222f3f7e101b933d66f2bcd6f.jpg" }, { "user_id": 641685, "full_name": "Sean Ang", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Experienced community builder, obsessed over customer service excellence. \n\nBuilt a community for thousands of youth in mental health to communicate under one platform. Started a podcast on Facebook and Youtube to interview experts on healthcare communications and psychological well-being and brought together healthcare professionals to propose changes to the practice for healthcare professionals in Singapore. \n\nPassionate about human connection, customer service and an avid squash player. ", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanangsr/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/273b403b5f50567707492db3e616a34e0df350ca.jpg" }, { "user_id": 855990, "full_name": "Van Tran", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Van Tran has spent the last 3 years leading marketing strategy and growth for Netflix Southeast Asia and Australia to establish Netflix presence and build up fan communities in the region. Previously, she worked on building student communities for the first liberal art college in Singapore Yale-NUS. She also has experience working in management consulting at Bain & Co. and product manager at Amazon.", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/tranngocvan210/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d9aac268a7a42907eff8d6d11c3fcfc5920796c5.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Poko raises $4.5m to reduce Web3 payments friction", "url": "https://www.techinasia.com/poko-raises-4-5m-to-reduce-web3-payments-friction", "date": "Jun 14, 2023" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 71045, "title": "Poko - Onramp aggregator and direct checkout for web3 wallets & marketplaces", "tagline": "Onramp with 70% lower costs and 6x transaction success rates", "body": "Hi all! Geoffrey and Van from [**Poko**](https://Pokoapp.xyz) here! \\\n\\\nI (Geoffrey) was at Devcon in Bogota trying to top up my wallet. Used Moonpay - transaction failed. Used Transak - transaction failed. Used Coinbase Pay - transaction failed. Fiat to Crypto onramps [fail anywhere from 30% to 90% of the time around the world](https://www.pokoapp.xyz/post/success-rates-fiat-onramps). We solve this problem through our Onramp Aggregator and Direct Checkout.\n\n**TLDR**\n\nWe provide wallets and marketplaces infra providers with an [Onramp Aggregator](https://www.pokoapp.xyz/onramp-aggregator) - a single integration for all localized onramps enabling them to onramp with **local payments,** at up to **6x transaction success rates** and [**70% lower costs** than Moonpay/Transak](https://www.pokoapp.xyz/post/problems-with-onramps-fees). We also provide a [Direct Checkout](https://www.pokoapp.xyz/direct-checkout) on local payment rails for users to pay seamlessly into a smart contract (e.g. for NFT purchasing) without the user needing to onramp. This enables far higher user conversion and transaction success rates. Our payment solutions reach 16M+ active wallets.\n\n**Who is it for**\n\nOur users are wallets, marketplaces, wallet- and marketplace-infra providers, and games/DApps seeking a better payments experience and monetization from their end users. For infrastructure partners, we provide features that serve them especially well (e.g. dashboards and data/flexibility to meet multiple use cases) and a revenue share for them to scale with transaction volume.\n\n# \n\n# 💵 **How does it work?**\n\n**Onramp Aggregator**\\\nWe route users to onramps with the highest success rates and lowest transaction costs for a particular currency, payment method, and token for Everytime Lowest Prices. We bring onboard onramps focused on a single country as they provide the highest success rates. This is because localized onramps provide rates, payment methods, and KYC processes that work best for their market. Onramps compete to provide the best rate and highest transaction success. \\\n\\\n_Check out a live demo (and live rates) here:_ \\\n\\\n_Read the product docs:_\\\n\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=71045&key=user_uploads/855612/147e959f-afd1-43fa-9f66-4ff5088da633)\n\n_Live rates with a **1400 basis point difference** between the lowest cost and highest cost onramp (Brazil)!_\n\n**Direct Checkout**\\\nOne-step NFT purchasing using cards and popular payment rails from any wallet or on any marketplace. This enables users to frictionlessly purchase gaming NFTs or other digital goods without onramping (we automate the onramp and swaps and hide this from users). This increases paid user conversion in web3 by 79% as users use the payment rails most available to them and avoid unnecessary friction like KYC or complicated token purchasing and swaps.\\\n\\\n_Check out a demo in staging here:_ \\\n_Product documentation:_ \\\n\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=71045&key=user_uploads/855612/21f3d0f0-3b86-42a1-9133-13a2e1f90175)\n\n**Why we built** [**Pokoapp.xyz**](http://Pokoapp.xyz)\\\nWe believe in giving web3 wallets, marketplaces, and DApps bank-like superpowers by connecting them with local payment rails so that assets can move between tradfi payment rails to crypto rails seamlessly. We believe we are helping builders build the banks of the future - and better ones!\\\n\\\n**Our Ask**\n\nKnow a wallet, marketplace or DApp needing onramps? **Put us in touch** or better yet, **send them our demo** so that they can see for themselves how much their users can save using our Onramp Aggregator!\\\n\\\n**Contact us**\\\nReach out via TG (), email ([geoffrey@pokoapp.xyz](mailto:geoffrey@pokoapp.xyz)) or schedule something here: ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/ITt-poko-onramp-aggregator-and-direct-checkout-for-web3-wallets-marketplaces", "votes": 7, "created_at": "2023-04-18T19:24:33.277Z" } ] }, { "id": 26307, "name": "Mindbase", "slug": "tradex", "former_names": [ "TradeX" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/138a9ab05de536189c7973eacdc2ce67a9ebddc0.png", "website": "https://mymindbase.ai", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Remote", "long_description": "Mindbase is an AI avatar platform where we launch AI avatars of real human as well create artificial entities and grow them on Instagram/Youtube like a influencer using AI content strategies. \r\n\r\nWe give each AI influencer its own email, phone number and WhatsApp account so they can build deep relationships like a human creator would. \r\n\r\nAlready, generating over 5m+ daily views with just a network of 10+ AI influencers.\r\n\r\nOur business model is simple: brands pay us between $1,000 to $4,000 per month per AI influencer. One of our brand partners generated $45,000 in sales from a $3,000 spend, achieving a 15X ROAS.\r\n\r\nWe believe this is just the beginning.  We can generate $20,000 annually per AI influencer. With just 5000 AI influencers we can quickly scale to $100 million ARR business. \r\n\r\nTo put that in perspective: there are over 400 million regular human influencers globally. Even if we just target a fraction of the market, it’s a massive thing.\r\n\r\nOur team is the key to making this happen. We're alumni of IIT and repeat founders. Previously, built TradeX, a prediction market platform, scaled that to $40 million in monthly trading volume with 5 million users. That success was driven by our trend tracking system & influencer partnerships, the very same expertise we're now using to build Mindbase.\r\n", "one_liner": "Build AI influencers that autonomously create content, engage fans…", "team_size": 7, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Marketing", "launched_at": 1642774181, "tags": [ "Consumer", "Gaming", "Social", "Marketing" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Marketing" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/tradex", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/tradex.json", "year_founded": 2022, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/tradexmarkets", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/tradexapp", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/tradex-cd89", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/138a9ab05de536189c7973eacdc2ce67a9ebddc0.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Aaron Epstein", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/aaron-epstein" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 120470, "full_name": "Divij Goyal", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Engineer, Poker player, Trader, Learner, Product Geek. An avid user of product hunt. Technologist by heart. Started career as a software developer. Wore different hats over time from being a Trader in S&P500 to Product Lead for a NBCF.\n\nFormer Founder at CityMall, A half a billion dollar social commerce in India. Took early exit. Make some money and started TradeX", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/divijgoyal", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/divijgoyal", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f4dd72e157803c23ab3fb5840868a81a98192549.jpg" }, { "user_id": 945487, "full_name": "Indrajeet Roy", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "An Industrial Engineer graduate from IIT Delhi, Founder- Hoi Foods- India's 5th largest cloud kitchen company. Build and Sold Employability Assessment Platform Skillwill in 2016. An avid Crypto trader and first principle business thinker", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://in.linkedin.com/in/indrajeetroy", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/2d13280f08d0dccd95847ee50ac39c36502e9a29.jpg" }, { "user_id": 588368, "full_name": "Ankit Shrivastava", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "10+ years of experience in technology. I have worked with PwC, JPMC and developed a couple of Apps and Games as hobby projects which are live on PlayStore. A part time trader in Indian stock market and love to do sketching, play guitar and photography as hobbies. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankit-shrivastava-682b4515", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/ankit257", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d098370e29d1f956b85aa7fcafe51dbfa20b2e79.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "TradeX bags $1 Mn in Pre-Seed round", "url": "https://entrackr.com/2022/01/tradex-bags-1-mn-in-seed-round/", "date": "Jan 21, 2022" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 26667, "name": "Star", "slug": "star", "former_names": [ "SolStar", "Star", "SolStar" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/967b50f500638e1217a027ad53fa0c2fd82dd532.png", "website": "https://buildwithstar.com", "all_locations": "Springfield, MO, USA; Remote", "long_description": "Star makes game development accessible to anyone with an idea. Using AI, you can create complex, playable games without writing code - just describe what you want and iterate. We're building the future of creative tools for the next generation of game makers.", "one_liner": "Make games with AI - no coding required", "team_size": 1, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1661282140, "tags": [ "Consumer", "Gaming", "No-code", "Creator Economy", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/star", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2022/star.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "Springfield", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/BuildWithStar", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/967b50f500638e1217a027ad53fa0c2fd82dd532.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Harj Taggar", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/harj-taggar" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 853224, "full_name": "Ryan Endacott", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder and CEO of SolStar, Ryan is an engineer with a longtime history as a community builder. Before SolStar, he was a Senior Software Engineer at Loon (Google X), where he worked on Mission Control systems. He helped found the annual University of Missouri hackathon TigerHacks and rebuilt the Mizzou Computing Association from the ground up to empower students to learn coding skills not taught in the classroom. He loves building community tools, and is the creator of solfaucet.com.\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-endacott-26786255/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/RyanEndacott", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e8b3bcb5543192e46af86bf5dc3d6f05bbec96e8.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 90596, "title": "Content & Game Builder Intern", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/star/jobs/S0eyAOW-content-game-builder-intern", "location": "Remote", "type": "Internship", "role": "Marketing", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$20 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": null, "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [ "Growth design", "Marketing design" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 65578, "title": "🌟SolStar - Venmo for Discord - The easiest way to send crypto in a community", "tagline": "Our tech makes it easy, free, and secure to send crypto to your friends - no wallet required.", "body": "Hey YC community! 👋 We’re Ryan and Drew, and we’re building SolStar 🌟\n\nSolStar builds easy-to-use crypto tools for Discord communities. Our first product, SolStar Tip Bot, is like Venmo for Discord: send crypto to your friends with just a few clicks.\n\n![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/wIoPpjcf2tmVmuPZyaImGkOiYAZ7lQe8CzbPV8lArJdlQekgqnL8nkvZFru0Gf6PDT2FKH-R3_TNgh-ZEBvgwPmE4MYIP3pLSNe_J0FKMPS5CuDW2irjeyj9UhBrIaABn0okVds-gmfSEKKPCt8ZLsI)\n\n**The problem with crypto**\n\nCrypto is confusing and intimidating, with no clear entry point for beginners. To purchase crypto from scratch, a new user needs to:\n\n* Know what a crypto wallet is\n* Know where to sign up for one\n* Understand KYC and buy crypto on an exchange\n* Transfer from exchange to wallet\n* Manage to not lose their seed phrase\n\nIf these steps confuse you, you’re not alone. It’s even confusing to experts. This is ridiculous, and it leaves out 99.9% of internet users who aren’t heavy technical adopters. \n\n**SolStar makes crypto easy 🌟**\n\nSolStar makes it possible for anyone to use crypto—even your grandpa!\n\nAll you need to get started is a credit card. Skip the confusing steps above and dive in right away with a secure, approachable tool that makes crypto fun. You can add SolStar Tip Bot to your Discord, check your balance, and send a tip to a friend all within a few minutes.\n\nWhen you use SolStar, you’ll get a secure custodial wallet and easy access to your balance on our site.\n\n![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/tsVnxrqhqXvhpCffMLIPy_AlF4LSxutr3E2X8kfxEQ8VxrDdNdAae4fq5po1GycpQ5NclXNcsZxPxS04BBY7CAD6xYyGAS1YVFDT-wL7xR8JwHnvXx3fzhP0CSIi8YZNuPp5BVp1BS-w-_AyUvfWtVo)\n\nAnother feature we’re excited about - you can now buy tokens directly in Discord! Make it easy to join your community - no crypto experience required.\n\n![](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/CWak0ftirYZiVuZrqzSW_gaVtLibcCt2VAqVeHgkX4c14K1dTMJkF3cg_OI56KzVNmD55j-mM9VkBJWypGC7CuLNtjikFmBSCzQ_Q-QpTpok8G-43LAOg4P8be0yqRxOltCzWvQG9HOzcVg-NAJjTg8)\n\nAs an added bonus, you can interact with our Ask an AI tool, which features various personalities, including Antagonistic Viking, Honorable Julius Caesar, or Confused Isaac Newton.\n\n![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/IwDm6-BbUGw3_hccj_gJ7CGyOtYOAIrL1iiffZYehQL94uU1w-B_OtvSIQsQhJDfsKayaL_tkHtLxlnUyZhM-xEWTNDTUNzQ73Cxm0j5aOK0EnJ4e6mQEcrTywU1jl7lpstok9QpF2YJiKsKUq_ik8w)\n\n**How It All Began ✨**\n\nWe’re a couple of software engineers who love crypto and gaming. We’ve spent more all-nighters than we can count hanging out in Discord, and we’re big fans of how it’s a user-friendly space to build community.\n\nWe wanted crypto to be more accessible and fun. There’s no better way to onboard people to crypto than to create a simple way for them to start using it in their own communities.