Y Combinator offers 7 startups ideas they want to fund (Spring 2026)
As usual, Y Combinator came up with segments that are worth investing:
1. Cursor for Product Managers
2. AI-Native Hedge Funds
3. AI-Native Agencies
4. Stablecoin Financial Services
5. AI for Government
6. Modern Metal Mills
7. AI Guidance for Physical Work
8. Large Spatial Models
9. Infra for Government Fraud Hunters
10. Make LLMs Easy to TrainWhich of the following do you think are the most interesting?
OR
Would you add to the list, maybe something that is more worth funding?
Also, are you going to apply? 👀
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Replies
Great breakdown! I’d probably vote for #1 (Cursor for PMs) as the most immediate need, but #7 feels like the biggest long-term shift for the workforce.
I’d add Personalized AI Tutors to the list—not just for coding, but for general skill acquisition. We need better ways to keep up with all this tech!
Good luck! 🚀
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@jakub_malek1Â I think that 7 is the most revolutionary and imagine including robots. That would be pretty awesome (and scary) :D
@busmark_w_nika Haha, exactly! It’s a mix of excitement and 'Terminator' vibes. :D
Speaking of the AI Tutor—we actually applied to YC with it recently. We didn't make the cut this time (super competitive batch and slightly different market focus), but we’re not letting that stop us. We’re iterating on the product and definitely applying again! 🥊
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@jakub_malek1Â Wishing you good luck. To be honest, I do not know their criteria, but many people post on X about how they were rejected (it is true that mostly they were solo founders). Hopefully, your product will be appealing to them! :)
@busmark_w_nika Yeah, their exact criteria aren't public, but from what I've heard, the acceptance rate can be as low as 1 in 100. So the odds are tough, but we're definitely not giving up! 💪
ProblemHunt
Hi Nika! As soon as I saw the first request on the list, I couldn’t pay attention to the rest anymore. It really feels like «Cursor for Product Managers» is something that’s very needed and could take off strongly. But let’s see what time shows 😊
We’ve submitted the ProblemHunt application for the second time.
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@gostroverhov uuu, i have my fingers crossed for you! :)
ProblemHunt
@busmark_w_nika 🤗
Scade.pro
@gostroverhov good luck, Boris. Nice product name :)
ProblemHunt
@nastassia_k thank you, Nastassia :)
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@fitnessrefined People in bureaucracy will not be happy, that's for sure.
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@siarhei_ai No. 7 :)
I’m putting all my bets on AI for Government! The dream of AI finally killing off soul-crushing bureaucracy and processes stuck in the 90s is just too good to ignore🥹
My only worry is that most governments are still have what to do with basic digitalization, let alone AI :D
But yes, it’s definitely the biggest area for a massive upgrade!
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@valeriia_kuna I think that this is more likely for China. Europe? eeeh :D Not so sure.
Lockdn
AI-native agencies stand out to me. It’s basically: pick a boring but valuable niche, map the workflow, then replace chunks of it with agents that run autonomously. The hard part isn’t the tech, it’s the scoping.
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@solomon_nwabuoku To be honest, I am not so technical, but for me, the execution would be tricky :D
@solomon_nwabuoku Running autonomously is hard. Even claude cowork dont support agent finding their next tasks to do on their own.
vibecoder.date
Mills as in machining equipment?
I think stablecoin based financial services that focus on being tax compliant would let local businesses take crypto without the regulatory nightmare.
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@build_with_aj Now, I am pretty hesitant about crypto. I invested, and it all went down. 😂 It happens to me every time. LOL.
Hi Nika!
I think AI for physical work is really interesting, though high cost of entry, far horizon and a lot of vaporware right now.
Even more fascinating is infrastructure tech enabled by AI, in part for the science and engineering boost, and in part on the massive capital generated by AI adoption. Stuff like energy, orbital datacenters, semiconductors, drug discovery... But again capital intensive and a bit far in the horizon.
AI agencies although less monumental also seem very interesting to me, the concept of being able to fully delegate not just tasks but full plans and proactive execution... damn, that's the kinda sci fi I wanna see.
And yes! I am applying with Rkive AI, which is pretty much an AI content creation agency.
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@alberto_luengo Do you apply as a co-founder or solo?
To be honest, I'm not sure what to expect from AI agencies. :D
@busmark_w_nika Solo! I have two employees but no co-founders.
Tbh I also don't know what to expect from AI agencies, I think we will see a lot of plain agencies with an AI chatbot sprinkled on top 😅 I would like it if these "agencies" had all the specialist agents you could need, working for your outcomes proactively, with all your context, etc. But I think it's a bit too vague and conceptual to be useful, and I don't like the shift towards zero visual UI and zero manual control because it seems impractical. Lately I brand Rkive as the "Content Creation OS" for that reason. Really ai-native but also with an entire UI and manual control built around it.
I suspect AI is gonna move in that direction. Sticking to the current "agencie" experience seems like an accounting firm back in the day adopting excel to replace manual accounting, but still offering their reports via handwritten letters.
Stellify
I'm building an AI code editor (stellisoft.com). From what I've read it doesn't fit directly into those categories but I still intend to apply. Are you applying Nika?
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@stellify_software Me not :D I do not have that ambition (and no idea what to build) :D Do you have co-founders? I have heard that co-founders are also a factor that influences the decision to approve
Scade.pro
thanks for the reference link. Quite an interesting article
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@nastassia_k You are welcome! :)