\n\nWe wished we had something like SolStar, so we built it ourselves. \n\n**How you can help 💗**\n\n1. If you have a Discord Community, add SolStar for free:  \n2. If you belong to a Discord Community, tell your admin or community manager to check out SolStar:  \n3. Follow us on Twitter to see our dank memes [@SolStarFinance](https://twitter.com/SolStarFinance)\n4. We love feedback! Let us know what you think below or hit us up at [founders@solstar.finance](mailto:founders@solstar.finance) :)\n5. Join our Discord Community and stay updated on our latest features:  \n6. If you care about making crypto more accessible, we’d appreciate the up-vote!", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/H3i-solstar-venmo-for-discord-the-easiest-way-to-send-crypto-in-a-community", "votes": 50, "created_at": "2022-08-23T18:56:28.418Z" } ] }, { "id": 26681, "name": "Alma", "slug": "alma", "former_names": [ "Alma Financial", "Derisk", "Alma Financial" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/581364464788680f269b799b7681e692ba938361.png", "website": "https://www.myalmafi.com", "all_locations": "Seattle, WA, USA; Palo Alto, CA, USA; Remote", "long_description": "", "one_liner": "Gamified mobile banking app where people can win $1M every Wednesday", "team_size": null, "industry": "Fintech", "subindustry": "Fintech -> Consumer Finance", "launched_at": 1657738883, "tags": [ "Fintech", "Payments", "Gaming", "Consumer Finance", "Neobank" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2022", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "Fintech", "Consumer Finance" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/alma", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2022/alma.json", "year_founded": null, "city": "Seattle", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/581364464788680f269b799b7681e692ba938361.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 972531, "full_name": "Agni Bhattacharya", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Formerly product leader at Meta, Zynga and a series D fintech startup. Once ran a mobile gaming side hustle, in which I launched a word game and scaled it to over 1M users. Sold game IP to a gaming studio. ", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/agnib/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/2b0becf2263b26ba537ea2afb4046ddf2ce60e7a.jpg" }, { "user_id": 328719, "full_name": "Allison Bellows", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Into math and its siblings", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-bellows-533212123/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/1c4c983927e47150ed6b5e66e65eb2fd3e6899e2.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 26754, "name": "Novig", "slug": "novig", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/70b63d7ab273fdb7b71b48db89fe1042c817e72b.png", "website": "https://www.novig.com", "all_locations": "New York City, NY, USA", "long_description": "Novig is building America's #1 sports prediction market. Founded by Jacob Fortinsky and Kelechi Ukah, we are the only platform to offer commission-free sports trading. We deliver better pricing, full transparency, and a more efficient market structure for users by eliminating the traditional sportsbook model.\r\n\r\nBacked by the best - Novig has raised over $100M from some of Silicon Valley’s top investors including Pantera, Forerunner, Lux, NFX, Paul Graham, and Joe Montana.", "one_liner": "America's #1 Sports Trading App", "team_size": 55, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1655052377, "tags": [ "Fintech", "Marketplace", "Sports Tech", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Growth", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2022/novig.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "New York City", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/novig/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/novig_app", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/novig", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/70b63d7ab273fdb7b71b48db89fe1042c817e72b.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 732902, "full_name": "Jacob Fortinsky", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Jacob is the founder and CEO of Novig. He has experience in investment banking, legislative research, and financial trading. Jacob’s also been a sharp sports bettor for years, and after getting banned from sportsbooks for being profitable and growing frustrated by the inefficiency and discrimination that plague the industry, he set out to build a public betting exchange. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jfortinsky/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/j__fort", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/2c65694197a802a662e9c9e2ba50657a79389704.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1011519, "full_name": "Kelechi Ukah", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-founder & CTO @ Novig", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelechi-ukah-692016164/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/kelechisms", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/db9467627ab6363b10a0b28eb5d8286c104f519c.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 103181, "title": "Finance Operations Associate", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/20X3bhT-finance-operations-associate", "location": "New York", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$110K - $140K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 103184, "title": "Customer Experience Specialist (Seasonal)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/NvctH8d-customer-experience-specialist-seasonal", "location": "Remote (US)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Support", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$25 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 103189, "title": "Performance Marketing Manager, Display & CTV", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/ICJ61EE-performance-marketing-manager-display-ctv", "location": "New York", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Marketing", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$100K - $130K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 103191, "title": "Head of Social", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/uOnh2Mx-head-of-social", "location": "New York", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$150K - $180K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 103865, "title": "Fraud Specialist", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/WbhKAxy-fraud-specialist", "location": "New York / Remote (US)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$65K - $75K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 105218, "title": "Software Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/6Yz2mwr-software-engineer", "location": "New York", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$200K - $260K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 108056, "title": "Chief Fan Officer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/pu0lTV3-chief-fan-officer", "location": "Remote / Remote (US)", "type": "Contract", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$100K - $300K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 108954, "title": "Lead Brand Designer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/SsBCXzB-lead-brand-designer", "location": "New York", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Design", "role_type": "Web design", "salary_range": "$160K - $200K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 111562, "title": "IT Specialist", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/VgsiigL-it-specialist", "location": "New York", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$70K - $90K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 112183, "title": "People Operations Manager", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/6jPM9Ss-people-operations-manager", "location": "New York", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$110K - $140K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 112184, "title": "Affiliate GTM Lead", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/YCHa0Gg-affiliate-gtm-lead", "location": "New York", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$130K - $160K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 112247, "title": "Growth Operations Coordinator", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/idElHHw-growth-operations-coordinator", "location": "New York", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$70K - $90K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 115420, "title": "Senior Backend Engineer, Core Trading Systems", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/yphw6hx-senior-backend-engineer-core-trading-systems", "location": "New York", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$200K - $260K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117034, "title": "Product Data Analyst", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/novig/jobs/DrO2CKk-product-data-analyst", "location": "New York", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$130K - $180K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Novig wins CFTC approval as competition intensifies in sports prediction markets", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/16/novig-wins-cftc-approval-as-competition-intensifies-in-sports-prediction-markets.html", "date": "Jun 16, 2026" }, { "title": "Novig Becomes Fastest Growing Sports Prediction Market; Raises $18M Series A", "url": "https://www.novig.us/articles/novig-becomes-fastest-growing-sports-prediction-market-raises-18m-series-a-round-led-by-forerunner", "date": "Aug 11, 2025" }, { "title": "Joe Montana, VC Funds Participate In Sports Betting Exchange Novig’s Seed Round", "url": "https://www.forbes.com/sites/timcasey/2023/08/22/joe-montana-vc-funds-participate-in-sports-betting-exchange-novigs-64-million-seed-round/", "date": "Aug 22, 2023" }, { "title": "Novig receives Y Combinator investment to catapult US sports betting ambitions", "url": "https://sbcamericas.com/2022/06/23/novig-receives-y-combinator-investment-to-catapult-us-sports-betting-ambitions/", "date": "Oct 19, 2022" }, { "title": "JACOB FORTINSKY: REMOVING THE VIG", "url": "https://issuu.com/sbc.global/docs/sbc_leaders_magazine_issue_21/42", "date": "Jun 28, 2022" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 27055, "name": "Vinci Games", "slug": "vinci-games", "former_names": [ "Vinci Games", "Blacktop Hoops by Vinci Games", "Vinci Games", "Blacktop Hoops (by Vinci Games)", "Blacktop Hoops by Vinci Games" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b8b2e08cc80100af4f7f9161d33c4a5f1a59e6dd.png", "website": "https://ruffnauts.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Remote", "long_description": "Vinci Games (YC S22) is building the next generation of social multiplayer VR games.\r\n\r\nOur first title, Blacktop Hoops, became one of the highest-rated sports games on Meta Quest with a passionate global community and critical acclaim.\r\n\r\nOur second title, Ruffnauts, is already one of the fastest growing F2P releases of 2025 on Meta Quest, with 30K+ reviews at 4.9 stars in its first month of Alpha Early Access. Ruffnauts combines creature catching, chaotic physics, and Gorilla Tag style locomotion into a groundbreaking VR adventure.\r\n\r\nThe company is led by CEO Nathaniel Ventura (ex-Oculus, Google, Meta) and CTO Maciej Szcześnik, former lead gameplay designer at CD Projekt Red for The Witcher series. Our mission is to create genre-defining VR experiences that bring millions of players together.", "one_liner": "Creating genre-defining multiplayer VR games.", "team_size": 7, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1658286946, "tags": [ "Virtual Reality", "Consumer", "Gaming", "Metaverse" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vinci-games", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2022/vinci-games.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/76188044", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/blacktophoopsvr", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/BlacktopHoops/", "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b8b2e08cc80100af4f7f9161d33c4a5f1a59e6dd.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Brad Flora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/brad-flora" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 701640, "full_name": "Nathaniel Ventura", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Nathan Ventura is the co-founder and CEO of Vinci Games, which he started with Maciej Szcześnik in 2021. Nathan oversees product, marketing, and business development for the company. He spent his career leading world-class developer programs at Facebook, Google, and Unity. Currently he is focused on building the next generation of AAA competitive sports for virtual reality with Blacktop Hoops.\n\n\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/nathanielventura", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/bad14271401b69fca81e1881b82d1dc51832f270.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1002203, "full_name": "Maciej Szcześnik", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Maciej Szcześnik is the co-founder and CTO of Vinci Games. He is responsible for game design and development. He studied physics (BSc) and computer science (MSc) and started his game dev career in 2004. Former lead gameplay designer on The Witcher 1, 2, and 3 at CD Projekt Red and Lead Designer at 11 Bit Studios. Former Vice-Rector and author of Video Game Development course at Warsaw Film School. Maciej started working on VR games and apps in 2015. Won Unity Neon Challenge in 2018. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/mszczesnik/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/MaciejSzczesnik", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/8a38e1cc4bec6c04fc28bfb9b503c6d97507ad37.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 94923, "title": "Senior World / Level Designer & Artist - Social VR ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vinci-games/jobs/Dj5VYTN-senior-world-level-designer-artist-social-vr", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / Remote (US)", "type": "Contract", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Android", "salary_range": "$50 - $100 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": "6+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C#", "Unreal Engine", "Unity", "Blender", "Autodesk Maya" ] }, { "id": 94924, "title": "Lead 3D Artist - Social VR", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vinci-games/jobs/6y7i0vY-lead-3d-artist-social-vr", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / Remote (US)", "type": "Contract", "role": "Design", "role_type": "3D/AR/VR", "salary_range": "$50 - $100 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": "6+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Unity", "Photoshop", "Blender", "Autodesk Maya" ] }, { "id": 94925, "title": "Senior Technical Artist, VFX & Interaction Systems - Social VR", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vinci-games/jobs/dzOP6Dg-senior-technical-artist-vfx-interaction-systems-social-vr", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / Remote (US)", "type": "Contract", "role": "Design", "role_type": "3D/AR/VR", "salary_range": "$75 - $125 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": "6+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Unreal Engine", "Unity", "Blender", "Autodesk Maya" ] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Blacktop Hoops debuts as VR basketball game | VentureBeat", "url": "https://venturebeat.com/games/blacktop-hoops-debuts-as-vr-basketball-game/", "date": "May 16, 2024" }, { "title": "'Blacktop Hoops' Studio Announces $5.1M Funding Round, Open Beta Now Live – Road to VR", "url": "https://www.roadtovr.com/vr-basketball-5-1m-funding-quest-2-steam/", "date": "Apr 18, 2023" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 80895, "title": "🔥🤾Blacktop Hoops 2.0 - NBA 2K for AR/VR", "tagline": "Blacktop Hoops, the ultimate single player and multiplayer AR/VR basketball game. ", "body": "![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=80895&key=user_uploads/89898/e5538a15-e8ae-40a9-b9b3-088d1457c12f)\n\n# **TL;DR**\n\nBlacktop Hoops is the ultimate VR basketball game and sports experience. Embark on a hoops journey in career mode, ball against bots, hang out with friends in online courts, or climb the rankings in competitive pickup games. Design your perfect avatar with millions of unique combinations. Do you have what it takes to become the GOAT? 🐐\n\n[**Blacktop Hoops has exited Beta and has launched**](https://www.meta.com/experiences/blacktop-hoops/4416817901687071/) launched on **Meta Quest**, **Pico**, and **Steam and is available for purchase for $29.99**!\\\n🥽 [**Play on Meta Quest:**](https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/blacktop-hoops/4416817901687071/)\n\n[**🖥️**](https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/blacktop-hoops/4416817901687071/)  [**Buy on Steam:**](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1945250/Blacktop_Hoops/)\n\n![](https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/3SfRQBX5Ax-UbqsFUnWU8S5qv2Q3B0JkSsytyKD8uAxb3VjY9Pdm9HorEHfyZlLnP1X7GkmsiuKdcmBVOtATz0BtVYnS9iosJJE9bDykiopHvz8u_yU8rSXwHqIu8Lvx2optoJwRqoyfrSXeEIaC9f0)\n\n[**🏀WATCH THE BLACKTOP HOOPS TRAILER HERE**](https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/blacktop-hoops/4416817901687071/)\n\n[**😩Problem**](https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/blacktop-hoops/4416817901687071/)\n\nMeta Quest has a similar trajectory to the iPhone but has **60x less apps per user available**. There is a massive gap in high-quality games and application on the platform. \n\n[The most popula](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1945250/Blacktop_Hoops/)r and highest retention genres for VR currently on Quest are competitive first person shooters, social virtual reality experiences, and sports/fitness.\n\nNo one has built a truly all-in-one sports game like NBA 2K, Madden, or FIFA for VR with a career mode, casual lobbies, and ranked competitive play.\n\n![](https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/TSn_kUARMCWrpee_nT52Zhf28KPmqiMIrsWWgwspJsFCit0JueFzqQ8iAYf4UivY-eDhR2w8RU8iFV8tFmgtwposkkj8vrqV8GnCVmCWmrH2bI0Ld6qsenweWZThn434DkTSnNZW-iJU48MqGLypC8k)\n\n⛹🏿‍♂️**Solution**⛹🏻‍♀️\n\nBlacktop Hoops was a breakout hit on Meta’s App Lab as the #1 rated App Lab title with over **16,000 reviews**, a **4\\.9 rating** and over **1 million players** across Steam and Quest pre-launch. \n\nIn Blacktop Hoops, players partake in an epic campaign mode featuring 12 unique streetball legends across four iconic streetball courts in Oakland, Los Angeles, New York and Athens. At the end of their journey to become the GOAT, players have a final showdown [against world dunk champion Jordan Kilganon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dTEXh4lxfA&t=155s&pp=ygUPam9yZGFuIGtpbGdhbm9u). \n\nFor multiplayer fans, players can hit the courts in casual 1vs1, 2vs2, 3vs3 or 4vs4 matches or climb the rankings in skill-based matchmaking across 9 ranks and 21 divisions.\n\n![](https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/sMARIlq83DjNfEYaDAghMSfOjmXt76LmQjeeKwrg3DwmJP1Tbn2aLYZqjMzep9vvbl8-_uAeGZT6iTQ29mZ3xW8eUj037Cs5TjkNb6qNGgq7ffSAY54C7GUTVNJylksMlEKNZteiIJYEUQruhB8Czks)\n\nOne of the biggest additions to Blacktop Hoops is its new customizable avatar system. Players have access to over 600 customizations including body type, faces, skin color, shirts, emotes,  sneakers, glasses, shirts and more. Players can mix and match cosmetics to build their perfect avatar with millions of possible combinations.\n\n![](https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/79PAptBHjdfZrcQOJkRFY1-MyN2gi1DJkPspQt-hupQchpGyHVXji2HTgCqKkEWmRoAakdkQBoJzQ7mJhyJCDEHNyC1CYkpKOz7ZfUA8ndroRx3eXma6I1Sw1zyuklk_JttEBwL_87SQ6VkbdseH2zU)\n\nBlacktop Hoops will also be coming soon to Playstation VR 2 and Apple Vision pro. \n\n![](https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/AFjzN7GkfZlKEPuqYZLtXIRK59QilOfbtbNM61ydvBuo6ByazUuE-2bXnWG9V1ErkDbygorlFJipuGKDuARQHNaMNRfqT4IB__N7RKpppnaguJJBLP1DLxZpyf3oXip3a5rXskTas80wTxRfJKOyC9I)\n\n**We need your help! Please reshare our trailer and announcements below.** \n\n1. [**📹Share Blacktop Hoops Launch trailer**](https://youtu.be/CsNGnDF5nfg?si=fNZ81Ut2FKShBz_r)\n2. 👨‍💼[**Share launch announcement on Linkedin**](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nathanielventura_virtualreality-blacktophoopsvr-metaquest-activity-7196887160568905728-hT_W?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop)\n3. [🐦**Share launch announcement on X/Twitter**](https://twitter.com/blacktophoopsVR/status/1791121677155221833)\n4. 👴[**Share launch announcement on Facebook**](https://www.facebook.com/BlacktopHoopsVR/videos/276253088816960/)\n5. 📷[**Share launch announcement on Instagram**](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7CJve7PS3q/)\n6. 😄[**Share launch announcement on TikTok**](https://www.tiktok.com/@blacktophoopsvr/video/7369643065579015467)\n\nIn addition, if you know of any consumer brands (i.e Nike, Adidas), location-based entertainment partners/arcades, or athletes that would be interested in partnership with the game please send me an email at [**n@vinci-games.com**](mailto:n@vinci-games.com). \\\n\\\nThank you for the support!", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/L2l-blacktop-hoops-2-0-nba-2k-for-ar-vr", "votes": 99, "created_at": "2024-05-16T17:53:47.347Z" }, { "id": 64750, "title": "🔥🏀 Blacktop Hoops - Multiplayer VR Basketball for the Metaverse", "tagline": "Blacktop Hoops is a competitive VR basketball game. Think NBA Jam meets NBA 2K in VR. ", "body": "**TL:DR** [Blacktop Hoops](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2jBJ-Hnqp8) is a streetball-inspired multiplayer VR basketball game with the most natural basketball mechanics ever designed for virtual reality. It’s built for VR with plans for full cross-platform play across console, mobile, and desktop. \n\nHi we’re Nathan and Maciej, founders of [Vinci Games](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/blacktop-hoops-by-vinci-games) and developer of Blacktop Hoops. We’re building the first AAA single player and multiplayer basketball game for VR. It’s built with intuitive mechanics so you can shoot just like Steph Curry and dunk like Lebron James.\n\n### **Problem**\n\nOver the last decade sports games have been monopolized across all major platforms with an extremely limited selection of games for players. Games like NBA 2K, FIFA, and Madden release games each year with extremely poor user reviews and limited innovation. With the rapid growth of VR adoption, no true AAA competitive sports franchises exist on VR. \n\n**Solution** \n\nBlacktop Hoops is designed with ultra-natural mechanics which allow players to chain together flashy dribble tricks, shots, and high-flying dunks to finish off AI or real-world opponents in epic games of arcade basketball.\n\nWe’ve worked with pro streetball players and dunkers like [King Handles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkU86a4MUmo) and [Jordan Kilganon](https://www.instagram.com/jordankilganon/?hl=en) for mocap animations for the game so opponents feel realistic and respond dynamically to how you play.\n\nWe also brought on world-class voiceover talent including [Bobbito Garcia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbito_Garcia) (NBA Street), [Dante Basco](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm5o3NFV5OM) (Avatar the Last Airbender), and [Renee Montgomery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renee_Montgomery) (ex-WNBA Allstar).\n\n### **Founders Backstory**\n\nLast year we had a crazy idea: could you build a VR basketball game that felt as natural as playing in real life? I spent my entire life playing basketball and previously worked at Oculus and Unity. Our CTO Maciej had spent 18 years at CD Projekt RED as the lead game designer on Witcher 1 - 3. Early last year we spent two months building a prototype of a VR streetball game. After we released it on Reddit, it hit the frontpage of every major VR subreddit including /r/Gaming, /r/Virtualreality /r/Oculus, /r/SteamVR, /r/PSVR, and /r/Playstation. From that point we knew we were onto something big.\n\n### **Our Ask**\n\n1. Download and play **Blacktop Hoops - Alpha** on Quest or Steam. Share your feedback with us at [founders@vinci-games.com](mailto:founders@vinci-games.com). \n 1. [**Play on Oculus**](https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/4416817901687071/) or [**Play on Steam**](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1945250/Blacktop_Hoops/)\n2. For **Investors** shoot us an email at [founders@vinci-games.com](mailto:founders@vinci-games.com).\n3. For **Collaborators** with ties to the NBA, sportswear brands (i.e. Nike, Adidas), games, VR, and the music industry send us an email at [n@vinci-games.com](mailto:n@vinci-games.com) if you’d like to partner. \n4. **Share this post!** Please help spread the word about Blacktop Hoops and [join our Discord community.](https://discord.com/invite/jggbR6QDUB)\n\n[Check out our most recent Alpha launch trailer.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1d5vzLtjxs)\n\nLearn more at →  \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=64750&key=user_uploads/701640/33ac53e3-590a-43af-8216-6695641d39c1)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=64750&key=user_uploads/701640/d23ea271-5846-4996-93c2-526fa66f848f)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/GqM-blacktop-hoops-multiplayer-vr-basketball-for-the-metaverse", "votes": 326, "created_at": "2022-07-20T03:28:21.596Z" } ] }, { "id": 27085, "name": "Roforco", "slug": "roforco", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/bc0dd9f83f734b13827ef88ada40e53958962df0.png", "website": "", "all_locations": "Kristiansand, Agder, Norway", "long_description": "Roforco is one of the top game studios on Roblox. The team has launched 7 original titles played by over 100 million users and reaching a peak of 10.2 million monthly active users. Top games include:\r\n\r\n* https://www.roblox.com/games/10975855395/Korrupt-Zombies-UPDATE\r\n* https://www.roblox.com/games/9746160797/Sunsilk-City\r\n* https://www.roblox.com/games/4983678402/Disney-World-Magic-Kingdom-Theme-Park\r\n* https://www.roblox.com/games/6497455705/UPDATE-Iron-Seas\r\n\r\nRoforco drives virality through social reach, with 100K+ TikTok followers, 64K+ Discord members, and tens of millions of views across TikTok and YouTube.\r\n\r\nFounded by two 17-year-old high school dropouts who’ve been building viral consumer products since they were 12. ", "one_liner": "Creating viral AI consumer apps and games", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1660368152, "tags": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "Norway", "Europe", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/roforco", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2022/roforco.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "Kristiansand", "country": "NO", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/bc0dd9f83f734b13827ef88ada40e53958962df0.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/9e261b061ac3c126e4973ef1c19947c0cdf90353.png", "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/9a1d6e727f115439cddf4c7813913dcd3b1ba51f.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1007554, "full_name": "Brain Xiang", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Dropped out of HS to join YC at age 17 as the 3rd youngest yc founder in history.\n\nBuilding viral consumer products since age 12, with over 100 million users and 10 million MAU. Founded and scaled Roforco to $500k revenue in 6 months and raised millions from top investors. \n\nBackground in Math Olympiad, ML and game development.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/brain-xiang-75b033217/", "x_url": "https://x.com/brain_xiang", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/06e63ee6fc115b894493b15e53757c5f772c38e7.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 76000, "title": "Cracked Growth Marketer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/roforco/jobs/7e7Rhc2-cracked-growth-marketer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / New York, NY, US / Remote (US; CA)", "type": "Contract", "role": "Marketing", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$60K - $100K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 77553, "title": "UGC content creator", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/roforco/jobs/vmYsJa5-ugc-content-creator", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / New York, NY, US / Remote", "type": "Internship", "role": "Marketing", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$1K - $1.5K / monthly", "equity_range": "", "experience": null, "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 65554, "title": "Roforco — The game studio without hit-risk.", "tagline": "We create consistent hits by mass-producing games, starting on Roblox.", "body": "> **TL;DR:** [Roforco](https://www.roforco.com/) is a Roblox game studio that creates consistent hits by mass producing games - like a game factory! We acquire and complete unfinished projects, then cross promote them within our portfolio.\\\n> \\\n> Hey ! [👋](https://emojipedia.org/waving-hand/#:\\~:text=A%20hand%20waving%20most%20commonly,to%20Emoji%201.0%20in%202015.) [Tom](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-middleton-22950a212/) and [Brain](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brain-xiang-75b033217/) (aka. the Roblox guys) here to introduce [Roforco](https://www.roforco.com/)!\n\n### 🧨 **The Problem**\n\nThere’s over 200bn$ in (video) gaming. Individual games can pull in hundreds of millions annually. Investors love this opportunity, but **it’s impossible to predict if a studio’s next title will be popular**, make money back or land well. \\\n\\\nGames are expensive to make and are inconsistently successful.\\\n**This is called hit based risk, or as we dubbed it ‘hit-risk’**\n\n### 🤔 **Why Roblox?**\n\n**There will always be at least one popular platform people make games for**. At the moment, it’s Roblox with a 2bn$ market and over 200mm MAU. We’re also deeply familiar with the platform, having **previously built an agency that grossed 500k$ of revenue in 6 mo** and partnered with brands including Unilever.\n\n### 🔎 **The Insight**\n\nIndie game developers **have a tendency to never finish projects they start.** After doing the fun parts like the game loop, closing out the game for release is often too difficult, boring and resource intensive. Every game developer (on Roblox) that we know has at least 2 unfinished or abandoned projects.\\\n\\\n**There are 10 million developers registered on Roblox in comparison to 44k on Steam.** Compared to the years AAA takes to produce one title (or 6-18 months in mobile), **on Roblox the average time to develop a game can be as little as 2-3 months.**\n\n### 🎉 **There's a Solution!**\n\nWe work with these unfinished/abandoned games and we’re able to acquire/ receive **a share of these projects**, while **partnering with the original developer** who is usually **glad to work together** just to see their vision come to life.\n\nThis gives us a much bigger market of unfinished games to acquire and mass **produce for faster and cheaper.** Meanwhile, the original developer gets to make money back from their idea at a fraction of the time and effort.\\\n\\\nEffectively - it’s the revenue of gaming with the predictability of B2B SaaS!\n\n### 🤯 **What next?**\n\nOnce at least a game takes off, it **proves the validity of it’s idea.** Then we can dedicate larger, longterm resources and grow the game’s IP exponentially, turning it into a **multimedia franchise (movies, toys, etc) building more revenue streams beyond the game.**\n\n### 📊 **Our Stats & Games:**\n\n* **51,828,645** total play sessions\n* **84.6%** average like ratio\n* **497,554,992** hours of engagement (#roadto1B)\n* **190,608** daily active users\n* **331,595** favourites\n* **4** original games\n* **3** brand partnership games\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=65554&key=user_uploads/1016774/a3806f6e-88a8-4d52-b9d5-a7e31b799d62)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=65554&key=user_uploads/1016774/3f72a0a1-34b7-4448-9df1-77b690ad92b5)\n\nThanks so much! \\\n[tom@roforco.com](mailto:tom@roforco.com)\\\n[roforco.com](http://roforco.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/H3K-roforco-the-game-studio-without-hit-risk", "votes": 37, "created_at": "2022-08-22T20:39:17.973Z" } ] }, { "id": 27857, "name": "coil inc.", "slug": "coil-inc", "former_names": [ "Coil", "coil" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e6c153f42ee447023427b8aa22135a23bd90bba8.png", "website": "http://www.trycoil.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "", "one_liner": "ai", "team_size": 1, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer", "launched_at": 1676433073, "tags": [ "Gaming", "Media", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2023", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/coil-inc", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2023/coil-inc.json", "year_founded": 2022, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e6c153f42ee447023427b8aa22135a23bd90bba8.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Gustaf Alstromer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/gustaf-alstromer" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 82730, "full_name": "eleazar .", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "builder. ai (coil w23). ai chips (rem s15).\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleazar-vega-gonzalez-a1071426/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a99b8b509bb1822dcd6629f0a9486bf442c52e91.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 69567, "title": "coil - cut fees & kill churn with seamless bank payments 🚫💳", "tagline": "We help businesses replace credit cards with bank payments to cut processing fees up to 80% and eliminate churn from card declines", "body": "### TL;DR: Credit card processing fees are outrageous, and credit card declines account for nearly half of all subscription churn — we're solving these problems once and for all. coil allows you to seamlessly accept bank payments from customers with a simple experience they'll actually use — no account, routing, or microdeposits needed.\n\n# The Problems\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=69567&key=user_uploads/82730/36640ff2-f625-49d1-93b1-b7fc00187466)\n\n### 📉 Delinquent Churn\n\nIf you rely on credit cards for your subscription payments, you’re probably familiar with churn from credit card declines. Recurring credit card charges are declined [15% of the time](https://www.chargebee.com/blog/making-sense-credit-card-declines/#:\\~:text=According%20to%20Visa%20and%20Mastercard,card%20machines%20of%20the%20web.) and account for [48% of churn](https://www.pymnts.com/subscriptions/2021/almost-half-of-subscription-churn-caused-by-preventable-friction-in-failed-payments/), making them the single largest source of churn for most subscription businesses.\n\n### 💸 Processing Fees\n\nAmerican businesses spent over [$138B on credit card processing fees](https://nilsonreport.com/mention/1586/1link/) last year, which is only growing. With Visa and Mastercard controlling more than 70% of the market, they have no incentive to reduce these fees themselves. This is especially painful for businesses that sell high-ticket items or operate on low margins, where every single percentage point can move the needle.\n\n# Our Solution\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=69567&key=user_uploads/82730/6478a091-1af2-4a1c-b14f-1660f235b380)\n\ncoil tackles both of these problems by getting to the root of the issue: credit cards. We’re building a new, seamless experience to help you collect payments via bank transfer (ACH/RTP) instead of credit cards and handling all of the complexity behind the scenes.\n\nOur first product is a “Pay with coil” button that can be added directly to your pre-existing checkout flow for one-off or subscription payments. When a customer uses coil for the very first time, they’ll securely link their bank through Plaid. Afterward, they can verify their identity through an SMS or Email verification code, allowing authenticated payments in seconds. You can checkout the returning flow here:\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=69567&key=user_uploads/82730/f090bdc8-de04-437a-a8a6-daf8abc36a06)\n\nThis is already a huge improvement over today’s ACH experience, and we’re just getting started. Over the coming months and years, we’ll continue to flesh out the scenarios and integrations necessary to become the default payment method for a post-credit card world.\n\n# Asks\n\n* Reach out if you're looking to reduce your processing fees or eradicate churn from credit card declines — all YC companies will receive priority onboarding.\n* Share with anyone you think might be interested in moving past cards to reduce fees & churn.\n\nYou can reach us at [founders@trycoil.com](mailto:founders@trycoil.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/I63-coil-cut-fees-kill-churn-with-seamless-bank-payments", "votes": 53, "created_at": "2023-02-22T20:35:24.403Z" } ] }, { "id": 27875, "name": "Aqueduct", "slug": "aqueduct", "former_names": [ "Iliad" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9942f88e0ad31a3c3da6a0f408886f28f73dabbd.png", "website": "https://aqueduct.sh", "all_locations": "Pittsburgh, PA, USA", "long_description": "Aqueduct is a browser-based procedural material engine and editor.\r\n\r\nThink Substance Designer, with live-sync to Unreal, agents that can read and edit material graphs, and shareable links to those graphs.", "one_liner": "Create, edit, and share procedural material graphs.", "team_size": 1, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B", "launched_at": 1674524413, "tags": [ "Developer Tools", "Gaming", "Design Tools", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2023", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/aqueduct", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2023/aqueduct.json", "year_founded": 2022, "city": "Pittsburgh", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/92719250/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9942f88e0ad31a3c3da6a0f408886f28f73dabbd.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Brad Flora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/brad-flora" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 330916, "full_name": "Matthew Turnshek", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Matthew Turnshek is the founder and CEO of Aqueduct.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-turnshek-4bb618174/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4c8b976c989d544c3b7e98e464e776b569062546.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 28938, "name": "Glade", "slug": "glade", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/39e64fe4e49894144581ae2ef69befe4cb83f6b8.png", "website": "https://gladestudio.ai/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Glade is helping everyone build games with AI. GladeCore powers hundreds of studios and developers with locally powered AI NPCs that include TTS, STT, emotional tuning, and RAG. GladeKit is Cursor for Games - an AI agent that lives directly in your game engine and builds games for you. ", "one_liner": "Build games at the speed of thought", "team_size": 3, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B", "launched_at": 1687994809, "tags": [ "Generative AI", "Consumer", "Entertainment", "Gaming", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2023", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/glade", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2023/glade.json", "year_founded": 2023, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/gladegamestudio", "x_url": "https://x.com/GladeStudio", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/39e64fe4e49894144581ae2ef69befe4cb83f6b8.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/a26e6511816713a17d7f2cec1d66dc6d5d18441c.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 424004, "full_name": "Daniel Fang", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Daniel is the CEO and co-founder of Glade. He has years of experience working in banking, strategic finance, and venture capital. He has previously worked at Navan, Ocean Tomo, and Goldman Sachs.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/danielfang7", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/2d257131f2a20e76faf35a42e3d3955091e1c875.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Our favorite startups from YC's Summer 2023 Demo Day, Day 1 | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/06/ycombinator-demo-day-one-summer-2023/", "date": "Sep 06, 2023" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 98702, "title": "GladeKit: AI agent for game development", "tagline": "AI agent that understands your Unity project and builds directly inside it (Unreal Engine next)", "body": "GladeKit is an AI agent that understands your Unity project and can create systems, modify scenes, and fix bugs directly inside your engine. It doesn’t just generate code snippets - it takes direct action inside your project.\n\n**Demo**: \n\n# **The problem**\n\nMost AI tools for game development don’t see your scene hierarchy, prefabs, or existing systems, so developers end up copying code into Unity, wiring components together, fixing errors, and repeating the process.\n\nThis constant context switching slows down shipping real gameplay.\n\n# **The solution: an engine-aware AI agent**\n\nGladeKit connects directly to your Unity project and understands the full context of your game. It reads your scripts, assets, scene hierarchy, and components, then plans and executes changes directly inside the engine.\n\nWhat that looks like in practice:\n\n* 150+ native Unity actions: create prefabs, wire up Animator Controllers, configure physics, build UI, set up lighting, bake NavMeshes - all from natural language\n* Full project awareness: the AI sees your scene hierarchy, active errors, render pipeline, selected objects, and script content before it does anything\n* Three modes built for different workflows: Agent, Debug, and Ask\n* Turn-by-turn revert: every change the AI makes is tracked and reversible, with a built-in script diff viewer so you see exactly what changed\n\nYou describe what you want, and GladeKit builds it inside your project.\n\n# **How it works**\n\nGladeKit indexes your Unity project and builds a structured understanding of:\n\n• Scripts and APIs\n\n• Scene hierarchy and GameObjects\n\n• Prefabs, assets, and components\n\nWhen you request a change (for example: “Create a player controller with WASD movement” or “Fix this null reference error”), it generates a plan and applies the required changes directly to the project.\n\n# **The ask**\n\n1. If you’re building a game in Unity, we’d love for you to try GladeKit.\n2. If you know indie studios or teams experimenting with AI dev tools, intros would be hugely appreciated.\n\nTry it for free here:\n\n\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=98702&key=user_uploads/424004/56ba163b-c05d-45b7-a278-2107abed2ba8)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Pfy-gladekit-ai-agent-for-game-development", "votes": 5, "created_at": "2026-03-12T15:09:48.531Z" }, { "id": 72665, "title": "Glade - Enterprise grade platform for financial planning", "tagline": "We helps companies build, manage, and visualize their financial plan in real-time", "body": "**_Tl;dr:_** _Finance teams spend 75% of their time on manual processes, and existing tools in the market are extremely difficult to adopt. Glade is a user-first, fully integrated platform that helps enterprises and scaling companies streamline their financial planning, reporting, and analytics. Check out our_ [_website_](https://gladetool.com) _to learn more._\n\nHi everyone, we’re Daniel and Aaron, the co-founders of Glade!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=72665&key=user_uploads/424004/0b41811b-ce06-4f98-9c81-60bded2fe769)\n\n### **🧨 Problem: Financial Planning is Painful and Tedious**\n\nWithin growing companies and enterprises, there is no single source of truth for financial data, and finance teams are wasting too much time on manual tasks. Daniel was a finance manager at his last company and spent hours every day manually preparing data and handling simple requests from business partners. \n\nExisting tools are also extremely difficult to adopt and implement. Daniel’s previous company implemented Anaplan and paid hundreds of thousands each year for it, yet only one person in his entire company learned how to properly use it. \n\n### **🚀 Solution: A User-First, AI-Powered Financial Platform**\n\nGlade helps companies build, manage, and visualize their financial plan in real-time. \n\nUnlike existing enterprise tools, we fully integrate with all business apps (such as Netsuite, Workday, and Snowflake) to automate the flow of data directly from these apps to your team’s Google Sheets and Excel models. Through our integrations and data enrichment, Glade serves as the central source of truth for all financial data within a company. \n\nOur platform also empowers leaders across the company to make informed decisions and stay aligned. By leveraging AI, we allow users to self-serve financial data through our platform and use natural language to create custom, board deck-ready visualizations in seconds. Want to check how your business is performing in the APAC region? Just ask Glade: “How has my revenue trended in APAC over the last 3 months?” Using AI, we will produce a high-quality chart for you in seconds.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=72665&key=user_uploads/424004/75f11c06-8d2a-42e8-adc9-08f67408016f)\n\nUsing Glade, companies: \n\n✔️ Speed up financial planning, month-end close, and investor/board deliverables by 2x \n\n✔️ Improve reporting and forecast accuracy by eliminating errors from manual data pulls  \n\n✔️ Align leaders and teams across the company to financial objectives\n\n### **💲Opportunity Size:**\n\nThe total addressable market for enterprise financial planning is $50B. Anaplan is a leader in the space, with a market capitalization of almost $10B. \n\nHowever, with a recorded NPS of -38 and poor user adoption across its customers, legacy enterprise tools like Anaplan are bound to be replaced. \n\n### **❔Our Ask:**\n\nConnect us to CEOs, CFOs, and finance leaders in your network. To contact us, [click here](mailto:daniel@gladetool.com)\n\nIntroduce us to any warm connections you have in fast-growing companies or enterprises. [click here](mailto:daniel@gladetool.com)\n\nAre you a founder and interested in using our software to improve your financial planning process? To schedule a meeting with Glade, [click here](https://calendly.com/danielglade/30min)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Iu1-glade-enterprise-grade-platform-for-financial-planning", "votes": 21, "created_at": "2023-06-29T22:04:03.669Z" } ] }, { "id": 28994, "name": "Vango AI", "slug": "vango-ai", "former_names": [ "vango (like Vincent “Van Gogh” ☺️)", "Vango AI", "Vango", "Vango AI", "vango ai", "Vango AI", "Vango" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/81c4b7cfa70455fe6fc21054b703c4fd719269b2.png", "website": "https://vango.ai/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We built Vango excited by the future where generative visual AI models like stable diffusion dramatically reduce the barrier to create content. While spending 8 months building products for creatives, we found ourselves building hacky tools to address many of frustrations we had with visual AI. \r\n\r\nSo we decided to build the devtool we needed: Vango is a flexible evaluation platform that makes it 10x improve visual models. Developers using visual AI models at scale use Vango to learn quantitative ways to improve their model, saving them ~10 hours per week. \r\n\r\nMajor companies building visual products have already begun integrating diffusion models, including Adobe, Disney, Activision Blizzard, Canva, and Snap. By 2025, it is estimated that 1 billion images per day will be AI-generated. ", "one_liner": "Development platform that makes it 10x easier to improve visual models", "team_size": 2, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Engineering, Product and Design", "launched_at": 1692068150, "tags": [ "Developer Tools", "Generative AI", "Design", "Gaming", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2023", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "B2B", "Engineering, Product and Design" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vango-ai", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2023/vango-ai.json", "year_founded": 2022, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/vango_ai", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": "https://github.com/vangoai", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/81c4b7cfa70455fe6fc21054b703c4fd719269b2.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/60c372889dcb9b710b5ae04465f07a2824210310.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 887154, "full_name": "Eshaan Moorjani", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Berkeley CS", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshaan-moorjani", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/eshaan_moorjani", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/260a03ad08f37a350a96f0a1b7fe7fac230a6bdd.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1255237, "full_name": "Rajen Dey", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Founder at vango.ai", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajen-dey-2796941b3/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/Vijnej", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/8d2630551cbb97b556d0ccbae6aa7a1cc0e11da0.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 74170, "title": "Vango 🎨 - Build with + evaluate Stable Diffusion fast", "tagline": "Try Vango, the fastest way to build and analyze diffusion models! ", "body": "**tl;dr:** _Vango makes it 10x easier to build and evaluate Stable Diffusion workflows in your app. Developers use Vango to deploy Stable Diffusion in minutes and achieve high-quality images faster than any existing solution._\n\n_Hello world_ — Eshaan and Rajen here!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=74170&key=user_uploads/887154/c555fc75-23e2-4ba7-9384-8d74b8378765)\n\nWe’re thrilled to show y’all what we’ve been working on, let’s begin!\n\n### 🐷 Problem:\n\nWe’ve all seen how unique, highly customizable, and beautiful AI art can be — **but it’s incredibly tedious to deploy and maintain Stable Diffusion in your app.**\n\nBuilding apps on top of stable diffusion is an unnecessarily tedious and manual process. You have to:\n\n* **Select the right models, hyperparameters, and prompts:** These have huge impact on the content, quality, and style of outputs. To achieve the best results, developers spend hours testing each model, parameter, or prompt individually.\n* **Add guardrails:** Ensuring that your model does not generate unintended NSFW or discriminatory images takes hours of careful testing.\n* **Deploy on GPUs:** Like everything in AI right now, developers must obtain and configure a juicy high-VRAM GPU to run Stable Diffusion fast.\n\n  \n\n### **💜 Solution:**\n\n**Vango empowers developers to build and evaluate stable diffusion models faster than ever.**\n\n## 🧱 Build workflows & deploy as API\n\nWatch us build a corgi generator and deploy it as a scalable API in seconds.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=74170&key=user_uploads/887154/36fc2f9f-0d81-4e81-aeca-f849103d2652)\n\n## 🤖 Perfect the hyper-parameters\n\n**Vango helps you evaluate models quantitatively.** Vango will track metrics across thousands of prompts — including NSFW content, crossed eyes, disfigured limbs/fingers, cropped faces, and prompt alignment.\n\n1. Specify your models (either as `.safetensors` or `.ckpt` file, Cog container, API endpoint, or Vango workflow)\n2. Provide us your prompts or _use one of our prompt datasets with thousands of examples_.\n3. Use our quantitative features to learn how models compare\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=74170&key=user_uploads/887154/dcd39f7d-6900-4402-91d7-8fc530ca3b0e)\n\nAnd for more granular analysis, you can filter all the images based on failure modes. In the video below, you can see us finding the images that have deformed hands.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=74170&key=user_uploads/887154/6c83e176-d63b-4e23-8cbc-a5cac60bfb2f)\n\n### 🐻 About us:\n\nWe’re best friends, neighbors back home in Maryland, and college roommates (and literally sharing a triple in SF right now)! We’ve been doing class projects + side projects together for over 3 years now 🙉.\n\nEshaan has researched multimodal models at Berkeley AI Research (BAIR), low-compute visual detection systems at NASA JPL, and anomaly detection at Citadel Securities. And Rajen has built wide-ranging software at Amazon, Nuro, Two Sigma, and Solana.\n\nAnd we both graduated from UC Berkeley a year early to work on Vango! We discovered this problem while developing our own diffusion apps after noticing first-hand how AI can help creatives in VFX.\n\n### 📩 Asks:\n\nIf you are (or know anybody that is) building apps with stable diffusion, we’d love to chat and see how we can help! We’re currently onboarding our early partners.\n\nIf you’re interested, sign up for our waitlist [here](https://forms.gle/ExYEf2HTeNBWJfa19) or shoot us an email at [founders@vango.ai](mailto:founders@vango.ai).", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/JII-vango-build-with-evaluate-stable-diffusion-fast", "votes": 33, "created_at": "2023-08-16T21:38:41.929Z" } ] }, { "id": 29257, "name": "Tuesday Labs", "slug": "tuesday-labs", "former_names": [ "Adagy Robotics", "Tuesday Lab" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/bb7c6f660a8e21354833989c609687d7125a07b0.png", "website": "https://www.tuesdaylabs.com", "all_locations": "New York City, NY, USA", "long_description": "Tuesday makes delightful robots that tidy your home for you", "one_liner": "Delightful robots", "team_size": 7, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Consumer Electronics", "launched_at": 1706678921, "tags": [ "Robotics", "Consumer", "Gaming", "Electronics", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Consumer Electronics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/tuesday-labs", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2024/tuesday-labs.json", "year_founded": 2023, "city": "New York City", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/tuesdaylabs/", "x_url": "https://x.com/roboticscorp", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/bb7c6f660a8e21354833989c609687d7125a07b0.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1151107, "full_name": "Rosalind Shinkle", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Ros is the founder and CEO of Tuesday Labs. Before starting Tuesday, Ros was a Staff Robotics Engineer at Boston Dynamics, where she worked on the Spot Manipulation team. At Boston Dynamics, Ros engineered the algorithms that tell the Spot arm how to interact with the world, e.g. how to inspect manufacturing lines and place sensitive objects. Ros has a BSE in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics and a Master’s in Robotics from UPenn.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/rosalind-shinkle", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/ros_shinkle", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/480b24eb70dc949df4b776fbee39a4773c66c476.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 77209, "title": "Open Call for Candidates", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/tuesday-labs/jobs/PWQE14e-open-call-for-candidates", "location": "New York City", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 29653, "name": "ideate.xyz", "slug": "ideate-xyz", "former_names": [ "Ditto AI", "ditto - build apps in a document editor", "ditto" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ddd71ba982d476aedba701cf20c9d17a3c9193de.png", "website": "https://ideate.xyz", "all_locations": "London, England, United Kingdom", "long_description": "Generate. Paint. Refine.\r\n\r\nideate.xyz is an AI-powered 3D art suite on the web, taking your ideas from concept to production ready assets in record time.\r\n\r\nOur powerful text to image to 3D pipeline rapidly generates model assets using the latest AI tech.\r\n\r\nRapidly generate and edit 3D model textures in your browser using our texture projection and inpainting editor.\r\n\r\nGet your 3D assets production ready using our texture processing, upscaling and compression algorithms.", "one_liner": "ideate.xyz is an AI-powered 3D art suite on the web", "team_size": 2, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Engineering, Product and Design", "launched_at": 1724663841, "tags": [ "Developer Tools", "Generative AI", "SaaS", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Engineering, Product and Design" ], "regions": [ "United Kingdom", "Europe" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/ideate-xyz", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/ideate-xyz.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "London", "country": "GB", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/ideatexyz", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/ideateXYZ", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ddd71ba982d476aedba701cf20c9d17a3c9193de.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Brad Flora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/brad-flora" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1759022, "full_name": "Elliott Thompson", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Founder at ideate.xyz . A software engineer with a penchant for visual computing. He studied computer graphics at University College London before taking on a role as a graphics generalist at Snap Inc. He has previously worked on 3D engines, game developer tooling, graphics editors and e-commerce platforms.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/ellt92", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/elliott_thomps", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ec141d27ab589d8e7d90fd3496f88481729ef02d.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 83411, "title": "ideate.xyz: AI design co-pilot for content teams", "tagline": "The first AI design co-pilot that content teams can collaborate with to create high click-through thumbnail designs for their social media channels. The thumbnail design process is orchestrated by AI with layout, composition, copy and imagery all optimised for brand consistency.", "body": "### **Tl;dr:**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83411&key=user_uploads/620002/b47c6ed6-17ba-44cf-b061-5a5c4b94ed08)\n\n**ideate.xyz is an AI design co-pilot for content teams to create engaging thumbnail designs for their social media channels. We are starting with thumbnails, the most critical window to connect with audiences - ideate is here to help content teams stand out.**\n\n**Looking ahead, ideate will become THE AI design partner for the next generation of content creators, crafting unique and tailored designs for their bespoke brands.**\n\n### **The team:**\n\nHi, [Jasper](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasperjia/) and [Elliott](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellt92/) here. We are building [ideate.xyz](http://ideate.xyz) - the first AI design co-pilot for content teams to create thumbnail designs for social media channels. \n\n![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcyUiwrYeoWSM9XI-PrkXrpcLxSQZLYZHYRrgKdya2BZpu7VgxyNGx8KcSPqkbuzo0IEUy1_-6sCn3Zsc6cBw0OVQmAUdEJhMmbByvBhOPLvLa4rWe1RTA4lXgk6r_9i2WnQX03jbegL_seQRPUthnvM50C?key=dBDHpbeLdBMcMx4JQU8ppQ)\n\n**Jasper Jia (Left)**\n\nCofounder & CEO at ideate.xyz. Designer specialising in creative tools and no-code. He believes designers should embrace learning and getting their hands dirty in the technical end of the software building process to craft the best software experience and cultivate fast iteration cycles with the engineering team. He was an ex-Snap designer and MSc Design Engineering graduate from Imperial College London.\n\n**Elliott Thompson (Right)**\n\nCofounder & CTO at ideate.xyz. A software engineer with a penchant for visual computing. He studied computer graphics at University College London before taking on a role as a graphics generalist at Snap Inc. He has previously worked on 3D engines, game developer tooling, graphics editors, and e-commerce platforms.\n\n### **The problem:**\n\nDesign tools are stuck at two extremes: powerful but complex, or simple yet limiting. This seemingly inevitable tradeoff affects millions of content creators trying to stand out with their thumbnail designs, the critical window to connect with their audience.\n\nIf you’ve had to design thumbnails for social channels, you've likely been here:\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83411&key=user_uploads/620002/b533f0cd-3816-4699-b93b-a445528a046f)\n\nYou have a great idea, so you install the latest Adobe product. Suddenly, you're faced with a blank canvas and a dizzying array of options. Hours of YouTube tutorials later, you're ready to throw in the towel.\n\nTime for Plan B. You load up Canva, pick a template that's \"close enough,\" and tweak some colors. It doesn't really feel like yours, and it is so hard to stand out with a “Canva look” when there are over 3.7 million videos uploaded to YouTube alone every day!\n\n### **Our solution:**\n\n[ideate.xyz](http://ideate.xyz) - the first AI design co-pilot orchestrating the entire thumbnail design process from initial ideas to final designs that stand out!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83411&key=user_uploads/620002/56aa1f67-549b-44ae-a3ee-66e0b32c5a17)\n\n\\* Design with plain English: No prior experience with design or creative software needed. Produce designs via simple and engaging discussions with AI design co-pilot.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83411&key=user_uploads/620002/406874a3-9435-4c80-9472-f1982d4bb1f7)\n\n\\* Think of our copilot as your team’s AI design partner - guiding the design process with proactive questions to understand design requirements and implementing expert design decisions after your sign off.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83411&key=user_uploads/620002/887c967e-b165-4ceb-b4d1-8d5beb9a5bb3)\n\n\\* Collaborative environment: Teams can work with a co-pilot on the same project for a quick feedback cycle and sign-off before exporting the final designs.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83411&key=user_uploads/620002/3333d422-a852-4af4-8de4-adb7e832c3f8)\n\n\\* Maintain brand consistency as our AI learns your preferences over time and always generates content with this in mind.\n\n\\* We fine-tune our prompts for each generation, considering layout composition, image assets, and copywriting in lockstep with each other to produce creative but also consistent results. \n\nA typical workflow with ideate.xyz:\n\n1\\. Describe your content ideas\n\n2\\. First drafts designed by AI co-pilot\n\n3\\. Iterate and create more variations by chatting with AI copilot\n\n4\\. Export designs in channel-specific dimensions \n\n[Quick demo here](https://youtu.be/Zf_i1cUejbk)\n\n### **Our story:**\n\nAs a design and engineer duo, we have spent years crafting creative tools in the WebGL and AR space. We've also built and mentored in the no-code space to help non-techies build out their online presence. Regardless of the domain, one challenge persists for creators — finding a design tool that’s both simple and powerful enough to bring a brand's vision to life. The reason why this problem persists in the market is simple - the inevitable tradeoff that every design software needs to make between power and ease of use. Typically, the more powerful a tool gets, the more complex it becomes. On the flip side, easy-to-use tools often limit creativity with rigid templates. \n\nBut with AI, we have found the conviction to break this tradeoff. We are on a mission to create a design tool that actually puts your ideas in the driving seat, making the design process less about esoteric design language and more about the content team’s own creative impulses. Our goal is to empower the next generation of creators to build stunning brands and assets. \n\n### **Our ask**\n\nAre you currently on a team that regularly has to come up with thumbnail designs for your social media content?  Either wrestling with complex design tools or unhappy with generic templates? Talk to us, and we would love to learn more about your requirements!\n\nIf you know any professional content creators, we’d really appreciate the connection!\n\nOur email is [founders@ideate.xyz](mailto:founders@ideate.xyz)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LhL-ideate-xyz-ai-design-co-pilot-for-content-teams", "votes": 51, "created_at": "2024-08-26T18:12:14.426Z" } ] }, { "id": 29716, "name": "CreativeMode", "slug": "creativemode", "former_names": [ "Condor Labs", "Argon", "Parity" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/2bdf22dccaa26c230a94ceee5b1728f0d487b3cd.png", "website": "https://creativemode.net", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "In the past 9 months, more Minecraft mods were made with CreativeMode than in the game's previous 17 years combined. CreativeMode is making every player a creator.\r\n\r\nGames like Minecraft, Fortnite, and Roblox started a revolution by allowing players to shape the games they love. CreativeMode is taking it to the next level by giving every player the power of a game studio at their fingertips. Players on CreativeMode create new experiences, play them with friends, and share their creations with the community. It’s a new way to play and create where imagination is the only limit.\r\n\r\nCreativeMode’s founding team met as early engineers at Crusoe (soon to IPO) and studied CS+AI at Stanford, MIT, and CMU. The team is backed by top investors including YC and General Catalyst.", "one_liner": "Lovable for Minecraft mods", "team_size": 5, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1723073466, "tags": [ "Consumer", "Entertainment", "Gaming", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/creativemode", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/creativemode.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/creativemode1", "x_url": "https://x.com/usecreativemode", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/2bdf22dccaa26c230a94ceee5b1728f0d487b3cd.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 426535, "full_name": "Wilson Spearman", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Wilson is co-founder and CEO of CreativeMode. \n\nBefore CreativeMode, Wilson was a SWE working on building the AI cloud at Crusoe. Prior to that, he worked at Settle as a product engineer building new purchase order and AP tools for CPG brands. \n\nWilson studied CS at MIT with focus on systems. He's originally from upstate South Carolina.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilsonspearman/", "x_url": "https://x.com/wilson_spearman", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/50b55c51a05e7191c5a9ecb0e0d6459c549c318d.jpg" }, { "user_id": 894610, "full_name": "Coleman Smith", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-founder of CreativeMode.\n\nWorked as a software engineer at Crusoe, studied CS at Stanford, with an undergrad focus on Systems and a coterm masters in the AI track.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/colemansmith-/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ec4a2b691ca39ca3dfc3262ddb4b1d2db87ddda0.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1979895, "full_name": "Jeffrey Tsaw", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Jeffrey is co-founder and CTO of CreativeMode.\n\nPreviously, Jeffrey worked as a Software Engineer at Crusoe, where he helped run the Bitcoin mining team alongside Coleman and Wilson. \n\nHe studied ECE at CMU where he received his BS and MS, and is originally from Hong Kong. \n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-tsaw-561b35191/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/08f49f8fa9d9165b323b1503ad2b59006831f359.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 95161, "title": "Founding Growth & Content", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/creativemode/jobs/fRFB52S-founding-growth-content", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Marketing", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$130K - $220K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 29826, "name": "Orca Client", "slug": "orca-client", "former_names": [ "Titan", "Simplifine", "Orca", "Orca Launcher" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/3264c421729b2bff6ef1ef17bf775cafd7c098a6.png", "website": "https://orcaclient.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Orca is a game launcher for Minecraft. Players browse games and experiences and join with one click, no mod installation, no setup. We handle hosting and mod delivery for server owners and game creators, who earn revenue from their games. Think Roblox, but built on top of Minecraft's 312M player base.", "one_liner": "Orca lets you build, discover, and play Minecraft games with friends.", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer", "launched_at": 1723501563, "tags": [ "Consumer", "Gaming", "AI", "AI Assistant" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/orca-client", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/orca-client.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/111232079", "x_url": "https://x.com/orca_gamedev", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/3264c421729b2bff6ef1ef17bf775cafd7c098a6.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1599776, "full_name": "Ege Kaan Duman", "title": "Founder/CPO", "founder_bio": "Rhodes Scholar from Turkey. DKU, Duke, and Oxford alumnus. Musician, poet, cook. I like flowers & watering my flowers. cat & dog enjoyer but mostly fat cat enjoyer.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ege-kaan-duman-445731173/", "x_url": "https://x.com/egekduman", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/83bffa14045de3a2c257211bfe14308916650b9b.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1646724, "full_name": "Ali Kavoosi", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Ali is co-founder of Simplifine. He has extensive background in optimising AI models, from putting them on Deep Brain Stimulators to speeding up training/inference on GPUs.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alikav/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/bfc1e90c9d00d3cb20b2ee7a47ad54209f482d15.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 83568, "title": "Simplifine | 🌟 AI-powered Workspace for Researchers", "tagline": "10x faster complex data and literature analysis using natural language and LLM agents.", "body": "# **TL;DR**\n\n **Fast, Scalable Analysis:** Simplifine’s fine-tuned LLMs orchestrate Agent Graphs for complex data and literature analysis at scale, making it 10x faster—all powered by natural language.\n\n**Tailored for Researchers**: Our solution integrates the entire research workflow, from literature search to note-taking, citation management, and analysis. Focus on your research without the hassle of tools that don’t scale with your data.\n\n**No Programming Needed**: Researchers shouldn’t need to learn new languages or wait for engineers to analyze big datasets. Our fine-tuned LLMs enable experts to conduct large-scale analysis using complex techniques—no programming required.\n\n### **Team**\n\nWe’re [Raveen](https://www.linkedin.com/in/raveen-kariyawasam-84b368295/), [Ali](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alikav/), and [Ege](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ege-kaan-duman-445731173/)—longtime friends from the University of Oxford. Raveen and Ege are Rhodes Scholars, while Ali is a PhD student in Healthcare AI at Oxford. Together, we’ve authored over 30 publications & articles across 10+ fields at top institutions/organizations like the University of Oxford, the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Duke, McKinsey, and the World Health Organization. Having experienced the outdated research processes firsthand, we’re now on a mission to change that with Simplifine!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83568&key=user_uploads/1641010/7e05728d-7810-4f97-88ac-fd5a1f4da5fb)\n\n### **Problem**\n\nAs Oxford researchers, PhDs, and Rhodes Scholars, we’ve worked across various fields and institutions. But no matter the context, we’ve consistently faced the same challenge: **_managing a chaotic array of tools and coordinating with multiple people in our research pipeline._**\n\n·      **Complex Citation and Code Conversion:** We spend countless hours managing citations, converting papers into code, and ensuring our data is correctly processed to work with that code before we can even begin analysis.\n\n·      **Time-Consuming Scaling:** Scaling that code to handle larger datasets becomes even more time-consuming, adding to the complexity.\n\n·      **Collaboration Delays:** Large-scale analysis requires collaborating with engineers and data scientists to optimize computationally intensive experiments. This leads to significant delays, as everyone needs to get up to speed and manage tools for data analysis alongside citation management and figure generation.\n\n### **Solution**\n\n[Simplifine](https://www.simplifine.com) consolidates every aspect of the research process into **one intuitive platform, supercharged with fine-tuned LLMs and Agent Graphs**. Whether you’re conducting a literature search, managing sources, writing, coding experiments, or generating figures across data warehouses—_Simplifine handles it all with natural language._\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83568&key=user_uploads/1641010/d3dc15cd-317e-4739-b7f6-3ae5c3476cb6)\n\nDesigned specifically for researchers, our platform eliminates the inefficiencies and frustrations of juggling multiple tools. With LLM agents at your side, you can tackle large-scale analysis from the start, moving as quickly as your mind does!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83568&key=user_uploads/1641010/9183de53-5e62-4b43-a1d7-fe571dceba9a)\n\n### **Our Ask**\n\nWe need your help to spread the word and sign up to use Simplifine – [www.simplifine.com](https://www.simplifine.com)\n\nIf you know anyone in academia or industry who conducts research—whether they read, write or code—please connect us with them!\n\nOur email: [founders@simplifine.com](mailto:founders@simplifine.com)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83568&key=user_uploads/1641010/7291b438-cdbe-42c3-9452-4a3fa0fbb694)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Ljs-simplifine-ai-powered-workspace-for-researchers", "votes": 45, "created_at": "2024-08-29T01:15:36.281Z" } ] }, { "id": 30544, "name": "Wavedash", "slug": "wavedash", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/5bc7b2b59a7a325fcdf566d9120353bab8f1fa91.png", "website": "https://wavedash.com", "all_locations": "Los Angeles, CA, USA", "long_description": "Wavedash uses cutting edge browser technology to let gamers play the latest releases with no downloads or installation.\r\n\r\n", "one_liner": "Play the latest games in your browser with no downloads", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1744312209, "tags": [ "Consumer", "Gaming", "Web Development", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wavedash", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2025/wavedash.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "Los Angeles", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/wavedashgg/", "x_url": "https://wavedash.gg/", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/wavedash-1baa", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/5bc7b2b59a7a325fcdf566d9120353bab8f1fa91.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tom Blomfield", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tom-blomfield" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1663255, "full_name": "Kyler Blue", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "- world class games on the www\n- Wavedash helps game studios rapidly distribute their games\n- previously built GIF Keyboard / Tenor (acquired by Google)", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/kylerblue", "x_url": "https://x.com/kylerblue", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d5a96b9a190ab2466107383a763fad9278bafc1a.jpg" }, { "user_id": 211787, "full_name": "Raymond (George) Kennedy", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Play next generation games in your browser", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/franzwarning/", "x_url": "https://x.com/franzwarning", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/bbf2863f96314ff4acfeb52de3824f775dc8cd0b.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1828896, "full_name": "Matthew Portner", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/in-in-in/", "x_url": "https://x.com/portner", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/cf0344a264cb8edd23d1ba8d52bf804ce2a3b1e6.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 90656, "title": "Wavedash — zero-install gameplay", "tagline": "Play the latest games in your web browser", "body": "**TL;DR: Wavedash uses cutting edge browser technology to let gamers play the latest releases with no downloads or installation.**\n\nhttps://youtu.be/J_33b9malzc\n\n## The Problem\n\nLarge downloads and lengthy installs create friction between your game and potential players\n\n## Our Solution\n\nWavedash uses cutting edge browser technologies (like WebAssembly and WebGPU) to allow players to hop into your game instantly — with no downloads and no installations.\n\n## The Team\n\nKyler Blue was previously the first employee and Head of Product at Tenor (acquired by Google.) Kyler designed GIF Keyboard and helped build the Tenor API that powers search in the world’s largest apps and messengers.\n\nRaymond (George) Kennedy previously built from-to.app, Stems ST-02, and founded Rhythmm (W18). He also founded Sesh (acquired by GoFundMe) and has been an engineering leader at several startups.\n\nMatt Portner previously founded DefendTheHouse (a 700k subscriber YouTube gaming community) and worked in production at SnapChat and Buzzfeed. Matt is a VFX and design expert with credits in the film and television industry.\n\n## Our Ask\n\nStudios and game devs: partner with us.\n\nOffer: we will port your game to the web and do the eng lifting to get your game on Wavedash. Live your dreams; make a living making games.\n\n📧 Email us: [founders@wavedash.gg](mailto:founders@wavedash.gg)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90656&key=user_uploads/211787/039a1c3d-9624-4ea9-b5c4-54f0e7ac81f6)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/NaC-wavedash-zero-install-gameplay", "votes": 59, "created_at": "2025-05-22T18:31:15.679Z" } ] }, { "id": 30569, "name": "Fifth Door", "slug": "fifth-door", "former_names": [ "Placeholder (Gaming + Gen AI)" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ccb42373fb1495367c087cca6ae092d6da20baba.png", "website": "https://fifthdoor.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Fifth Door unlocks the power of imagination by making it easy for everyone to create, share, and play games anywhere, with anyone. We exist to stimulate the creativity, connection, and joy that people get when they play games.\r\n", "one_liner": "Create and play games with AI", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1764014092, "tags": [ "Consumer", "Gaming", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fifth-door", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2025/fifth-door.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ccb42373fb1495367c087cca6ae092d6da20baba.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Garry Tan", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/garry-tan" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 5619, "full_name": "Daniel Kan", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Built Exec (W12), Cruise (W14), now Fifth Door (F25)", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielkan", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/5892151ebb8056a8d73a27951ce9573e078f48d0.jpg" }, { "user_id": 5527, "full_name": "Amir Ghazvinian", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": ".", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirghazvinian/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/b83d26e3d9fb37a474e45bf978615d6eda710c5a.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 77736, "title": "Front End Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fifth-door/jobs/o7AS4A9-front-end-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / Remote (US)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Frontend", "salary_range": "$150 - $250", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "React", "TypeScript" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 30978, "name": "Miniswap", "slug": "miniswap", "former_names": [ "Miniswap Technologies Inc." ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/19d8cd9731e5b803cf28ada75d13c38049717b0e.png", "website": "https://miniswap.gg/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Miniswap a marketplace for complex hobbies, starting with Warhammer.\r\n\r\nIn hobbies as complex as Warhammer, finding what you want on general marketplaces is a huge pain. Filters don't work, free-form listings mean that products are regularly misidentified, and piles of counterfeit junk crowd search results. \r\n\r\nMiniswap saves hobbyists from this chaos with its catalogue of more than 20,000 unique miniatures. Sellers match their listings against Miniswap's catalogue giving buyers more information and structure as they shop.\r\n\r\nThe global market for tabletop games is estimated to be worth $20B in 2025 and Warhammer alone is projected to grow to $3B by 2030. By capturing the market in this untapped niche, Miniswap is strongly positioned to bringing greater transparency, simplicity, and connectivity into adjacent verticals.\r\n\r\nMiniswap's founding team merges deep domain knowledge with elite programming expertise and years of experience in business consulting and startups. Co-founders Zak and Will met while studying together at Cambridge, bonded over their love of Warhammer and early modern history. They have been best friends ever since. ", "one_liner": "The Marketplace for Complex Hobbies", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1760936665, "tags": [ "Marketplace", "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/miniswap", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2025/miniswap.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/miniswap/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570938691765", "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/19d8cd9731e5b803cf28ada75d13c38049717b0e.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/010f7145d1a8ce8d8f9d28d478a3ddb43e35728b.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Pete Koomen", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/pete-koomen" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2319955, "full_name": "Zak Singh", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Former Cambridge CS PhD. East Bay native. Lover of Warhammer and concatenative programming languages (in that order).", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/zak-singh/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/36181f3d4d1eeba4dde5d21201d02e4603687a67.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2363018, "full_name": "Will Hanna", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Former strategy consultant/law student. Canadian. Lover of tabletop games and road cycling (in that order).", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-h-48a38bbb/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d69ab55386c4239f2d07435100c297a0995a0063.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 95395, "title": "Miniswap: The Marketplace for Tabletop Games", "tagline": "Helping tabletop gamers find exactly what they want", "body": "Hi!\n\nWe’re [Zak](https://www.linkedin.com/in/zak-singh) and [Will](https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-h-48a38bbb/) — co-founders of [Miniswap](https://miniswap.gg/).\n\n**TL;DR:** Miniswap is a marketplace for the $20b tabletop games industry, starting with Warhammer. Since launching 4 weeks ago, 1,000 gamers have already signed up and listed over $40k of inventory.\n\n**Ask:** Do you know a lover of tabletop games or a game store owner that could benefit from what we’ve built? Contact us at [admin@miniswap.gg](mailto:admin@miniswap.gg)\\\n\\\n[Introducing Miniswap — The Marketplace for Tabletop Games](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvLHV8x1lg8%5C)\n\n\\\n**The Problem: Buying Wargaming Minis is a Huge Pain**\n\nTabletop games like Warhammer have incredibly complex taxonomies – one kit can be built into ten different models all with different roles in the game. Without a uniform description, sellers create information-sparse listings that do not accurately describe what they are selling.\n\nDoomscrolling through generic marketplaces trying to find what you’re looking for has become a rite of passage in the wargaming hobby. Browsing existing marketplaces is like sifting through a junk drawer of mislabeled minis and knock-offs.\n\nThe result? Buyers can’t find what they want and sellers can’t move their inventory.\\\n\\\n**Miniswap’s Solution: One Catalogue to Rule Them All**\n\nWe’re making it easier for buyers and sellers of tabletop gaming products to connect\n\nUsing AI, we’ve built a comprehensive catalogue of every miniature released over the past 25 years -- more than 20,000 of them -- with data on every detail buyers and sellers care about. This gives our users:\n\n* **1) A better buying experience:** gamers can now search for the exact miniature they want, and drill down by the attributes that actually matter to them.\n* **2) A better selling experience:** As a seller, all you need to do is take a photo of your miniature(s) and Miniswap will automatically create an accurate and detail-rich listing for you.\n\nOur high-resolution catalogue also gives us the ability to displace generic online store and inventory management systems like Shopify.\\\n\\\n**The Team**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95395&key=user_uploads/2363018/d16aca68-46cb-4cf9-9612-09d47a4a77de)\n\nZak’s love of tabletop games spans two decades—he got his first Warhammer kit when he was 6 years old and has been active in the hobby ever since. Before founding Miniswap, Zak was the CTO of Hear Me, a mental health app serving over 100k users. He dropped out of his PhD in computer science at Cambridge to start Miniswap.\n\nBefore founding Miniswap, Will worked as a strategic advisor to the CEOs of some of the world’s largest companies, including Bridgewater Associates and Pfizer. He has advanced degrees in economics and philosophy from McGill and Cambridge. He dropped out of law school at McGill to move to found Miniswap.\n\nWill and Zak were roommates while studying at Cambridge where they immediately bonded over their shared love for tabletop games and early-modern history. They have been best friends ever since.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95395&key=user_uploads/2363018/5512bb1e-405a-4de0-acf7-437b2d56a631)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Ood-miniswap-the-marketplace-for-tabletop-games", "votes": 32, "created_at": "2025-11-11T01:01:50.193Z" } ] }, { "id": 31480, "name": "Pops", "slug": "pops", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ff1807225bc4aea4a50ef4d5315e963925c04afd.png", "website": "https://pops.fyi", "all_locations": "New York City, NY, USA", "long_description": "Pops lets people play, remix, and share AI games with friends.\r\n\r\nDiscover an infinite feed of games, challenges, quizzes, and other fun interactive experiences made by others. Every play instantly becomes a funny gameplay/reaction video you can send to friends, post online, or use to challenge someone to beat your score.\r\n\r\nFor creators, Pops makes it easier than ever to bring ideas to life and get them played. Instead of learning complex game engines, writing code, or fighting for distribution, anyone can create or remix a playable game in seconds. Bring your ideas, and Pops brings the audience.", "one_liner": "Create & play AI games with friends", "team_size": 1, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1778022680, "tags": [ "Consumer", "Gaming", "Social", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/pops", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2026/pops.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "New York City", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/trypops", "x_url": "https://x.com/pops_fyi", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ff1807225bc4aea4a50ef4d5315e963925c04afd.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Garry Tan", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/garry-tan" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 964621, "full_name": "Alon Zuman", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "I’m the founder of Pops, a mobile app where people create, remix, and play AI games with friends.\n\nOver the past 6 years, I’ve built creative tools used by millions of people. Most recently, I worked at Playground AI across product engineering and research.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alonzuman/", "x_url": "https://x.com/alonzuman", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a1bd2e2e5fe7823755f547ece0629f0515774171.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 101541, "title": "Pops - AI games with real friends", "tagline": "Turn any idea into a fun mini game to remix, share, and play with friends.", "body": "Hi everyone, I’m [Alon](https://x.com/alonzuman), founder of [Pops.](https://pops.fyi/)\n\nPops is the future of entertainment: AI-native, playful social experiences and games anyone can create, remix, and play with their friends. **Short-form software.**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=101541&key=user_uploads/964621/77b75800-d1a4-4c0d-a32b-d2662e68f1fd)\n\nWith Pops, you can describe (almost) any idea you have and turn it into a fun, playable experience: a Flappy Bird-like game where you flap by raising your arms, a game where you blink to screw the bolt, or a 3D racing game controlled by your head movements. You don't need to code, just a fun idea.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=101541&key=user_uploads/964621/2a9308df-5961-4bd1-9571-b1518bf8020d)\n\nAnd because Pops is meant to be social, every Pop you play instantly creates a video you can share. Usually the best part is not just the game itself, but the funny reaction video: you can brag about your score, send it back to the creator, or share it because it’s genuinely funny.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=101541&key=user_uploads/964621/2fda7e52-ea0d-46a7-846b-dec64807ee4b)\n\n## **About me**\n\nI’ve spent the past six years building creative tools, most recently at Playground AI, where the products I worked on were used by millions of people. Pops started as something broader, but a private beta made the direction obvious: AI-native games are the perfect format for social, playful creation, and one of the first places short-form software can become mainstream.\n\nPops is live on iOS and Android, and I’d love for you to try it out:\n\n\n\n## Ask\n\nPlay a few Pops! Make or remix your own Pop, and share it with your friends.\n\nI’d love feedback on what feels magical and what’s confusing.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=101541&key=user_uploads/964621/c741fdc4-f5f7-4fc1-a97e-eb320607be45)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=101541&key=user_uploads/964621/ee6a0791-5f65-4349-bb05-c35ea160f33e)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/QPl-pops-ai-games-with-real-friends", "votes": 14, "created_at": "2026-05-19T01:41:15.424Z" } ] }, { "id": 32130, "name": "Olam Labs", "slug": "olam-labs", "former_names": [ "Gud Labs" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d6d9543a0527b0b5ac428e043f211c75ac5d1d59.png", "website": "https://olamlabs.ai", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We research complex, high-fidelity simulations for training and evaluating frontier AI models, alongside the infrastructure to test and deploy them at scale. Our research focuses on simulations with realistic socialization, multi-agent interaction, swarms, and ultra-long-horizon tasks.\r\n\r\nTry one of our first releases, Multi-Agent Arena (https://olamarena.com/), where humans come play social strategy games against multiple AI agents. It has multi-agent social games like Poker, Diplomacy, Risk, and more.", "one_liner": "Crafting simulations for frontier lab model training", "team_size": 2, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B", "launched_at": 1784577901, "tags": [ "Reinforcement Learning", "Gaming", "Data Engineering", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": [ { "question": "How did your company get started? (i.e., How did the founders meet? How did you come up with the idea? How did you decide to be a founder?)", "answer": "Om and Shreshth met in middle school. They were the only two kids in the “gifted” program in their grade, and their first project together was running a snacks and candy store at their school where the profits were used to donate to charity.\\\r\n\\\r\nDuring Christmas holiday in 2025, Om created a multi-agent simulated environment where agents ran their own company in markets competing against each other, and showed it to Shreshth.\\\r\n\\\r\nShreshth, with a background in data and RL among other things, loved the implications of it. Om discussed with him how if multi-agent environments were developed and productionized at scale via frameworks, APIs for infra, and interactive games the kind of data and evaluations it could generate.\\\r\n\\\r\nThe problem was (and still is) that despite the success of multi-agent environments in research, the ecosystem around them has not been pursued to a degree where the utility of multi-agent environments is made readily available to everyone.\\\r\n\\\r\nThey decided to pursue it and applied to YC, and have been in pursuit of a future where we can understand and measure the models that we work with everyday and that will become increasingly autonomous in our everyday lives with AI acceleration. Om and Shreshth both believe there is a severe shortage of good AI evaluations, especially on qualitative behaviors, of which multi-agent environments (and allowing others to build them) is very well suited to solve.\\\r\n\\\r\nMore on Shreshth: [shresh.ca](http://shresh.ca) Shresh’s X: \\\r\nMore on Om: [sensho.xyz](https://www.sensho.xyz/) Om’s X: " } ], "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/olam-labs", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/olam-labs.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/olam-labs/", "x_url": "https://x.com/olam_labs", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d6d9543a0527b0b5ac428e043f211c75ac5d1d59.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/3e94d77a846523415d54724a99c9965d17599d69.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Harshita Arora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/harshita-arora" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3676793, "full_name": "Om Buddhdev", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Building simulated worlds for frontier labs to train capable and safe models.\n\nI love learning, tech, competing, and building cool things. I am optimistically AGI pilled and believe most people (even in SF) have not yet internalized what will change over the next 10Y.\n\nPreviously a Staff Engineer @ latitude.io, one of the best Valorant players in the world, math research cited by Terence Tao, TikTok creator /w 190k followers, Roblox game dev, and some other things.\n\nhttps://www.sensho.xyz", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ombud/", "x_url": "https://x.com/sensho", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/91f0defa43559eee579ccd34e4f7fd404cdb2aa6.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 109432, "title": "Can you beat frontier LLMs at social strategy games? | Multi-Agent Arena by Olam Labs, evaluating through multi-agent simulations", "tagline": "Play games like Risk, Poker, or Codenames against frontier AIs. We're running public long-horizon games to do evaluations on social behavior and agentic performance.", "body": "**TL;DR:** As many researchers and labs will say, there is a massive shortage of genuinely good AI evaluations. Multi-agent environments are an underdeveloped way of evaluating models that we think will help address our increasingly worse shortage of evals. We're starting with **Multi-Agent Arena**, where anyone can come compete against frontier AI models in social multiplayer games, as we build towards the full stack for multi-agent environments. Try Multi-Agent Arena for free at :) \\\n\\\n[https://drive.google.com/file/d/186GgmnOLz4Yc1BpFk6AxHd3aqUdFYCQy](https://drive.google.com/file/d/186GgmnOLz4Yc1BpFk6AxHd3aqUdFYCQy/view?usp=sharing)\n\n---\n\n## **Overview**\n\nMulti-agent environments provide an essential, underutilized framework for benchmarking autonomous AI models. Multi-Agent Arena is an interactive platform where human participants compete against frontier AI models in multiplayer games, serving as an experimental foundation to evaluate complex agent interactions. Multi-Agent Arena is the first of many stepping stones to building the entire stack and ecosystem for multi-agent environments.\\\n\\\n**The Evaluation Gap** \\\nCurrent AI evaluations primarily focus on single-agent, task-oriented capabilities. While benchmarks such as SWE-bench measure functional task execution, they do not assess the dynamic social behaviors required for autonomous real-world deployment: negotiation, coalition stability, long-horizon planning against adaptive opponents, and spontaneous deception.\n\nSimulated multi-agent environments induce these complex interactions while preserving complete experimental control. Unlike unstructured real-world deployment, these environments offer full data legibility, enabling researchers to inspect every reasoning trace, state transition, and stochastic variable behind model decisions.\n\n**Our Preliminary Evaluations**\\\nThe platform runs deterministic, replayable environments hosting human players alongside anonymized frontier models. Structured as accessible multiplayer games, the infrastructure captures interaction data to score models across two primary axes in our first evaluated game, Poker:\n\n* **Competitive Capability:** One of our preliminary methods is using a Bradley-Terry model to yield Elo ratings with bootstrapped confidence intervals, supplemented by domain-specific metrics such as big blinds per 100 hands in poker. Top-quartile human participants currently outperform all benchmarked models in Poker.\n* **Behavioral Diagnostics:** Model reasoning traces are evaluated against ground-truth game states using expert-curated rubrics and variance-checked grader panels to ensure inter-annotator agreement.\n\n**Initial Metric: Deception Index** \\\nThe benchmark's initial diagnostic metric, the Deception Index, quantifies deliberate misrepresentation per 10,000 turns. A deceptive event is logged only when an agent's private chain-of-thought confirms awareness of a true state while its external communication directly contradicts it. In baseline tests with no explicit instructions or prompts to deceive, frontier models demonstrated performance variance spanning nearly two orders of magnitude across identical environments.\n\nComplete evaluations, research methodology and technical documentation are available at [olamlabs.ai/research/social-arena](https://olamlabs.ai/evaluations)\\\n\\\n**Launch**\\\n\\\nWe already passed a thousand matches a day in our early access, are nearing a billion tokens used per day, ranking on the OpenRouter leaderboards, and have thousands of users that are paying to play in the arena while we work with researchers on use cases they have for our work and environments. We’re hoping this is just a stepping stone and want to scale towards our roadmap and ambitions of what we believe multi-agent environments, when properly developed with the right stakeholders in the training/eval ecosystem, can achieve for AI progress.\\\n\\\n\\\n**What’s in it for you?**\n\n1. **Play.** It's free, and every match directly informs the evals. Bring friends, try to beat the models, it’s harder than you'd think. 🃏\n2. **Speak with researchers.** We love speaking with researchers interested in this space and it’s all that we think about; if that’s you please feel free to reach out to us at [founders@olamlabs.ai](mailto:founders@olamlabs.ai) or on \\\n \\\n 🫡\n\n---\n\n## About the team\n\n**Om Buddhdev (CEO)** — Previously a Product Engineer then promoted to Staff Engineer at AI Dungeon / Latitude working on AI infra, agents, and consumer platform work, left for Olam Labs. Before that he was among the best Valorant players in the world (top 25, 8x radiant), at 17 a large content creator on TikTok with 195k followers, and as a young teenager made Roblox games played millions of times, among other things in his past. More on Om at \n\n**Shreshth Sharma (CTO)** — Background in production data engineering: was a Data Scientist at RBC while doing a double degree at the University of Waterloo in CS and Math, dropped out of both for Olam Labs. He has a background in many data and statistics projects, alongside briefly being a top 50 Fifa player. More on Shreshth at \\\n\\\nOm and Shreshth have been friends since middle school, and Olam Labs was born out of their personal interest and desire to build out the entire stack for multi-agent environments to be the default way we evaluate models in the future.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/ST2-can-you-beat-frontier-llms-at-social-strategy-games-multi-agent-arena-by-olam-labs-evaluating-through-multi-agent-simulations", "votes": 9, "created_at": "2026-08-05T21:32:50.566Z" } ] }, { "id": 32190, "name": "General Context Labs", "slug": "general-context-labs", "former_names": [ "General Context Labs", "Instaplay" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0321fc7ea5809962e3910e985c4d9d2acbbed27a.png", "website": "https://generalcontextlabs.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "General Context Labs builds products and datasets that push the limits of frontier models. Our initial breakout product, Instaplay is an interactive app-generation platform home to over 100,000 users who create and discover content.", "one_liner": "Building Products and Datasets for Frontier Models", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1784188651, "tags": [ "Gaming", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/general-context-labs", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/general-context-labs.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/generalcontextlabs/", "x_url": "https://x.com/generalcontext_", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0321fc7ea5809962e3910e985c4d9d2acbbed27a.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 957153, "full_name": "Akhil Aggarwal", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Prev Investor at Bain Capital Ventures", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/akhil--aggarwal", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/fbf5746b7c5c33e0139756c7d4a6f3324688d392.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2530050, "full_name": "Frank Liu", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Prev SWE at Instagram", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/frvnk/", "x_url": "https://x.com/frvnkliu", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/3920d2baf1a54b1af10c29ed65fda6aa5f141e61.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1071066, "full_name": "Gary Wu", "title": "Cofounder", "founder_bio": "Prev APM at Salesforce", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/garywu23/", "x_url": "https://x.com/gary_wu23", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/22cab24670904f03e22bd711e013a7b42c882690.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 109236, "title": "Instaplay – Make and play anything", "tagline": "Every game imaginable is about to exist, and you'll find it or make it on Instaplay. Make and play anything in minutes, then share it with friends.", "body": "**TL;DR:** The world is burning trillions on AI to make us more productive, but almost none of it has made our lives more fun. We're changing that. On Instaplay, anyone can describe an idea and play it with friends minutes later. 20,000+ creators and 100,000+ monthly players are already building: multiplayer zombie FPS campaigns, interactive classroom lessons, someone even proposed with a game.\\\n\\\n\n\n**The problem**\n\nThe last decade of social platforms optimized for content you consume by yourself. But the most durable thing online has always been doing things together, and games are the most natural way people connect. We think the next great social platform is one where friends play, not scroll.\n\n**What we built**\n\nDescribe a game, make it, and play it.\n\n* Solo and multiplayer\n* 2D and 3D, playable on the web and on Android (iOS coming soon)\n* Everything is social, with room codes, leaderboards, likes, comments, and creator profiles\n\nEvery game is a link, so it spreads through group chats and Discord instead of dying after one play.\n\n**Traction**\n\n20,000+ creators and 100,000+ monthly active users, growing organically, much of it through discovery via AI tools like ChatGPT. The loop is working: users make things, share them, and their friends come back to play and make their own.\n\n**Where this goes**\n\nGaming is already bigger than film and music combined, and Roblox showed that handing creation tools to players can build a $40B company. AI takes that further: when making a game costs one sentence, games stop being products and become a language, made in minutes, shared like memes, personalized to the exact people playing them.\n\n**Team**\n\n* **Gary Wu:** Prev APM at Salesforce, Harvard CS and US Presidential Scholar.\n* **Frank Liu:** Prev SWE at Instagram. Top-1,000 TFT player.\n* **Akhil Aggarwal:** Prev investor at Bain Capital Ventures, Engineer at AWS building credential-threat detection deployed globally.\n\nWe're lifelong gamers on a mission to make AI the most powerful medium for fun. The biggest thing AI changes about games isn't how they're made, it's who gets to play.\n\n**Our ask:** Try it and make something today at \n\nWe'd love intros for consumer and influencer partnerships. Reach us at [founders@instaplay.ai](mailto:founders@instaplay.ai)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SPs-instaplay-make-and-play-anything", "votes": 14, "created_at": "2026-08-05T16:25:59.432Z" } ] }, { "id": 32748, "name": "PokerClubHub", "slug": "pokerclubhub", "former_names": [ "Rounder" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/bdce623e4f66c5199feb962395591af2b0973e32.png", "website": "https://www.pokerclubhub.com", "all_locations": "Jaco, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica", "long_description": "TL;DR: PokerClubHub is the first licensed poker club platform. We protect players’ deposits and allow anyone to open their own poker club and make money.\r\n\r\nRegulated online poker sites like PokerStars have open player pools and thus are full of pros and bots, driving players to unregulated private clubs.\r\n\r\nExisting poker club platforms like ClubGG have no payments processing. Players deposit with a club owner by sending them crypto for play-money chips. In theory, these chips can be exchanged back for money. However, players can get scammed and withdrawing takes ages.\r\n\r\nThis model is also broken for honest club owners who have to manually process hundreds of deposits a day. They lose out on rake when they sleep and struggle to get players to trust them.\r\n\r\nOn PokerClubhub, players deposit with PokerClubHub, not the club owner. We handle all deposits and withdrawals for the club owner, saving them time and increasing their earnings. We pay the rake (if any) to club owners as affiliate fees.\r\n\r\nWe hold the same gaming license as BetHog (built by founders of FanDuel) and Nexa Poker (part of World Poker Tour). Player deposits are secured using Fireblocks.\r\n\r\nYou can also play rake-free games with your friends and acquaintances on our platform. We ensure that everyone pays up.", "one_liner": "Host a Poker Club and Make Money", "team_size": 0, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1785028791, "tags": [ "SaaS", "Crypto / Web3", "Gaming", "eSports" ], "tags_highlighted": [ "Crypto / Web3" ], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "Costa Rica", "Latin America" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/pokerclubhub", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/pokerclubhub.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Jaco", "country": "CR", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "https://x.com/pokerclubhub", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/bdce623e4f66c5199feb962395591af2b0973e32.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Ankit Gupta", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/ankit-gupta" }, "founders": [], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 107788, "title": "PokerClubHub - The First Licensed Online Poker Club Platform", "tagline": "Host Your Own Poker Club, Make Money", "body": "**TL;DR:** PokerClubHub is the first licensed poker club platform. We protect players’ deposits and allow anyone to open their own poker club and make money.\\\n\\\n[https://drive.google.com/file/d/15qCencYd92aBcZdMjZxykUytkduYrGIb](https://drive.google.com/file/d/15qCencYd92aBcZdMjZxykUytkduYrGIb/view?usp=sharing)\n\n**♣️ Problem**:\n\nRegulated online poker sites like PokerStars have open player pools and thus are full of pros and bots, driving players to unregulated private clubs.\n\nExisting poker club platforms like ClubGG have no payments processing. Players deposit with a club owner by sending them crypto for play-money chips. In theory, these chips can be exchanged back for money. However, players often get scammed and withdrawals are regularly delayed.\n\nThis model is also broken for honest club owners who have to manually process hundreds of deposits a day. They lose out on rake when they sleep and struggle to get players to trust them.\n\n**Solution:**\n\n**Players deposit with PokerClubHub, not the club owner.** We handle all deposits and withdrawals for the club owner, saving them time and increasing their earnings. We return the rake to club owners as affiliate fees.\n\nWe hold the same gaming license as BetHog (built by founders of FanDuel) and Nexa Poker (part of World Poker Tour). Player deposits are secured using Fireblocks.\n\nYou can also play rake-free games with your friends and acquaintances on our platform. We ensure that everyone pays up.\n\n**Our ask:**\n\nPlease play some cards on [www.pokerclubhub.com](http://www.pokerclubhub.com). Sign up using code: “LAUNCH” and receive up to $40.\n\nContact us at [support@pokerclubhub.com](mailto:support@pokerclubhub.com) if you’re a club owner and interested in starting a club on our platform.\n\nIf you know anyone in iGaming, we’d love to chat to them! ([ivan@pokerclubhub.com](mailto:ivan@pokerclubhub.com))\n\n**Why we built PokerClubHub:**\n\n1\\. To stop players from getting scammed\n\n2\\. All the value in poker is created by players but too much of it accrues to a handful of companies. We think clubs, where hosts build communities and share in the economics, are healthier for the ecosystem.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=107788&key=user_uploads/2574088/85ca689f-b4f9-4d4d-b6af-afa61336a17c)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/S2W-pokerclubhub-the-first-licensed-online-poker-club-platform", "votes": 14, "created_at": "2026-07-27T15:27:37.799Z" } ] }, { "id": 36213, "name": "Yam", "slug": "yam", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/c297c8850d0327ee68a350cb20ee3ca0b6946537.png", "website": "https://hiyam.ai/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Yam simulates a Love Island–style dating experience for women, starring their favorite characters. Avg playtime per DAU is 3+ hrs! ", "one_liner": "AI-powered dating sims for women", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer", "launched_at": 1792446812, "tags": [ "Generative AI", "Gaming", "Creator Economy" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yam", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/yam.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "https://x.com/hiyam_ai", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/c297c8850d0327ee68a350cb20ee3ca0b6946537.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "David Lieb", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/david-lieb" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 352249, "full_name": "Shan Zhong", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder & CEO at Yam. Previously founded consumer fintech KabCash and grew it from 0 to 100K users and 2M ARR. Ex-Meta, worked on group chat and creator safety at Instagram and Messenger. Went to college at 14.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanzzh/", "x_url": "https://x.com/shanzzh1", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/08351d708aaa167fe20d4a54c1936d39ff4993b2.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3423087, "full_name": "Yu Qin", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "CTO at Yam; ex-TikTok, where I built AI creation tools and grew Effect House's creator community to 800k. Built for no.1 esport team. Pro gamer. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/qin-yu-01a41212a/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/954251828cfca22765e7aa9c7f48630f994f2d47.jpg" }, { "user_id": 354341, "full_name": "Crystal Shan", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Founder at Yam. Previously Lead Product Designer at Webex, where she built a Voice AI Agent platform from the ground up; spent 2 years in growth design at Webex, optimizing engagement and activation funnels for millions of users; and redesigned self-service trials for Webex Contact Center, generating $13M in revenue. First product hire at Amesite, an AI-powered education startup, helping take the company from zero to IPO in 3 years. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/crystalshan", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e8a85ad08f6dbcab1425b00854a4c7806a4a741e.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 36907, "name": "Melty", "slug": "melty-gg", "former_names": [ "LookLoot", "Deployed Telemetry" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/7f04b686429aece5fee0ca691cbdb211b8619d31.png", "website": "https://www.melty.gg", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "", "one_liner": "Mashup any game", "team_size": 0, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Gaming", "launched_at": 1791182625, "tags": [ "Gaming", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Gaming" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/melty-gg", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/melty-gg.json", "year_founded": null, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/7f04b686429aece5fee0ca691cbdb211b8619d31.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "David Lieb", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/david-lieb" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3401761, "full_name": "David Miller", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Founder @ Melty. Previously coached millions of gamers.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-miller-05990a23b", "x_url": "https://x.com/davidmilr", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/19f9616551003516f90f89108aa30974c9133f04.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] } ]